THE 1920s CHICAGO JAZZ SOUNDS

Collecting jazz is an almost infinite proposition, but several other jazz recordings from the 1920s capture great music, excellent musicianship, and the transformed spirit of New Orleans. Some other artists to remember are:

• Barney Bigard. He took clarinet lessons from Lorenzo Tio, one of Buddy Bolden's peers, in New Orleans during the teens. In Chicago, he had a big impact on swing clarinetists of the 1930s. Clarinet Lament (Topaz) presents a solid cross section of his best work.
• Luis Russell. An early New Orleans pianist/arranger, Russell moved to Chicago in the 1920s and eventually led one of the hottest early big bands. He was a greatly overlooked innovator of his time. A good start is Luis Russell 1926 - 1934 (Storyville).
• Clarence Williams. This pianist/singer was one of the major bandleaders in New Orleans before moving to Chicago during the 1910s. His music is covered on several CDs. His bands include many important soloists, such as Albert Socarras, who improvised one of the earliest jazz flute solos on a 1929 recording with Williams.

In Chicago by 1923, the records of King Oliver, New Orleans Dixieland Jass Band, Jelly Roll Morton, Kid Ory, Clarence Williams (with Sidney Bechet) and Doc Cook (with Freddie Keppard and Jimmie Noone) and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings helped spread the New Orleans approach across the nation. It seemed that Louisiana musicians had a special feeling for the blues, and the hippest jazz musicians attempted to capture the feel of the New Orleans/Chicago pioneers.

By the late 1920s and early 1930s, early jazz made by giants like Morton, Bechet, Oliver, Armstrong and Beiderbecke evolved into big band swing. And while many of the better players continued an almost subterranean small band presence, stemming from countries jam sessions in the smaller clubs and in the homes of jazzophiles around the country, swing arrived with a big band bang.

The Rise of the Big Band Swing

New Orleans was a never-ending Mardi Gras of primal jazz through the teens, until the city shut down the Storyville red-light district. Jazz players then headed north to Chicago in search of work and wider exposure through records and radio. Chicago swung through the 1920s. Hot New Orleans jazzmen like trumpeter Louis Armstrong, cornetist Joe "King" Oliver, and pianist Jelly Roll Morton rolled into Chi-town and turned up the juice, while homegrown jazz giants like Benny Goodman came of age musically.

Spread by records and radio, jazz was a part of popular music by the 1920s. Larger jazz ensembles added new dimensions to the music. In the southwest and in New York City, big bands replaced smaller New Orleans groups. Expanded ensembles fronted by drummer Ben Pollack, pianists Fletcher Henderson, Benny Moten, and Duke Ellington, and bassist Walter Page took to stages and radio airwaves with at least a dozen players seated in sections: brass (trumpets, trombones); woodwinds (clarinet, saxophones); rhythm (drums, bass, piano, and guitar); and, often a singer. It was the beginning of an era of music that remains the favorite of many jazz fanatics today.

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