This Week On Riverwalk Jazz: Goodman, Shaw & Dorsey: Big Band Leaders And Their Small Combos.
This week on Riverwalk Jazz, The Jim Cullum Jr.
Jim Cullum Jr.
b.1941
cornet
Jazz Band remembers hot jazz from the small combos of the Swing Era with “At the Codfish Ball” from the Clambake Seven, “Summit Ridge Drive” from the Gramercy Five, “Moonglow” from the Goodman Quartet, and the Ellington small groups with a composition by Cootie Williams
Cootie Williams
1911 - 1985
trumpet
, “A Toasted Pickle.” Special features on the broadcast include an interview with Goodman small group personnel–pianist Teddy Wilson
Teddy Wilson
1912 - 1986
piano
and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
1908 - 2002
vibraphone
. Guest performers include saxophonist Harry Allen
Harry Allen
b.1966
saxophone
, vibes legend Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
1908 - 2002
vibraphone
, former JCJB clarinetist Allan Vaché and others.
The program is distributed in the US by Public Radio International, on Sirius/XM satellite radio and can be streamed on-demand from the Riverwalk Jazz website.
When “swing was the thing,” big bands led by the Dorsey brothers, Count Basie
Count Basie
1904 - 1984
piano
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
1909 - 1986
clarinet
, Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
1910 - 2004
clarinet
, and Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
1899 - 1974
piano
ruled America’s airwaves and its dance floors. But even at the height of big band mania, small ensembles often stole the show. Hot, small combos that were dance band spin-offs began to top the charts. Goodman had his Trio and Quartet; Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
1905 - 1956
trombone
his Clambake Seven. The Crosby Band had the Bob Cats and Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
1910 - 2004
clarinet
his Gramercy Five.
In his biography of Benny Goodman, Swing, Swing Swing, author Ross Firestone notes, “…although the big bands gave the Swing Era its commercial popularity, it was casually assembled small group sessions like these that produced much of its inspired music.”
Benny Goodman paved the way with his ground-breaking 1935 Trio recordings with drummer Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
1909 - 1973
drums
and pianist Teddy Wilson. For his first small-band session Goodman chose well-known standards. The emphasis was on pure jazz improvisation without the formal and sometimes ponderous arrangements needed to organize a big band of more than a dozen players and singers. The initial success of the Trio encouraged Goodman to keep small combos in his act throughout his career, augmenting the Trio to a Quartet, Sextet or Septet.
Artie Shaw, one of the most danced-to bandleaders of the Swing Era, was slow to form a small ensemble out of his orchestra. But when he did in 1940, he came up with something entirely new. Dubbed the Gramercy Five after a New York telephone exchange, Shaw’s small-combo music was crafted like chamber music but had the excitement of hot jazz. Shaw added the unusual sound of the harpsichord to the rhythm section. The very first Gramercy Five session produced a million-selling record. It was a number Artie Shaw composed and titled after the street in Los Angeles where all their rehearsals had taken place—”Summit Ridge Drive.”
The nucleus of the popular Bob Crosby
Bob Crosby
b.1913
Orchestra was the Bob Cats—an eight to ten-piece cooperative ensemble that featured Bob Haggart
Bob Haggart
b.1914
on bass and Yank Lawson
Yank Lawson
b.1911
on trumpet. The distinctive sound of the Bob Cats was molded by a shared reverence for the free-wheeling sound of classic New Orleans-style hot jazz. The Bob Cats added an extra solo voice to the traditional front line—New Orleans saxophonist Eddie Miller
Eddie Miller
b.1911
.
Because of his close association with members of the Bob Cats early in his career, Jim Cullum finds inspiration for his group’s musical concept from their timeless '30s small-band recordings arranged by Bob Haggart, like “Dog Town Blues,” “Mournin’ Blues,” and “All By Myself.”
Tommy Dorsey attracted a mass audience fronting his big band, which pledged to play a “song for every taste.” But The “Sentimental Gentlemen of Swing" could turn on a dime and play the hot swing style of New Orleans jazz he loved with his small combo, the Clambake Seven. A featured player in the band was the innovative and much admired saxophonist, Bud Freeman
Bud Freeman
1906 - 1991
sax, tenor
.
Duke Ellington was another big band leader who made a career-long habit of experimenting and recording with small combos. Some small group sessions were under his own name, but many were led by one of his own sidemen, including a winter 1940 session on which Ellington played piano with Cootie Williams
Cootie Williams
1911 - 1985
trumpet
and his Rug Cutters.
