[Tradjazz] Dixieland Band

[Bruce McNichols]

George presents some interesting ideas and facts.  I didn't hear the ODJB until I was in my 20's.  I didn't warm up to them, probably because of what I perceived to be a rough and raucus sound.  That said, I understand that they caused a sensation and surely contributed to the public's fascination with that type of music.

That band had what has become known as the basic instrumentation for the proto-typical Dixieland band.  {ooh.  all them fancy words).  That being trumpet, trombone, clarinet, piano and drums.  No bass instrument.
  Then we have Louis's Hot Five.  Who played bass with them?  You got it.  Nobody.  A piano player with a strong left hand, can help to compensate for no bass, but I prefer a bass instrument, AND a piano person with a strong left hand.  Let's face it.  I want it all.
My original band had no bass instrument, only because we didn't know any bass or tuba players.  When I got to know some, they were added to the band.  We didn't even have enough money for five guys, so by adding a sixth, it didn't hurt that much.

Much later, I came to the obvious conclusion that with the right guys, even a trio can be way better than 7 or 8 pieces.  That said, I prefer the larger group (assuming I can get the right guys).

No offense intended to George (who plays drums) but I've heard many a drum-less band, that can play circles around those with drums.  Again, it depends on the players.  When I hear the Artie Shaw band of the late 40's, I can't even imagine how lame it would sound without Buddy Rich.  I'm not a fan of fancy drum (or any instrument) playing, but in those days, Buddy Rich was PERFECT!

As for Baby Dodds, if he's the drummer then maybe drums are essential. Sorry to say, I've heard many a band (sometimes even mine) where they (we) would've done much better without certain drummers. Again, no offense intended to George - I've never heard him play.

During the first ten years of my band, I wouldn't consider performing without drums and piano.  Same for trumpet (or cornet).  It was inconceivable that we could play without that support.  How wrong I was.  If the players are right, I want them.  If not, I don't care what they play.

~~
Years ago, at one of the New Jersey Jazz Society's annual Pee Wee Russell Memorial Stomps, they had their usual compliment of 7 or 8 bands.  Most of them had 6, 7 or more pieces.   At one point they had the Marty Grosz Trio with Dick Meldonian (reeds) and a string bass player.  I was aghast when they cut the trio off, after only about twenty minutes.  They played circles around all the other bands (which gave two or more solo choruses, to EVERY guy in the band).  It ain't whatcha do, it's the way thatcha do it!

I play sop sax and banjo and I love tuba/banjo bands.  That said, I've heard many that do nothing for me.  I also treasure my recordings of many a four-beat, guitar/bass band.  I tend to respond to a band by the music they produce - not by what instruments they do it with.
  One of my all-time favorite bands was Soprano Summit.  They surely didn't have the usual Dixieland instrumentation, but the sure did make a lot of music.
I know people who shun any Dixieland band with a saxophone (soprano excluded).  Pshaw I say (and that's not an easy word to say).  If Ornette Coleman is playing the sax, I may not be too fond of it. On the other hand, I like the playing of Bud Freeman, Ernie Caceres, Paul Hubbel, Eddie Miller, and on and on.

Call me a heretic if you wish, but I maintain that: I like what I like and I don't like what I don't like.  I don't mean to suggest that others should agree with my choices.  What I do say is that others should have their ownchoices (which in any case, I will respect).

Phew!

McN


      To: tradjazz at list.okom.com  
      Subject: [Tradjazz] Dixieland Band  
      Date: Sun, 8 Oct 2006 12:26:30 EDT  
      From: GeoHunt1 at aol.com   
     


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      Bruce, et al:

      To me, in high school in the 1930s, a Dixieland Band had only one instrumentation: trumpet, trombone, clarinet, piano and drums.  Five pieces to be sure, but I don't think the Original Dixieland Jazz Band had anything to do with it.

      Trumpet.  Louis was playing trumpet then, and no one owned a cornet.
      Trombone.  They were used in the school marching band, and some kids owned one.
      Clarinet.  Same as trombone.

      We all knew at that time that those three instruments were indisputably a Dixieland front line.  I still don't think ODJB had anything to do with it.  Joe Oliver and Louis Armstrong probably led us to that belief.

      Piano.  If you knew anything about any kind of music, you had a piano in the parlor at  
             home; and the way we played, the piano player was the only thing that held us
             together.

      Drums.  We all knew Baby Dodds had said "Drums are essential".  We all believed him.
             Hell, HE WAS RIGHT.

      There you have it.  Five was the minimum number of instruments to play Dixieland, and we could not afford more than the minimum.  The five instruments needed to play Dixieland was firmly established by the late 1930s, and we all knew it.  I don't think the ODJB had anything to do with it.  We all knew about Joe Oliver, but no one had any of his records.  We all knew about Louis Armstrong and we all had plenty of his records.  I never even heard anyone talk about ODJB, but we all knew dozens of their songs because other bands had recorded them. (And yes, Dixie Jass Band One-Step/Livery Stable Blues was in the back of the wind-up Victrola I inherited.)

      Bottom line: The ODJB had the five-piece Dixieland band instrumentation all the high school Dixieland bands used in the 1930s, but that fact was not due to the ODJB.

      Today, I listen, live, to as many Dixieland bands as I can, but almost never do they employ that standard five-piece instrumentation. 

      Bass (brass or fiddle); what kid owned one of those in the 1930s?
      Banjo; Come on, they were for "Camp Town Races", minstrel shows and Hill Billies.
      Guitar: Go right home and hide your head in shame after you kiss Gene Autrey's horse.

      George Hunt 


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