[Dixielandjazz] Battle of the Bands this week on Riverwalk Jazz

[Donald Mopsick]

This week on Riverwalk Jazz, a classic show recorded in 1994 at the
Zaragoza Theater at the Fiesta Texas Park in San Antonio: "Battle of
the Bands: New Orleans vs. San Antonio."

Early 20th-century New Orleans demanded live music for almost every
occasion, and early jazz bands proliferated to meet the need.
Competition between them was fierce. As part of the promotion, or
“ballyhoo” to attract attention to the night clubs, bands would play
against each other outdoors on the backs of horse-drawn wagons. The
band that attracted the most listeners in these street encounters won
the “battle” along with the crowd later that night in the club.

Since then, battles and “cutting contests” have been part of the lore
of jazz. Usually, the competition is of a friendly nature, as in our
broadcast this week. Banu Gibson, based in New Orleans, has led one of
the most popular traditional jazz bands in the US for decades–her New
Orleans Hot Jazz. The Jim Cullum Jazz Band has been playing it hot on
the Riverwalk in San Antonio since the early 1960s. It was inevitable
that the two eventually meet for the title of “Heavyweight Champion
Jazz Band of the World.”

Stage legend William Warfield acted as referee. Tap dancing sensation
Savion Glover performed with both bands—with Banu Gibson in “Wrap Your
Cares in Rhythm and Dance,” and with the JCJB in the Bill “Bojangles”
Robinson song “Doin’ the New Low Down.” Hot jazz pianist David
Boeddinghaus faced “single combat” with JCJB pianist John Sheridan for
a rousing boogie-woogie on “Honky Tonk Train Blues” by Meade Lux
Lewis.

Jim Cullum has been presenting "Battle of the Bands" concerts in San
Antonio for decades, notably one between the JCJB and the World's
Greatest Jazz Band in the 1970s.

mopo