Texan Jazz

by Oliphant, Dave

• ISBN13: 9780292760455
• ISBN10: 0292760450
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

Texas musicians and jazz share a history that goes all the way back to the origins of jazz in ragtime, blues, and boogie-woogie. Texans have left their mark on all of jazz's major movements, including hot jazz, swing, bebop, the birth of the cool, hard bop, and free jazz. Yet these musicians are seldom identified as Texans because their careers often took them to the leading jazz centers in New Orleans, Chicago, New York, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. In Texan Jazz, Dave Oliphant reclaims these musicians for Texas and explores the vibrant musical culture that brought them forth. Working through the major movements of jazz, he describes the lives, careers, and recordings of such musicians as Scott Joplin, Hersal Thomas, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Sippie Wallace, Jack Teagarden, Buster Smith, Hot Lips Page, Eddie Durham, Herschel Evans, Charlie Christian, Red Garland, Kenny Dorham, Jimmy Giuffre, Ornette Coleman, John Carter, and many others. The great strength of Texan Jazz is its record of the contributions to jazz made by African-American Texans. The first major book on this topic ever published, it will be fascinating reading for everyone who loves jazz.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction	p. 1
Beginnings In East Texas
Ragtime	p. 9
Country Blues	p. 36
Classic Blues	p. 53
Boogie-Woogie	p. 74
Going To Kansas City
The Bennie Moten Band, 1921-1927	p. 85
The Blue Devils, 1925-1934	p. 91
Bennie Moten, 1929-1935	p. 99
The Count Basie Orchestra, 1935-1963	p. 105
Jones-Smith, Inc., and the Kansas City Five and Six	p. 117
The Jay McShann Orchestra, 1938-1942	p. 123
Going To New York and Chicago
A Trombone Trio	p. 135
By Way of Kaycee	p. 155
Out of Big D	p. 182
With BG	p. 204
Out of Houston	p. 219
The Rhythm Section	p. 234
From Bebop to Hard Bop	p. 244
The Mingus Dynasty	p. 265
Going To Los Angeles
Out of Denton	p. 281
The Cowtown Vanguard	p. 306
Africa and Back	p. 342
Notes	p. 361
Selected Bibliography	p. 443
Index	p. 451
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.