[Dixielandjazz] small band--bebop--dixieland

[Ken Gates]

JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2011A long time ago, must have been 1944-45, I was in high school living in
south Los Angeles (it was white middle-class then) and an avid listener
of the jazz/swing/pop widely available on radio in those days.  It never
occurred to me to actually learn to play a musical instrument.  I guess I had
somehow acquired the notion that it required a “gift” that I didn’t have.

For reasons I can’t remember, I attended maybe two or three Jazz at the
Philharmonic  sessions in downtown Los Angeles---yes, I actually traveled
by streetcar to get there.  I had no musical knowledge, only some idea of
what was pleasing to my ear.  I now realize that I was hearing the transition
of “small band swing” to the new bebop style. I remember only a few names
of the musicians---Howard McGhee (why was he wearing dark glasses?),
Shorty Cherock, Willie Smith (I loved to hear him play the also sax).  There
must have been some famous names also,  but not much registered with
me, the music was not pleasing to my ear.

What I do remember, and why I am posting this, is that the beginning and
ending of each tune was a “dixieland” ensemble chorus.  Long, long variations
of the melody (or chord structure?) followed the opening chorus by each soloist.
My untrained ear really couldn’t appreciate what they were doing, and I was
always glad to hear the ending ensemble chorus as a reminder that it did
begin with a known melody. I think the “dixieland” ensemble sound of these
swing to bebop musicians was “busier” and more “complex” than what we
hear in bands favoring a more “New Orleans” sound, but in my opinion,
it was, for those two brief segments---dixieland.

Ken Gates
Ventura, Calif