Players of the 1920s

In Chicago, Louis Armstrong became a star by blowing sharp solos on trumpet and cornet. While his mentor, King Oliver, played a powerful midrange trumpet, bluesy cornet, and legendary cornetist Freddie Keppard was penetrating and nimble, Armstrong combined elements from both with a special something of his won. Armstrong was the top trumpeter of his time and set he standard for the new generation of trumpeters in the next decade.

Yet Armstrong was much more that a virtuoso instrumentalist. He was a charming bandleader loved by fans of all colors - and he was the first important jazz vocalist. Listening to Armstrong's vocal and instrumental improvisations, one can hear jazz's connections to blues and gospel. When Armstrong solos, once can also hear how his instrumental phrasings grow from the way he sings, in the same way that later solos by Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and Mile Davis had warm, human overtones.

Essential early Armstrong includes anything he did with his Hot Five and Hot Seven groups, including the CDs Hot Fives and Hot Sevens Vols.1, 2, and 3 (all on Columbia). Mostly made in Chicago between 1925 and 1928, these recordings capture jazz's emerging giant soloist.

Jelly Roll Morton (1890 - 1941)

Yet another New Orleans legend who made his fame in Chicago, Morton what many consider to be his era's hottest jazz, with his Red Hot Peppers in 1926 and 1927. What strikes me about the Peppers (including Kid Ory on trombone, Omer Simeon on clarinet, and Johnny St. Cyr on banjo) is their tremendous dynamic range, their use of loud/soft and fast/slow contrasts, their sense of swing, and the wild imaginations of the soloists. In particular, Morton is a major talent and an innovator as a songwriter - not surprising given that his formative years included broad exposure to European music as well as early New Orleans jazz.

The Birth of the Hot(RCA/Bluebird) CD starts with Morton's frenzied "Black Bottom Stomp" but downshifts for "Smoke House Blues," as a slow, sexy tune that has horns wrapping sensuous melodies around each other. "The Chant" is taken at breakneck tempo, as Oliver and his horn-men invent sharp melodic lines above Simeon's wailing clarinet.

Bix Beiderbecke (1903 - 1931)

Maturing musically around the same time as African American jazz legends like Armstrong and clarinetists Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke was a trumpeter and a cornetist, and e was the first famous white jazz soloist and bandleader. Inspired by Armstrong and other innovators, but also by classical composers including Claude Debussy, Beiderbecke had a distinctive sound - delicate and lyrical.

Go To Page: 1 2