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Original Memphis Five

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Dixieland jazz , also referred to as traditional jazz , hot jazz , or simply Dixieland , is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band (which shortly thereafter changed the spelling of its name to "Original Dixieland Jazz Band") fostered awareness of this new style of music.

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37-461: The Original Memphis Five was an early jazz quintet founded in 1917 by trumpeter Phil Napoleon and pianist Frank Signorelli . Jimmy Lytell was a member from 1922 to 1925. The group made many recordings between 1921 and 1931, sometimes under different names, including Ladd's Black Aces and The Cotton Pickers. Richard Cook and Brian Morton , writing for The Penguin Guide to Jazz , refer to

74-563: A washboard . There are several active periodicals devoted to traditional jazz: the Jazz Rambler , a quarterly newsletter distributed by San Diego's America's Finest City Dixieland Jazz Society; The Syncopated Times , which covers traditional jazz, ragtime, and swing; Just Jazz and The Jazz Rag in the UK; and, to an extent, Jazz Journal , an online-only publication based in Europe covering

111-406: A "front line" of trumpet (or cornet ), trombone, and clarinet, with a " rhythm section " of at least two of the following instruments: guitar or banjo , string bass or tuba, piano, and drums. The Dixieland sound is created when one instrument (usually the trumpet) plays the melody or a variation on it, and the other instruments improvise around that melody. This creates a more polyphonic sound than

148-608: A New Baby ", " Royal Garden Blues " and many others. All of these tunes were widely played by jazz bands of the pre- WWII era, especially Louis Armstrong. They came to be grouped as Dixieland standards beginning in the 1950s. Largely occurring at the same time as the "New Orleans Traditional" revival movement in the United States, traditional jazz music made a comeback in the Low Countries . However, most Dutch jazz bands (such as The Ramblers ) had long since evolved into

185-556: A new form of jazz ensemble generally referred to "Oude Stijl" ("Old Style") jazz in Dutch . Influenced by the instrumentation of the two principal orchestral forms of the wind band in the Netherlands and Belgium , the "harmonie " and the " fanfare ", traditional Dutch jazz bands do not feature a piano and contain no stringed instruments apart from the banjo . They include multiple trumpets, trombones and saxophones accompanied by

222-432: A single clarinet, sousaphone and a section of marching percussion usually including a washboard . The music played by Dutch jazz bands includes both the original New Orleans tunes and the songs of the revival era. In terms of playing style, Dutch jazz bands occupy a position between revivalist and original New Orleans jazz, with more solos than the latter but without abandoning the principle of ensemble playing. With

259-416: A variety of jazz styles. Arguably the happiest of all music is Dixieland jazz. The sound of several horns all improvising together on fairly simple chord changes with definite roles for each instrument but a large amount of freedom, cannot help but sound consistently joyful. By the mid-1930s the word 'Dixieland' was being applied freely to certain circles of white musicians. First by the trade press, then by

296-556: Is sometimes called "Dixie-bop". Lacy went on to apply that approach to the music of Thelonious Monk , Charles Mingus , Duke Ellington , and Herbie Nichols . The word " Dixie " is the nickname of the Southern United States, wherein New Orleans – the birthplace of Dixieland Jazz – is located. Dixieland largely evolved into Chicago style in the late 1910s and the new style was popularly called that name by

333-598: The Rebirth Brass Band , have combined traditional New Orleans brass band jazz with such influences as contemporary jazz, funk , hip hop , and rap. The M-Base (Multi-Basic Array of Synchronous Extemporization) improvisational concept used by ensembles including Cassandra Wilson , Geri Allen , Greg Osby , Steve Coleman , Graham Haynes , Kevin Eubanks and others is an extension of the polyphonic improvisation of New Orleans jazz. The Dixieland revival renewed

370-507: The swing era while the few remaining traditional jazz bands (such as the Dutch Swing College Band ) did not partake in the broader traditional revival movement, and continued to play ragtime and early jazz, greatly limiting the number of bands aspiring jazz musicians could join or (as they were using instruments unavailable to most Dutch musicians such as double basses and the piano) were forced to improvise, resulting in

407-411: The "standard" band consists of a "front line" of trumpet (or cornet ), trombone, and clarinet, with a " rhythm section " of at least two of the following instruments: guitar or banjo , string bass or tuba, piano, and drums. Louis Armstrong 's All-Stars was the band most popularly identified with Dixieland during the 1940s, although Armstrong's own influence during the 1920s was to move the music beyond

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444-421: The 1930s and 1940s, the earlier group-improvisation style fell out of favor with the majority of younger black players, while some older players of both races continued on in the older style. Though younger musicians developed new forms, many beboppers revered Armstrong and quoted fragments of his recorded music in their own improvisations. The Dixieland revival in the late 1940s and 1950s was formed in reaction to

481-518: The 1940s and 1950s. In his book Jazz , the critic Rex Harris defined Dixieland as "Jazz played in a quasi-New Orleans manner by white musicians." The name is a reference to the "Old South", specifically anything south of the Mason-Dixon line . The term encompasses earlier brass band marches, French Quadrilles , beguine , ragtime , and blues with collective, polyphonic improvisation . While instrumentation and size of bands can be very flexible,

518-608: The Bush-Clinton Katrina Relief Fund, while many of the band members' homes were still destroyed. In 2011, they performed with the Boston Pops. Their latest CD, Here Comes the Girls, features music from R&B artists such as The Meters , Ernie K-Doe , and Allen Toussaint . In a commentary to an article published by The Syncopated Times , Deano Assunto, the son of trumpeter Frank Assunto (of

555-562: The Dukes of Dixieland, Volume 3,” lists Frank, Fred, and Jac Assunto, along with Harold Cooper (clarinet), Stanley Mendelsohn (piano), Paul Ferrara (drums), and Bill Porter (tuba and string bass). During its run the band also featured musicians such as clarinetists Pete Fountain , Jerry Fuller, Kenny Davern , drummers Barrett Deems , Charlie Lodice, Buzzy Drootin and guitarists Jim Hall , and Herb Ellis . The band also recorded with Louis Armstrong . Fred and Frank Assunto both died young, and

592-531: The Original Memphis Five. Occasional vocalists were Anna Meyers, Annette Hanshaw and Vernon Dalhart (as George White). Both Red Nichols and Miff Mole later led their own groups named Original Memphis Five. Phil Napoleon, however, would continue using the group name into the 1980s. Dixieland The Original Dixieland Jazz Band , recording its first disc in 1917, was the first instance of jazz music being called "Dixieland", though at

629-606: The R&;B style of James Brown . Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy combined New Orleans style polyphonic improvisation with bebop . Bassist Charles Mingus paid homage to traditional jazz styles with compositions such as "Eat Dat Chicken" and "My Jellyroll Soul". The contemporary New Orleans brass band styles, such as the Dirty Dozen Brass Band , The Primate Fiasco, the Hot Tamale Brass Band and

666-722: The West Coast style use banjo and tuba in the rhythm sections, which play in a two-to-the-bar rhythmic style. Much performed traditional Dixieland tunes include: " When the Saints Go Marching In ", " Muskrat Ramble ", " Struttin' with Some Barbecue ", " Tiger Rag ", " Dippermouth Blues ", " Milenberg Joys ", " Basin Street Blues ", " Tin Roof Blues ", " At the Jazz Band Ball ", " Panama ", " I Found

703-468: The audience for musicians who had continued to play in traditional jazz styles and revived the careers of New Orleans musicians who had become lost in the shuffle of musical styles that had occurred over the preceding years. Younger black musicians shunned the revival, largely because of a distaste for tailoring their music to what they saw as nostalgia entertainment for white audiences with whom they did not share such nostalgia. The Jim Crow associations of

740-498: The average band containing up to 15 players, Dutch jazz bands tend to be the largest ensembles to play traditional jazz music. Musical styles showing influences from traditional jazz include later styles of jazz, rhythm and blues , and early rock and roll . Traditional New Orleans second-line drumming and piano playing are prominent in the music of Fats Domino . The New Orleans drummer Idris Muhammad adapted second-line drumming to modern jazz styles and gained crossover influence on

777-481: The band name with the new line-ups, none of which have included any of the original musicians. The original Dukes of Dixieland were featured on the first stereo record , released November 1957, on the Audio Fidelity label. Sidney Frey, founder and president of Audio Fidelity, had Westrex cut the disk for release before any of the major record labels. In 1978, the Dukes, under John Shoup's direction, recorded

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814-588: The early 1920s. "Chicago style" is often applied to the sound of Chicagoans such as Jimmy McPartland , Eddie Condon , Muggsy Spanier , and Bud Freeman . The rhythm sections of these bands substitute the string bass for the tuba and the guitar for the banjo . Musically, the Chicagoans play in more of a swing-style 4-to-the-bar manner. The New Orleanian preference for an ensemble sound is deemphasized in favor of solos. Chicago-style Dixieland also differs from its southern origin by being faster paced, resembling

851-681: The enduring popularity of traditional jazz. Country Joe McDonald 's Vietnam-era protest song " Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag " is based on tonal centers and incorporates the "B" refrain from the New Orleans standard " Muskrat Ramble ". Traditional jazz is a major tourist attraction for New Orleans to the present day. It has been an influence on the styles of more modern players such as Charles Mingus and Steve Coleman . New Orleans music combined earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles , biguine , ragtime , and blues with collective, polyphonic improvisation . The "standard" band consists of

888-556: The first direct-to-disk album, and then, in 1984, were the first jazz band to record on CD. In 1980, they recorded a television special at the old Civic Theater in New Orleans, with the New Orleans Pops Orchestra and later performed in a TV special with Woody Herman, Wood Choppers Ball. In 1986, they invited jazz musician Danny Barker to perform with them at Mahogany Hall to record a television special, Salute to Jelly Roll Morton . In 2001, their gospel CD Gloryland

925-469: The group as "one of the key small groups of the '20s". The group formed around 1917. The name Original Memphis Five was first used in 1920, and applied to small groups of white musicians throughout the decade. The Ladd's Black Aces name was used from 1921 until 1924. Cook and Morton identify Jimmy Lytell and Miff Mole as standout musicians in the group. Jimmy Durante played piano with Ladd's Black Aces, while both Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey were members of

962-472: The heavily arranged big band sound of the 1930s or the straight melodies (with or without harmonizing) of bebop in the 1940s. The "West Coast revival", which used banjo and tuba, began in the late 1930s in San Francisco. The Dutch "old-style jazz" was played with trumpets, trombones and saxophones accompanied by a single clarinet, sousaphone and a section of Marching percussion usually including

999-547: The hustle-bustle of city life. Chicago-style bands play a wide variety of tunes, including most of those of the more traditional bands plus many of the Great American Songbook selections from the 1930s by George Gershwin , Jerome Kern , Cole Porter , and Irving Berlin . Non-Chicagoans such as Pee Wee Russell and Bobby Hackett are often thought of as playing in this style. This modernized style came to be called Nicksieland , after Nick's Tavern, where it

1036-479: The jazz circuit after years of not playing (such as Kid Ory and Red Nichols ). Many Dixieland groups of the revival era consciously imitated the recordings and bands of decades earlier. Other musicians continued to create fresh performances and new tunes. For example, in the 1950s a style called "Progressive Dixieland" sought to blend polyphonic improvisation with bebop -style rhythm . Spike Jones & His New Band and Steve Lacy played with such bands. This style

1073-499: The name "Dixieland" also did little to attract younger black musicians to the revival. The Dixieland revival music during the 1940s and 1950s gained a broad audience that established traditional jazz as an enduring part of the American cultural landscape, and spawned revival movements in Europe. Well-known jazz standard tunes such as " Basin Street Blues " and " When the Saints Go Marching In " are known even to non-jazz fans thanks to

1110-479: The orchestrated sounds of the swing era and the perceived chaos of the new bebop sounds (called "Chinese music" by Cab Calloway ). Led by the Assunto brothers' original Dukes of Dixieland , a band known for its virtuoso improvisation and recording history's first stereo record , the movement brought many semi-retired musicians a measure of fame late in their lives, as well as bringing retired musicians back onto

1147-554: The original Dukes of Dixieland disbanded in the early 1970s. In April 1974, producer/manager John Shoup restarted the Dukes of Dixieland with Connie Jones as leader, leased Louis Prima's nightclub atop the Monteleone Hotel in the French Quarter and renamed it "Duke's Place". The Dukes of Dixieland have not been affiliated with the Assunto family since 1974. The Assunto family has denied giving away permission to use

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1184-487: The original Dukes of Dixieland) states: "due to a court settlement against John Shoup there is to be ‘no implying any historical connection’ between Shoup’s copy band and the original pre-1974 Dukes of Dixieland [...] Your article also stated that John Shoup says that Freddie’s widow Betty Assunto gave him the rights to the Dukes of Dixieland name which is not true. In our first lawsuit against Shoup he could provide no documents to prove [that claim]." The Assunto family now has

1221-526: The public. By the end of the decade it all but lost any direct 'Southern' association. Dukes of Dixieland The Dukes of Dixieland is an American, New Orleans " Dixieland "-style revival band, originally formed in 1948 by brothers Frank Assunto, trumpet; Fred Assunto, trombone; and their father Papa Jac Assunto, trombone and banjo. Their first records featured Jack Maheu, clarinet; Stanley Mendelsohn, piano; Tommy Rundell, drums; and Barney Mallon, tuba and string bass. The 1958 album “Marching Along with

1258-423: The time, the term referred to the band, not the genre. The band's sound was a combination of African American/New Orleans ragtime and Sicilian music . The music of Sicily was one of the many genres in the New Orleans music scene during the 1910s, alongside sanctified church music, brass band music and blues. Much later, the term "Dixieland" was applied to early jazz by traditional jazz revivalists, starting in

1295-411: The traditional New Orleans style. The definitive Dixieland sound is created when one instrument (usually the trumpet) plays the melody or a recognizable paraphrase or variation on it, and the other instruments of the "front line" improvise around that melody. This creates a more polyphonic sound than the arranged ensemble playing of the big band sound or the straight "head" melodies of bebop . During

1332-756: Was nominated for a Grammy Award . In 2011, they recorded with The Oak Ridge Boys, in Nashville, Tennessee, titled Country Meets Dixie. They have performed with symphony orchestras, including the Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, National, New York Pops (in Carnegie Hall), and 29 other orchestras around the world. In 2005, they traveled aboard the Steamboat Natchez up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to Cincinnati , Ohio, raising money for

1369-545: Was popular, though the term was not limited to that club. The "West Coast revival" is a movement that was begun in the late 1930s by Lu Watters and his Yerba Buena Jazz Band in San Francisco and extended by trombonist Turk Murphy . It started out as a backlash to the Chicago style , which is closer in development towards swing . The repertoire of these bands is based on the music of Joe "King" Oliver , Jelly Roll Morton , Louis Armstrong , and W.C. Handy . Bands playing in

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