[Dixielandjazz] Saint Louis Blues ?

[Jim O'Briant]

Robert R. Calder wrote, in part:

> Of course the comment on YouTube was worded in a 
> way which sounded like the guy was saying there was 
> an influence from Rock'n'R...etc  in the performance. 
>
> I would suspect an earlier version didn't swing -- and might 
> even have been a work-song, or even African. ...

I have a CD of reissued recordings by "W. C. Handy's Blues Band," but on the earlier cuts it sounds more like a ragtime orchestra than a jazz band. The rhythms are very square, with a lot of "Scottish Snap" (i.e., sixteenth note followed by a dotted eighth note) rhythms. The cut of "Saint Louis Blues" opens with a minor intro based on the minor strain of the tune, and there are a couple of strains at the end that I've never heard anywhere else....

Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA
Tuba & Leader, The Zinfandel Stompers