Good Old Good Ones

Final Draft, September 4, 1998

By Peter Keepnews,

(c) & (p) 1998, 2001 Jazz at Lincoln Center and Murray Street Productions, all rights reserved

The whole idea that early jazz is just the music of a certain period, and that it // no longer has validity in the culture and all, that's a lot of bunk.

To me, I listen to the records of these giants -- they get better all the time. It's like old wine. // It's timeless music, and it's just as up-to-date and // applying to our contemporary living as // when it was made.

 

3) Bradley:

LOUIS ARMSTRONG HAD AN EXPRESSION FOR SONGS THAT

STAND THE TEST OF TIME. HE CALLED THEM "THE GOOD OLD GOOD

ONES." SOME OF THE MOST DURABLE OF THOSE SONGS WERE FIRST PLAYED IN NEW

ORLEANS IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

WE'LL HEAR THE TIMELESS JAZZ OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG, JELLY ROLL MORTON, KING OLIVER,

AND OTHER PIONEERS, PERFORMED BY MICHAEL WHITE, WYNTON MARSALIS, AND FRIENDS --

ON THIS EDITION OF JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

NEW ORLEANS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. IT WAS IN THAT SOUTHERN CITY THAT RAGTIME, THE BLUES AND MARCH MUSIC CAME TOGETHER TO PRODUCE THE FIRST STIRRINGS OF JAZZ.

THE RESULT WAS A NEW KIND OF MUSIC, WITH A NEW KIND OF SYNCOPATED ENERGY -- RECAPTURED ALMOST A CENTURY LATER ON THE STAGE OF ALICE TULLY HALL. THIS IS THE NEW ORLEANS FAVORITE, "HIGH SOCIETY."

"HIGH SOCIETY," PERFORMED AT ALICE TULLY HALL BY AN ENSEMBLE

FEATURING DR. MICHAEL WHITE ON CLARINET AND WYNTON MARSALIS

ON TRUMPET.

MAJOR SUPPORT FOR JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER IS PROVIDED BY

DISCOVER CARD. IT PAYS TO DISCOVER.

It's very important for musicians // to not only listen to, but also perform earlier jazz styles, and to see what it actually feels like to play.

CLARINETIST MICHAEL WHITE.

10) Vox: Michael White (same interview, 13:49)

It's unfortunate that for // a lot of different reasons, over the years, a lot of musicians // completely disregarded earlier // jazz styles. Because they didn't like 'em, or because they weren't hip or fashionable, or because somebody wrote bad things about 'em or because somebody said bad things about other styles. // It's interesting that people are starting to change that view. // They're starting to realize that the whole history of jazz is a continuum, // and there are certain principles that come from way back, from the very beginning, that have stayed with the music ever since.

IF WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN EARLY JAZZ,

THE WORK OF DR. MICHAEL WHITE IS ONE OF THE REASONS FOR IT.

HE HAS DEVOTED HIS CAREER TO PERFORMING AND TEACHING THE NEW ORLEANS TRADITION.

IT’S BEEN HIS MISSION TO SHOW MUSICIANS THAT THERE IS AN ART TO PLAYING THIS MUSIC. AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THAT NEW ORLEANS JAZZ IS DEMOCRATIC, BUILT ON THE CONCEPT OF GROUP IMPROVISATION.

{optional} FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS LIKE TRUMPETER NICHOLAS PAYTON, MASTERING THIS KIND OF ENSEMBLE PLAYING HAS BEEN BOTH A CHALLENGE AND AN INSPIRATION.

12) Vox: Nicholas Payton (1991 interview, 20:21)

That sound that they got as a group has been defunct for, like, years now. // (20:59) To perform that music, you gotta have that type of mindset. // People of today, they don't have the type of mindset of [pause] togetherness. // They don't have the, the sense of working together // to pull off something // on a high level.

13) Bradley:

TRUMPETERS NICHOLAS PAYTON AND WYNTON MARSALIS AND CLARINETIST MICHAEL WHITE PLAY TOGETHER ON ONE OF THE BEST-KNOWN PIECES FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF JAZZ.

HERE'S "DIPPERMOUTH BLUES."

14) Music: Dippermouth Blues (Oliver) {5:57}

[Note: The timing listed on the log is incorrect.]

15) Bradley:

JOE "KING" OLIVER'S "DIPPERMOUTH BLUES." FEATURING NICHOLAS PAYTON, WYNTON MARSALIS AND MICHAEL WHITE. ALSO IN THE ENSEMBLE WERE TROMBONIST FRED LONZO AND BANJO PLAYER DON VAPPIE. FARID [fah-REED] BARON WAS THE PIANIST, WITH HERLIN RILEY ON DRUMS AND WYCLIFFE GORDON ON TUBA.

17) Bradley:

THE JAZZ OF NEW ORLEANS MAY HAVE BEEN PRIMARILY A GROUP MUSIC, BUT THERE WAS PLENTY OF ROOM FOR DISTINCTIVE INDIVIDUALS. ONE OF THE MOST COLORFUL CHARACTERS HAPPENS TO HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MUSICIANS IN THE HISTORY OF JAZZ: PIANIST AND COMPOSER JELLY ROLL MORTON.

WELL KNOWN FOR HIS FLASHY CLOTHES, ITINERANT LIFESTYLE, AND BOASTFUL MANNER, MORTON CLAIMED TO HAVE SINGLE-HANDEDLY INVENTED JAZZ.

WHILE HE MAY NOT HAVE DONE THAT, MORTON WAS THE FIRST TO CAPTURE JAZZ IN WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS.

DR. MICHAEL WHITE.

18) Vox: Michael White (int #162, 9:35)

Morton showed that you can have [pause] rather complex written scores, uh, and section [pause] work, and improvised solos together in the same piece without [pause] losing the feel of jazz. That jazz can be, uh, not just completely improvised or just completely arranged, but could be both.

19) Bradley:

THE STRENGTH AND IMAGINATION OF THAT WRITING STILL SHONE THROUGH SOME SEVEN DECADES LATER, WHEN WYNTON MARSALIS AND MICHAEL WHITE REVISITED JELLY ROLL MORTON’S "THE PEARLS."

20) Music: The Pearls (Morton) {2:53}

21) Bradley:

JELLY ROLL MORTON'S "THE PEARLS," FEATURING WYNTON MARSALIS ON TRUMPET AND MICHAEL WHITE ON CLARINET. THE TENOR SAXOPHONIST WAS TODD WILLIAMS.

BEYOND HIS TALENTS AS A COMPOSER, MORTON WAS ALSO A GREAT PIANIST. AS STEVE PISTORIUS, A FOURTH-GENERATION NEW ORLEANIAN, DISCOVERED EARLY IN HIS MUSICAL LIFE.

22) Vox: Steve Pistorius (1:28)

He believed that you should play the piano like a whole band. And he did that. // (8:22)Music such as Morton's you can't really play from the page at all; it just doesn't work. // (9:19) You have to love this stuff to do it. You have to have a really basic love in here and you can't fake it.

23) Bradley:

TO PLAY JELLY ROLL MORTON'S PIANO MUSIC, YOU HAVE TO BE TECHNICALLY PROFICIENT -- AND FEARLESS.

NO SMALL CHALLENGE TO STEVE PISTORIUS ON MORTON'S DAUNTING "FINGERBUSTER."

25) Bradley:

JELLY ROLL MORTON'S APTLY NAMED "FINGERBUSTER." SKILLFULLY NAVIGATED BY STEVE PISTORIUS AT THE KEYBOARD.

THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

27) Bradley:

ANOTHER GREAT NEW ORLEANS INDIVIDUAL WAS SIDNEY BECHET. HE BEGAN HIS CAREER PLAYING CLARINET IN BRASS BANDS AND JAZZ GROUPS. BUT HE WAS TOO IMAGINATIVE AND STRONG-WILLED A PLAYER TO BE CONTENT AS PART OF THE ENSEMBLE; WHETHER ON CLARINET OR ON SOPRANO SAXOPHONE, BECHET CAME TO DOMINATE EVERY PERFORMANCE HE TOOK PART IN.

SOPRANO SAXOPHONIST BOB WILBER WAS BECHET'S STUDENT IN THE LATE FORTIES, AND REMAINS ONE OF HIS MOST ACCOMPLISHED DISCIPLES.

28) Vox: Bob Wilber (54:46)

He is not a traditional New Orleans // musician. // You can't pigeonhole him; you can't put him in a category. // He's in one category only, that's the Sidney Bechet category. // There's never been anybody like him.

29) Bradley:

BOB WILBER CAPTURES BECHET'S BIG SOUND AND BOUNDLESS ENERGY ON THIS RENDITION OF "WILDCAT BLUES."

31) Bradley:

SIDNEY BECHET'S "WILDCAT BLUES." BOB WILBER ON THE SOPRANO SAX.

OVER THE YEARS, SIDNEY BECHET’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS HAVE BEEN SOMEWHAT ECLIPSED BY THE FAME OF HIS CONTEMPORARY: LOUIS ARMSTRONG. BUT THEY BOTH CAN TAKE CREDIT FOR STEERING JAZZ IN A NEW DIRECTION.

ARMSTRONG AND BECHET TOOK THE RHYTHMIC EXUBERANCE THAT WAS ALREADY PART OF JAZZ AND ADDED A NEW LEVEL OF DRIVE AND SOPHISTICATION.

IN 1924, THEY RECORDED TOGETHER ON A QUAINT RAGTIME-INSPIRED NUMBER CALLED "CAKEWALKIN' BABIES FROM HOME." BUT WHAT BECHET AND ARMSTRONG DID WITH IT WHEN THEY WENT HEAD TO HEAD WAS ANYTHING BUT QUAINT.

AT ALICE TULLY HALL, THIS IS WYNTON MARSALIS AND BOB WILBUR’S VERSION OF "CAKEWALKIN' BABIES FROM HOME."

[Please use the version from the 1997 Bechet concer, P#257.]

"CAKEWALKIN' BABIES FROM HOME." WYNTON MARSALIS ON TRUMPET AND BOB WILBER ON SOPRANO SAXOPHONE -- INVOKING THE SPIRITS OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND SIDNEY BECHET.

MAJOR SUPPORT FOR JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER IS PROVIDED BY

DISCOVER CARD. IT PAYS TO DISCOVER.

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT COMES FROM NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO MEMBER STATIONS AND N-P-R, WHOSE CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE: THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS AND THE LILA WALLACE-READER'S DIGEST FUND, HELPING PEOPLE TO MAKE THE ARTS AND CULTURE AN ACTIVE PART OF THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES.

WE ALSO RECEIVE PRODUCTION FUNDS FROM THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING.

FOR MORE ABOUT SIDNEY BECHET, JELLY ROLL MORTON AND LOUIS ARMSTRONG, CHECK OUR WEBSITE AT YOU CAN E-MAIL TO , OR WRITE TO US AT JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER, NEW YORK CITY 10023.

YOU'RE LISTENING TO JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

TO THE CASUAL LISTENER, THE TRADITIONAL JAZZ OF NEW ORLEANS MIGHT SOUND OLD-FASHIONED, MAYBE EVEN CORNY. TO ANYONE WHO HAS TRIED TO PLAY IT, IT IS NOTHING OF THE KIND.

NEW ORLEANS-BORN JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, WYNTON MARSALIS, BELIEVES THAT MAKING THIS MUSIC IS AN EDUCATION IN ITSELF.

38) Vox: Wynton Marsalis (1994 Mandel interview, 9:56)

In terms of the ensemble, you learn how to play with other horn players. Playing at the same time, it's another level of etiquette. // You have to play this music soft, 'cause // it really sounds like noise when you play loud. So you, you have to learn how to play // in the context of an ensemble.

39) Bradley:

THE NUMBERS WE'RE ABOUT TO HEAR ARE NOTEWORTHY NOT JUST FOR THE ENSEMBLE PLAYING, BUT FOR THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE

TWO CORNETS. THESE COUSINS OF THE TRUMPET WERE PLAYED ON THE ORIGINAL RECORDINGS BY "KING" OLIVER AND LOUIS ARMSTRONG; AT ALICE TULLY HALL IN 1991, WYNTON MARSALIS AND NICHOLAS PAYTON REPLAYED THAT DUEL ON TRUMPETS.

WE'LL HEAR "MABEL'S DREAM" AND "TEARS."

"MABEL’S DREAM" AND "TEARS," PERFORMED BY TRUMPETERS WYNTON MARSALIS AND NICHOLAS PAYTON, WITH DR. MICHAEL WHITE ON CLARINET AND FRED LONZO ON TROMBONE. IN THE RHYTHM SECTION: PIANIST FARID BARON, DRUMMER HERLIN RILEY, BANJO PLAYER DON VAPPIE AND WYCLIFFE GORDON ON TUBA.

LEGEND TELLS US THAT THE FIRST JAZZ MUSICIAN WAS A TRUMPET PLAYER NAMED BUDDY BOLDEN.

WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT BOLDEN SOUNDED LIKE, BECAUSE HE LEFT NO RECORDINGS. BUT RECOLLECTIONS AND WRITINGS TELL US THAT HE PLAYED LOUDER THAN ANYBODY ELSE AND WITH A LOT MORE BLUES FEELING.

WE ALSO HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT KIND OF PERSON BUDDY BOLDEN WAS FROM THIS SONG, WRITTEN BY JELLY ROLL MORTON. POSSIBLY BASED ON A MELODY COMPOSED BY BOLDEN, AT ALICE TULLY HALL IT'S SUNG AND PLAYED BY NEW ORLEANS TRUMPETER WILLIE SINGLETON.

"BUDDY BOLDEN’S BLUES."

43) Bradley:

"BUDDY BOLDEN'S BLUES." WRITTEN BY JELLY ROLL MORTON, SUNG AND PLAYED BY WILLIE SINGLETON.

HERE’S ANOTHER JELLY ROLL MORTON BLUES. HE ORIGINALLY RECORDED THIS IN A 1923 DUET WITH KING OLIVER. SEVEN DECADES LATER, IT WAS REVIVED AT ALICE TULLY HALL BY PIANIST FARID BARON AND TRUMPETER NICHOLAS PAYTON.

HERE'S "TOM CAT BLUES."

NICHOLAS PAYTON ON TRUMPET AND FARID BARON ON PIANO. JELLY ROLL MORTON'S "TOM CAT BLUES."

THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

JOHNNY DODDS WAS ONE OF THE BUSIEST MUSICIANS IN EARLY JAZZ. HIS CLARINET CAN BE HEARD ON RECORDINGS BY KING OLIVER, JELLY ROLL MORTON AND LOUIS ARMSTRONG, AS WELL AS ON SESSIONS HE DID UNDER HIS OWN NAME.

Johnny Dodds was probably the most popular of the New Orleans clarinet players on record in the 1920's.

CLARINETIST MICHAEL WHITE.

He played great ensemble style, polyphony; he knew how to, how to play call and response with trumpet players. But he also could play great lead, and he had a very funky, driving, swinging sound. // A very unique, uh, tone.

51) Bradley:

FROM THE STAGE OF ALICE TULLY HALL, HERE IS MICHAEL WHITE WITH OF ONE OF JOHNNY DODDS'S FEATURE NUMBERS, "BLUE CLARINET STOMP."

JOHNNY DODDS'S "BLUE CLARINET STOMP." PLAYED BY CLARINETIST MICHAEL WHITE, WITH STEVE PISTORIUS ON PIANO AND REGINALD VEAL ON THE BOWED BASS.

OF ALL THE MUSICIANS TO EMERGE DURING THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF NEW ORLEANS JAZZ, NO ONE WOULD ACHIEVE MORE FAME THAN LOUIS ARMSTRONG. AND NONE MADE A GREATER CONTRIBUTION TO JAZZ, EITHER.

THE MASTER ENTERTAINER, A GRAVELLY-VOICED SINGER AND AMBASSADOR OF GOOD WILL, ARMSTRONG PIONEERED A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF CREATIVITY IN THE JAZZ SOLO.

HIS FIRST RECORDED SOLO WAS BRIEF AND MODEST, ON A TUNE CALLED "CHIMES BLUES," RECORDED IN 1923 BY KING OLIVER'S BAND. BUT IT SIGNALED THE ARRIVAL OF AN IMPORTANT NEW VOICE. JUST TWO YEARS LATER, HE BEGAN RECORDING AS A LEADER -- AND LAID DOWN A SERIES OF SOLOS THAT WERE MORE RHYTHMICALLY COMPLEX, MELODICALLY INVENTIVE AND JUST PLAIN HOTTER THAN ANYTHING THAT HAD EVER BEEN HEARD BEFORE.

FROM ALICE TULLY HALL, HERE IS "CHIMES BLUES," WITH WILLIE SINGLETON HANDLING ARMSTRONG'S SOLO SPOT AND STEVE PISTORIUS FEATURED ON PIANO. THAT'S FOLLOWED BY AN INTERPRETATION OF ONE OF ARMSTRONG'S CLASSIC RECORDINGS, THE 1927 "POTATO HEAD BLUES," FEATURING WYNTON MARSALIS ON TRUMPET.

[alt: THAT’S FOLLOWED BY INTERPRETATIONS OF TWO OF THE CLASSIC RECORDINGS ARMSTRONG MADE AS A LEADER: "MUSKRAT RAMBLE" AND "POTATO HEAD BLUES," FEATURING WYNTON MARSALIS ON TRUMPET.]

57) Bradley:

"POTATO HEAD BLUES." THE TRUMPET ARTISTRY OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG OF NEW ORLEANS, AS INTERPRETED FOR THE NINETIES BY WYNTON MARSALIS -- KEEPING THE SOUND AND SPIRIT OF EARLY JAZZ ALIVE.

58) Music (under closing credits): When the Saints Go Marching In

59) Bradley:

OUR "GOOD OLD GOOD ONES" FROM NEW ORLEANS WERE PERFORMED BY WYNTON MARSALIS, NICHOLAS PAYTON, WILLIE SINGLETON, WENDELL BRUNIOUS AND GREG STAFFORD ON TRUMPET AND CORNET. DR. MICHAEL WHITE PLAYED CLARINET AND BOB WILBER PLAYED SOPRANO SAXOPHONE. TODD WILLIAMS, WESS ANDERSON, VICTOR GOINES AND JOE TEMPERLEY ON REEDS. FRED LONZO WAS ON TROMBONE, WITH WYCLIFFE GORDON ON BOTH TROMBONE AND TUBA. DON VAPPIE AND DANNY BARKER PLAYED BANJOS. HOWARD COLLINS WAS ON GUITAR. THE PIANISTS WERE STEVE PISTORIUS, FARID BARON, MARCUS ROBERTS AND ERIC REED. REGINALD VEAL PLAYED BASS, WITH HERLIN RILEY AT THE DRUMS.

JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER IS PRODUCED BY JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER AND MURRAY STREET ENTERPRISE NEW YORK. THIS PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY PETER KEEPNEWS [KEEP-nooz] AND EDITED BY LAUREN KRENZEL. SENIOR PRODUCER IS STEVE RATHE.

THE RECORDINGS WERE MIXED BY JIM ANDERSON, MARK WILDER AND SAUNDRA PALMER GRASSI WITH REMOTE FACILITIES PROVIDED BY EFFANEL MUSIC AND SONY CLASSICAL. DIGITAL POST-PRODUCTION BY DAVID GOREN AT STEVEN ERICKSON'S.

59) Bradley:

{alt} DIGITAL POST-PRODUCTION BY STEVEN ERICKSON.

{alt} DIGITAL POST-PRODUCTION BY ASSOCIATE PRODUCER PAUL CHUFFO.

OUR ASSOCIATE PRODUCER IS PAUL CHUFFO.

THE PRODUCTION TEAM INCLUDES GWENDOLYN DEAN, TRACEY PULLO (POO-lo), ANDREW ROSENBLUM (ROSE-en-blumm), DANIEL BLAKE, IRENE TRUDEL (true-DELL), WILLIAM BROWER, STEVE ROWLAND, HOWARD MANDEL [MAN-dul], AND JOSEPH HOOPER.

THANKS TO THE RADIO FOUNDATION, WBGO-FM, APRIL SMITH, LEO GAMBACORTA (gam-ba-KOR-ta), AND THE STAGE CREW AT ALICE TULLY HALL.

THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF JAZZ AT LINCOLN

CENTER IS ROB GIBSON. THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IS WYNTON MARSALIS.

I'M ED BRADLEY. THIS IS N-P-R, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO.