New Orleans Jazz, Chicago Jazz and use of the bass and the 4/4 groove or modifying a 2/4 time via the use of the string bass

Main Feature

Sam Morgan and His Jazz Band
( This band used the traditional New Orleans instrumentation with plucked and bowed string bass ) ( The most prominent example of the ‘loping 4/4’ groove, totally different from the Swing Era 4/4 groove but just as effective )

Bogalusa Strut
Recorded – October 22, 1927 – New Orleans – Columbia 14351-D

Steppin' On The Gas
( A real 4/4 "Stomp" – Up there with ‘Bogalusa Strut’ )
Recorded – April 14, 1927 – New Orleans – Columbia 14258-D

Down By The Riverside
Recorded – October 22, 1927 – New Orleans – Columbia 14267-D

Everybody's Talking About Sammy
Recorded – April 14, 1927 – New Orleans – Columbia 14213-D

Mobile Stomp
Recorded – April 14, 1927 – New Orleans – Columbia 14258-D

Over In The Gloryland
Recorded – October 22, 1927 – New Orleans – Columbia 14539-D

Sing On
( I think this hymn is where the songwriter got ‘Lonesome Road’ )
( recorded by Louis Armstrong a few years later on November 5, 1931 in Chicago )
Recorded – April 14, 1927 – New Orleans – Columbia 14539-D

Short Dress Gal ( Vocal Chorus by Sam Morgan )
Recorded – October 22, 1927 – New Orleans – Columbia 14351-D

Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers
( The first few recording sessions of the Red Hot Peppers sported a string bass )

Dr. Jazz
Recorded – December 16, 1926 – Chicago – Victor 20415-A

Someday Sweetheart
Recorded – December 16, 1926 – Chicago – Victor 20405-A

( The tail end of the 1920’s found Jelly Roll Morton in New York City. )
( Here he is, using sidemen from Luis Russell Orchestra for a few ) 
( mellow 4/4 groove tunes )

Sweet Peter
Recorded – November 13, 1929 – New York – (RCA) Victor 23402-A

Mississippi Mildred
Recorded – November 13, 1929 – New York – (RCA) Victor 23424-B

MintJulep
Recorded – November 13, 1929 – New York – (RCA) Victor 23334-A

Jelly Roll Morton and His Orchestra
( Expanded version of the Red Hot Peppers – It had a tuba but could lay )
( on a 4/4 groove, especially on a STOMP like the example below )

Red Hot Pepper

Recorded – June 11, 1928 – New York – Victor V-38055-A

Louis Dumaine’s Jazzola 8
(How a 4/4 Groove sounded in an ensemble with a tuba playing 2/4 )

To-Wa-Bac-A-Wa – Yale Blues ( Bucket’s Got A Hole In It )
Recorded – March 3, 1927 – New Orleans – Victor 20273

Jones-Collins AstoriaEight
( What a New Orleans Band sounded like at the end of the decade, )
( emphasizing soloing over polyphony and using a bass in a sort of )
( mix of 2/4 and 4/4 groove )

Astoria Strut
Recorded – November 15, 1929 – New Orleans – (RCA) Victor V-38576-A

Damp Weather
Recorded – November 15, 1929 – New Orleans – Bluebird B-10952-A

Tip Easy Blues
Recorded – November 15, 1929 – New Orleans – Bluebird B-10952-B

The following examples trace a specific ensemble of New Orleans Musicians transplanted to Harlem and given free rein by the mobsters in whose nightclub they performed.

Henry ( ‘Red’ ) Allen and His New York Orchestra
( Luis Russell Orchestra )
( For contractual reasons, the Luis Russell Orchestra recorded )
( for (RCA) Victor under Henry "Red" Allen’s name )

Feeling Drowsy
Recorded - July 17, 1929 – New York – HMV JK 2524 ( British Release )

Swing Out
Recorded – July 17, 1929 – New York – (RCA) Victor V-38080-B ( A few skips )

Pleasin’ Paul

Recorded – September 24, 1929 – New York – Victor V-38107-B ( A few more skips )

… and how it evolved into a more recognizable Swing Era groove

Sugar Hill Function
Recorded – February 18, 1930 – New York – Victor V-38140-A

Luis Russell and His Orchestra
( The same band, recording under it’s real name )
( For Okeh and Brunswick/Vocalion )

Louisiana Swing
Recorded – May 29, 1930 – New York – OKeh 8811

Muggin' Lightly

Recorded – September 3, 1930 – New York – Okeh 8830

Saratoga Drag

Recorded – December 17, 1930 – New York – Vocalion 1579

And Fully Grown in Harlem….

Another band influencing the changing of the rhythm section to
the piano/drums/bass/guitar configuration was..

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
( who used Wellman Braud’s New Orleans bass both arco and )
( plucked to good effect in his "Jungle Music" style )

Flaming Youth
Recorded – January 16, 1929 – New York – Victor V-38035

Cotton Club Stomp
Recorded – May 3, 1929 – New York – (RCA) Victor V-38079

The Duke Steps Out
Recorded – September, 1929 New York, New York – (RCA) Victor

And the Dean of the Harlem Hot Bands,

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra
( Henderson had a triple-threat bass player in John Kirby, )
( who could play a conventional tuba part for a society )
( band dance number )

I've Found What I Wanted In You
Recorded – February 5, 1931 – New York – Columbia 2414-D

to a ‘pizzicato’ tuba playing 4/4, and sounding something like an echoey, amplified bass

Keep A Song In Your Soul
Recorded – December 2, 1930 – New York - Columbia

to his aluminum string bass

Somebody Loves MeSomebody Loves Me
Recorded – October 3, 1930 New York – Columbia 2329-D

Chinatown, My Chinatown
Recorded – October 3, 1930 New York – Columbia 2329-D

New King Porter Stomp
Recorded – December 9, 1932 – New York – Columbia

How Chicago Jazz Musicians
used the bass and the type
of grooves they set up

Charles Pierce and His Orchestra
( A butcher by trade, Pierce was a talented semi-pro sax player )

Bull Frog Blues
Recorded – January 19, 1927 – Chicago – Paramount 12619

China Boy
( Contrast this with the next version of the same )
( tune recorded the same year )
Recorded – January 19, 1927 – Chicago – Paramount 12619

McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans
( Famous definitive Chicago Jazz session – but interestingly, )
( more 2/4 time than the Pierce date, which I like better )

China Boy
( They definitely ripped off some ideas from the )
( Charles Pierce recording - Then again, some of )
( the same musicians were on this date too.  Just about )
( all the members of the Austin High Gang are here )
Recorded – December 8, 1927 – Chicago – Okeh 41011 / UCHA 9

Sugar
Recorded – December 8, 1927 – Chicago – Okeh 41011 / UCHA 10

Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra
( Legendary Jazz Orchestra with Bix Beiderbeck, )
( Frankie Trumbauer, Joe Venuti, Chauncey Morehouse, )
( a host of other future jazz stars.. and yes, a bass! )

Clemintine (From New Orleans)
Recorded – September 15, 1927 – New York – Victor 20994-A

Boyd Senter and His Senterpedes
( By the end of the 1920’s, the Chicago influence was felt in New York )

( … and the studio cats were listening )

Copenhagen Stomp
Recorded – November 13, 1929 – New York – (RCA) Victor 22303-A

Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang and Their All-Star Orchestra

Farewell Blues

( With a number of future Swing Era luminaries. )
( Can you pick them out? )

Recorded – October 22, 1931 – New York – Vocalion 15858

And as per those who stayed in Chicago...

Barbecue Joe and His Hot Dogs (Wingy Manone)

Tar Paper Stomp

( The ORIGINAL version of what would evolve into "In The Mood" )
( came from Chicago Jazz )
Recorded – August 28, 1930 – Richmond, Indiana – Champion 16153-B

Shake That Thing
Recorded – August 28, 1930 – Richmond, Indiana – Champion 16192 / Decca 7366

To close up the Chicago segment – a remarkable recording
– a white dance / pop orchestra able to establish a STRONG
4/4 groove with a 1920’s Jazz Age rhythm configuration
including banjo and tuba!

Ted Weems and His Orchestra

Remarkable Girl
Recorded – September 13, 1929 – Camden, NJ – Victor 22157

The West Coast

And now, a very early example of the use of bass in a
primitive acoustic recording made in 1922!  You may not
be able to pick out the string bass in this acoustic
recording, but you can hear the lilt the bass playing gives
to the other players, enabling an early example of ‘groove’

Herb Weidoeft’s Famous Orchestra

Fig Leaf (Actually Maple Leaf Rag! )
Recorded – Early 1922 – Los Angeles – Nordskog 3005 A

Virginia Blues
( If you can go into Tools/Equalizer and turn up the )
( bass band to its highest, you may be able to hear )
( the string bass very faintly )
Recorded – Early 1922 – Los Angeles – Nordskog 3004 A

Finally –
A Survey of how grooves were set in early Kansas City Jazz

...with the use guitar and bass in rhythm sections delayed until the early 1930's Kansas City was a very RAGTIME-Based area as well as being a very BLUES based area.  Marching bands were also quite popular.  There is a preponderance of 2/4 tempo and tuba usage although some implied 6/8 groove can be heard.

Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra

South
Recorded – September 7, 1928 – Camden, NJ –
(RCA) Victor V-38021-A / Victor 24893-A

Loose As A Goose
( Blues Groove by a small group out of the band – )
( This looks ahead to Rock Music rather than to Swing )
Recorded – July 18, 1929 – Chicago –(RCA) Victor V-38123-A

However, by the cusp of the 1930’s other bands were breathing down Moten’s neck and his conservative style when playing with the full dance ensemble was becoming a millstone.

Kansas City Squabble
Recorded – July 16, 1929 – Chicago – (RCA) Victor V-38091-A

Terrific Stomp

Recorded – July 16, 1929 – Chicago – (RCA) Victor V-38081-B / Bluebird 6304

Competition came from bands like…

Walter Page’s Blue Devils
( With a number written by Count Basie )

Squabblin'
Recorded – November 10, 1920 – Kansas City, Missouri – Vocalion 1463

Moten raided the Page Orchestra to remove it from competition but a funny thing happened. The new blood started transforming Moten’s band stylistically.  The transition could be heard in it’s infancy by late 1930.

Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra

Somebody Stole My Gal
( Vocal Chorus by Bill Basie (Count Basie) )

Recorded – October 31, 1930 –Kansas City, Missouri –
(RCA)Victor 23028-B / Bluebird 5481, 6709

When I'm Alone
Recorded – October 30, 1930 – Kansas City, Missouri –
(RCA) Victor 22734

…and when they recorded again in late 1932, with a guitar and bass replacing the tuba, and with Bus(ter) Moten no longer playing accordian, they were a template for the the Swing Era in general and the Basie sound in particular…

Moten Swing
Recorded – December 13, 1932 – Camden, NJ –
(RCA) Victor 23384 / Bluebird 6032 / 10259

Toby
Recorded – December 13, 1932 – Camden, NJ –
(RCA) Victor 23384 / Bluebird 6032, 10259

Blue Room
Recorded – December 13, 1932 – Camden, NJ –
(RCA) Victor 24381 / Bluebird B-5585-A

New Orleans
( Vocal refrain by Jimmy Rushing, "Mr. Five-By-Five" )

Recorded – December 13, 1932 – Camden, NJ
(RCA) Victor 24216-A / Bluebird B-10955-B, B-6218

The Only Girl I Ever Loved
( Vocal refrain by the Sterling Russell Trio )
Recorded – December 13, 1932 – Camden, NJ
(RCA) Victor 23378

Prince Of Wails
Recorded – December 13, 1932 – Camden, NJ –
(RCA) Victor 23393 / Bluebird 6851

And by the mid 1930’s, this take on putting on a groove influenced even…

Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra

Announcer's Blues
Recorded – September 7, 1935 – New York – (RCA)Victor 25404