[Dixielandjazz] Earl Hines Big Band (was Time Machine)

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Folks,

In Don's post on the Time Machine thread, he mentions the great Earl Hines band of the 1930s, which got me thinking. A number of years ago I gave a record recital at the Glasgow Jazz Record Society, a venerable club dating back to the early 1930s, when the only way for most people in the UK to hear and learn about the classic American source material was by listening to records, which they did by getting together in clubs and listening to each other's discs.

My topic was Lorenzo Tio Jr and his influence on jazz reed playing, and in my recital I followed the recording careers of his most illustrious pupils, including Omer Simeon with Jelly and later with Hines. Also in that Hines band was Darnell Howard, who, according to Harold Dejan, had also studied with Tio in Chicago. Both men played alto and soprano as well as clarinet and it is interesting to hear how the Tio clarinet approach translated to alto. There were the long lines, the assured technical control, the tasteful filigree ornamentation and, most notably, a time feel that was close to even eighths and markedly different from the standard swing feel deriving from Armstrong's time feel. All of these characteristics got carried over into early bop and my questions to list members are:
  1.. Did the Hines band play regular radio broadcasts from the Grand Terrace in the 1930s?
  2.. Did these reach as far as Kansas City?
It's interesting to speculate whether these broadcasts, (if they could be picked up in KC),  were routinely listened to by Kansas City musicians and, if so, did Tio's influence extend into bop via Charlie Parker?

Cheers,

Ken Mathieson
www.classicjazzorchestra.org.uk