[Dixielandjazz] How did key tunes get into the standard dixieland repertoire? (Marty Nichols)

[dwlit at cpcug.org]

By "standard Dixieland repertoire" I mean today's most commonly played tunes.

Let's ignore the 40s New Orleans and West Coast revivals, which
immeasurably broadened the possibilities. Or, we can take individual
revival tunes with early origins--eg Maryland my Maryland, 1919 March. We
know they were old tunes, but how did Bunk, etc., reacquaint themselves
with them?

Actually, my initial concern was tunes such as "When you're smiling",
which dates from 1928. Perhaps Armstrong's record was the jazz spark,
perhaps Noone's. How widely was Coon Sanders Orch. listened to by jazzers?
If the tune was popular, why don't we have more records of it?

It's not enough to identify the tunes as pop tunes. "I'm looking over a
4-leaf clover" was recorded by Goldkette and Al Jolson, but not picked up
by jazzers, yet it was a well-known "sing-along" tune even in the 50s.

I've sort of backed into the question because when I can, I like to
"justify" playing a tune or putting it into one of my books by naming a
famous jazz figure who recorded it.

The tunes are a basic part of the history of jazz, and jazz is part of the
history of many pop tunes: who played what, where, when and why? Dan Hardy
investigates some of this in his explorations of Buddy Bolden's music.

--Sheik



> Hi Gang. How did key pop tunes come into the standard Dixieland
>  repertoire?
> Who introduced 'em, or made 'em popular enough so that dixielanders
adopted 'em? <snip>
> --Sheik"
>
>
> As I see it, many of the tunes in the Dixieland repertoire WERE the
popular tunes of the day. Others were written specifically, such as the
original raft of tunes by the ODJB. Eddie Condon used a lot of popular
tunes - Bing Crosby hits etc. What amazes me is how long they have
survived as Dixieland standards, especially as some of them are not that
good.
> Graham Martin

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