Jazz for aficionados

Jack Teagarden :

A real old timer. Back to the 1920's I believe. I don't have anything by him.

I would take that 'King of the Blues' thingy with a grain of salt. That title was just a sign of the times in this country.

Remember, when Louis Armstrong, Bird, Ellington, Basie, and Lord knows who else, were alive and in their prime, Benny Goodman was anointed 'King Of Jazz', by the music and entertainment media / industry in this country.

Don't mean to critize Goodman. He was a pioneer in many respects. I think it was just the 'King" of any and every thing prior to WWII, had to be white.

He may be a good player. But my advice, forget the Blues 'King' part of it.

Cheers

Gene Harris is a musician Rok and I both admire. This is something I found on "you tube" that I liked, and since this is one of Rok's favorite musicians, maybe he'll write his review on it; especially since we all like his reviews.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eATnDPvzN_s

Enjoy the music.

Amen Rok; I looked in my jazz encyclopedia and read a lot about him that sounded like hype to me. No he's not in my collection, and I haven't considered adding him. Jazz for me began with modern jazz; consequently, my ears don't take kindly to "dixie land".

I don't think that Jack Teagarden's relevance in the history of jazz should be considered simply hype. It is true that the titles "King" of this or that were overblown titles, and partially the unfortunate result of the terrible social biases and injustices that were prevalent at the time. Rok is, sadly, correct that it is unlikely that a black jazz player at the time would have been designated "King" of anything by the majority white ($$$) audiences. Nonetheless, it is also true that Benny was responsible for exposing vast audiences to "Swing"; hence the title "King of Swing". Having said that, Teagarden is correctly credited for bringing the trombone to the modern jazz era. He was the transitional link from the traditional supporting role of the trombone in dixieland to the more prominent role as solo instrument in "Swing". The guy could really play and demonstrated a facility on the instrument that must have been considered amazing at the time.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4MlFCDcP2zM

Bottom line for me: Louis Armstrong chose him to play in his band. I doubt that Louis succumbed to hype. Interesting that Teagarden and Benny should be mentioned: Teagarden was a white player in a black band, and Benny Goodman's band was one (maybe first?) racially integrated band with the addition of Lionel Hampton, Charlie Christian and others.

BTW, Learsfool, please post your impressions of Teagarden when you listen to that set. Thanks.