[Dixielandjazz] Small Band Swing or Dixieland?

[Stephen G Barbone]

On Feb 14, 2011, at 9:54 AM, Marek Boym wrote:

> As Steve says, not all black musicians turned to bop.  Franz Jackson
> had a traditional - or Dixieland - band, as did Kid Ory, Joe
> Darensbourg (when not playing as sideman with others), Singleton
> Palmer, and more.  Yhere were quite a few black traditional musicians
> active on the West Coast, but the "new" white ones - the revivalists -
> stole the show.
> Somehow, I have the feeling that predominance of whites in this field
> was somehow connected with discrimination - it was easier for whites
> to find gigs.  Although the days of blatant segregation were over, at
> least in the north, many places would much rather employ whites.
> And we should not forget that numerous black musicians worked in
> "mixed" bands - Vic Dickenson, Edmond Hall, and more.
> Cheers

Marek and I agree again. <grin>

To quote Richard Sudhalter, Lost Chords page 279 - excerpts;

"Dixieland meanwhile, began to take on connotative meanings quite  
beyond its original, southern association . . .  perhaps it stemmed in  
part from the tendency of white musicians to celebrate the past in a  
way their black colleagues did not; perhaps it was to some degree  
racial - white associating with white, black with black. Or even a  
matter of repertorie choices. Whatever the specific causes, by the mid  
1930s, the word 'dixieland' was being applied freely to certain  
circles of white musicians, first by the trade press, then by the  
public.

Often such compartmentalization ignored the very sound of the  
music. . . . Yet the 'dixieland' label, once applied, stuck to the  
white players. . . .

In the years after World War II, a period beyond the scope of this  
survey, the situation became even more confused . . . New Orleans men  
who had spent most of the 1930s in big bands found their way  
comfortably into 'dixieland' surroundings. . . . Rex Stewart, Buck  
Clayton and Charlie Shavers fit easily into such bands as did  
trombonists Vic Dickenson and Benny Morten. Brothers Wilbur and Sidney  
DeParis became fixtures at Jimmy Ryan's, a club with long standing  
'Dixieland' associations. On clarinet was Omer Simeon, a New Orleans  
born adoptive Chicagoan who had recorded with both Jelly Roll Morton  
and Paul Mares."  END QUOTE


And as Marek says, we should not forget that in those post World War  
II years, numerous black musicians worked in mixed bands. I would only  
add that they changed the way 'dixieland' was played, at least in New  
York City. The music played by Conrad Janis's bands after he started  
using black 'Kansas City' musicians in his 'New Orleans' jazz revival  
band attests to that. That was one GREAT Dixieland band. (in various  
forms with different players)

To get a feel from what happened, go to the below link to a 2002  
article in Mississippi Rag about Janis. It is a long article, so if  
you want, skip down to the page with the picture of Janis,. Kenny  
Davern and Red Allen. Then start reading the bottom three paragraphs  
of the right column and continue on to the next page.
IMO, this is the definitive story of how dixieland was changing in NYC  
because of Black swing and/or Kansas City musicians.

http://www.conradjanis.com/MississippiRag6.php

To this day, I pattern Barbone Street on what I heard with Janis and  
the Kansas City players, adding, of course, our own stamp.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

www.barbonestreet.com
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband