[Dixielandjazz] White jazz of the early twenties

[Marek Boym]

The other day I played the Wolverines right after Ladd's Black Aces.
What a difference!  And not only the sound of Bix - the general
approach.  No wonder they had such an impact on white bands.  For some
strange reason, Ladd's Black Aces (and that goes for other similar
bands) followed the ODJB, and here they heard somethingso much more
complex and relaxed!   Sure, there were the New Orleans Rhythm Kings,
whose music was very different than that of ODJB, but, for some
reasons, they had more impact on the white Chicagoans than on the New
York musicians.  It might have had to do with distribution, but I
really don't know.  Anyway, the approach of the Wolverines must have
been a shock to contemporaries, beyond Bix's special sound so many
tried to emulate (has anybody heard "It sounds like Bix" on
Broadway-Intermission?), and it changed the white New York jazz
forever.
Cheers