[Dixielandjazz] Actual new topic! What is "The Big Four" in reference to New Orleans Jazz bass drum beats?

[David Richoux]

Hi all,

This question came up over on the TubeNet list and no really  
satisfactory answers have been found, so I thought I would ask the  
experts!

Wynton Marsalis seems to give two very different meanings to the term  
- in this video clip: http://jazz.learnhub.com/lesson/10127-what-is-the-big-four-beat 
  he is talking about the Buddy Bolden Band synchopated bass line  
through a song,

but in this lesson he seems to be talking just about the 1 2 3 4 beat  
of the bass drum as part of the roll-off to a song:
http://www.weboschools.org/webo/staff/hiseyba/generalmusic/lesson1.pdf

Any other ideas or references, anybody? Not a lot turning up on web  
searches nor in my New Orleans Brass Band / New Orleans Jazz reference  
books (although I have not done an extensive study yet...)

Dave Richoux