[Dixielandjazz] Dixieland Standards to West End Blues Cadenza

[Steve Barbone]

Got interested in some Louis Armstrong research after Sheik asked about
tunes becoming Dixieland standards and maybe it was because Louis et al,
recorded them.

Discovered that Louis first real hit record was "Ain't Misbehavin (other
side Black & Blue?) from Hot Chocolates circa 1930 or so. Then discovered
his love for pop tunes and Guy Lombardo. Then discovered that Lombardo was a
big hit at the Savoy Ballroom and among black dancers and record buyers.
Then discovered Louis loved to play tunes that Lombardo played.

Then discovered the below website which details Louis and Lombardo.

http://equinoxjournals.com/ojs/index.php/Jazz/article/viewFile/3769/2388

But most fascinating in that website was a short discussion of Armstrong's
love of Opera and his love of classical cornet virtuoso Herbert Clarke from
his childhood days. First listening perhaps at the home of the Karnoffskys?

The article then talks about the cadenza from West End Blues. In the
writer's opinion, by itself, the cadenza is more a display of classical
virtuosity than jazz. It is only when the rest of the jazz tune is added
that the cadenza could then be classified as jazz.

Then it discusses an unaccompanied cadenza by Herbert Clarke on "Caprice
Brilliante" (The Debutante) recorded with Sousa in 1908. There are some
similarities (not a lot) in Clarke's cadenza to the West End Blues Cadenza.
Too much of a stretch?

Maybe not, Louis himself in 1954 told Leonard Feather." I've heard trumpet
solos from 1908 until the present, Herbert Clarke and all the boys." And at
the time of his death, Armstrong possessed 10 of Herbert Clarke's 78s.

There is one more link in the chain. According to Dan Morgenstern, "Portrait
of the Artist as a Young Man" 1994, there is an Armstrong break on a 1924
record where he backs singer Margaret Johnson on "Changeable Daddy of Mine".
That break is part of the genealogy - - the Clark Cadenza 1908, to the Break
1924, to the West End Blues Cadenza 1928. The break sounds a bit like both
Cadenzas.

According to Morgenstern this implies; "that far from being as gloriously
spontaneous as it sounds, Armstrong's 'West End Blues' opening was the
result of years of refining an idea that is spectacular even in its
embryonic form."

I haven't heard the Clarke Cadenza or the Louis break on Changeable Daddy,
but I have heard West End Blues, and IMO that is much like an Operatic
Cadenza. Plus I've heard Louis quote more than a few operatic passages in
his live concert recordings, and once at alive concert that I saw.

Joshua Berrett has published on the Louis + The Opera connection and would
be a good source for more information for those interested.

To hear The Louis Cadenza and the tune, circa 1955 go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Hbh_-IRs8

Cheers,
Steve Barbone