Lost Chords White Musicians and their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945

by Sudhalter, Richard M.

• ISBN13: 9780195148381
• ISBN10: 019514838X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-11-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Too many jazz fans and critics--and even some jazz musicians--still contend that white players have contributed little of substance to the music; that even, with every white musician removed from the canon, the history and nature of jazz would remain unchanged. Now, with Lost Chords , musician-historian Richard M. Sudhalter challenges this narrow view, with a book that pays definitive tribute to a generation of white jazz players, many unjustly forgotten--while never scanting the role of the great black pioneers. Greeted enthusiastically by the jazz community upon its original publication, this monumental volume offers an exhaustively documented, vividly narrated history of white jazz contribution in the vital years 1915 to 1945. Beginning in New Orleans, Sudhalter takes the reader on a fascinating multicultural odyssey through the hot jazz gestation centers of Chicago and New York, Indiana and Texas, examining such bands such as the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, the Original Memphis Five, and the Casa Loma Orchestra. Readers will find luminous accounts of many key soloists, including Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Red Norvo, Bud Freeman, the Dorsey Brothers, Bunny Berigan, Pee Wee Russell, and Artie Shaw, among others. Sudhalter reinforces the reputations of these and many other major jazzmen, pleading their cases persuasively and eloquently, without ever descending to polemic. Along the way, he gives due credit to Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, and countless other major black figures. Already hailed as a basic reference book on the subject--and now incorporating information that has come to light since its first publication-- Lost Chords is a ground-breaking book that should significantly alter perceptions about jazz and its players, reminding readers of this great music's multicultural origins.

Author Biography

B>Richard M. Sudhalter is a highly respected musician, considered one of today's outstanding trumpet players. A noted critic, broadcaster, and historian, he was co-author of Bix: Man and Legend, still cited as the definitive Beiderbecke biography. He lives on Long Island's North Fork.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	xv
I In the Beginning: New Orleans to Chicago	1	(98)
Bands from Dixieland	3	(25)
The New Orleans Rhythm Kings	28	(20)
Emmett Hardy	48	(15)
White New Orleans Jazz in the 1920s	63	(22)
White Chicago Jazz, 1923-1926	85	(14)
II The Sophisticates: New York and Its Hot Jazz Chamber Music	99	(82)
Miff Mole and the Original Memphis Five	101	(29)
Red Nichols and His Circle	130	(29)
Adrian Rollini and the California Ramblers	159	(22)
III The Hot Lineage: Chicago and Its Descendants	181	(120)
Revolutionaries from the Suburbs	183	(32)
Chicago Jazz in the 1930s	215	(24)
Bud Freeman and the Tenor Saxophone	239	(35)
Dixieland	274	(27)
IV The Big Bands 1: Creating a Tradition	301	(108)
The Jean Goldkette and Ben Pollack Orchestras	303	(35)
Casa Loma Stomp	338	(21)
Dorseys and Boswells	359	(23)
The Bob Crosby Orchestra	382	(27)
V Individual Voices	409	(142)
Bix Beiderbecke and Some of His Friends	411	(35)
Frank Trumbauer: The Divided Self	446	(24)
Jack Purvis	470	(17)
Bunny Berigan	487	(30)
Guitars, Solo and in Combination	517	(34)
VI The Big Bands 2: At the Summit	551	(70)
Benny Goodman	553	(16)
Artie Shaw (1): Matchless Music	569	(29)
Artie Shaw (2): Time and Change	598	(23)
VII The Fine Art of Sui Generis	621	(128)
Bobby Hackett: Making It Sing	623	(30)
Red Norvo and Mildred Bailey (1): Early Careers	653	(25)
Red Norvo and Mildred Bailey (2): Mr. and Mrs. Swing	678	(28)
Pee Wee Russell and Jack Teagarden	706	(43)
Epilogue
Notes	749	(94)
Acknowledgments	843	(3)
Credits	846	(2)
Index	848