10-12-2013, 02:39
The third type of jazz in the 20s was âswing jazz.â This should not be confused with the swing era jazz although that type of swing is an outgrowth of the 20s swing jazz. This music was hot and heavy on the jazz. Where sweet and corn restrained themselves from going too far, swing jazz pulled out the stops. It was jazz full force with virtually no society dance elements left. Two things need to be noted, however:
1. Many jazz historians do not feel that there ever really were full tilt swing bands. Hot swing was really an ideal to aspire to but could never be reached. No matter how hot it was, it could always be hotter.
2. This is linked to the fact that even the hottest black swing bands of that era played sweet and corn jazz as well. The reason is simply because they wanted to get hired for as many gigs as they could land. So their hot jazz was strewn with sweet and corny elements and it was impossible to remove them.
Perhaps the best swing band recordings of the 20s would be Louis Armstrongâs Hot Five and Jelly Roll Mortonâs Red Hot Peppers (both of which featured the incomparable Kid Ory playing tailgate trombone). The first clip is âWest End Bluesâ by the Hot Five from 1928. Louieâs cornet solo in the intro is considered by many jazz musicians to be the start of be-bop which wouldnât come to fruition over another decade. The second clip is Jelly Roll Mortonâs Red Hot Peppers from 1926 doing one of Mortonâs many compositions. He is considered to be the first true composer of jazz.
1. Many jazz historians do not feel that there ever really were full tilt swing bands. Hot swing was really an ideal to aspire to but could never be reached. No matter how hot it was, it could always be hotter.
2. This is linked to the fact that even the hottest black swing bands of that era played sweet and corn jazz as well. The reason is simply because they wanted to get hired for as many gigs as they could land. So their hot jazz was strewn with sweet and corny elements and it was impossible to remove them.
Perhaps the best swing band recordings of the 20s would be Louis Armstrongâs Hot Five and Jelly Roll Mortonâs Red Hot Peppers (both of which featured the incomparable Kid Ory playing tailgate trombone). The first clip is âWest End Bluesâ by the Hot Five from 1928. Louieâs cornet solo in the intro is considered by many jazz musicians to be the start of be-bop which wouldnât come to fruition over another decade. The second clip is Jelly Roll Mortonâs Red Hot Peppers from 1926 doing one of Mortonâs many compositions. He is considered to be the first true composer of jazz.
[video=youtube;pXHdqTVC3cA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXHdqTVC3cA[/video]
