Legendary Dixieland Jazz Musicians

Dixieland began in the 1880's in New Orleans. The large marching groups were made up of black jazz musicians and were often used for funeral processions and the large Mardi Gras celebration. The instrumentation of these bands were usually cornets, clarinets, trombones, tubas, banjos and drums. The beauty of Dixieland jazz lies in it's collective improvisation - three lead instruments improvising in a countrapuntal way. Usually one instrument plays the melody while the other two improvise in a melodically blended way, responding to each other, and creating this unique sound.

The earliest recordings are from the 1920's and early 30's. Trumpet player/vocalist Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong was the most important figure of this period. He played with the Hot Five and the Hot Seven. The style of these groups is referred to as New Orleans or Dixieland. It is characterized by collective improvisation - all performers simultaneously play improvised melodic lines. Louis is credited with the invention of scat - singing improvised nonsense syllables. Other notable performers include clarinetist Johnny Dodds, soprano saxophone player Sidney Bechet, trumpeter King Oliver, and trombonist Kid Ory.

Other styles popular during this period were piano jazz, including ragtime, Harlem stride, and boogie-woogie. These styles are distinct, but are characterized by rhythmic, percussive left hand lines and fast, full right hand lines. Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton were early ragtime pioneers of jazz history. Fats Waller, Willie "The Lion" Smith and James P. Johnson popularized the stride left hand pattern (bass note, chord, bass note, chord). Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis developed this into the faster moving left hand patterns of boogie-woogie. Earl "Fatha" Hines was a pianist who was known for his right hand, in which he did not often play full chords or arpeggios, playing instead "horn-like" melodic lines. Art Tatum is considered to be the greatest pianist and one of the most technically gifted. His harmonic insights paved the way for many after, and is sometimes considered a precursor of bebop.

The Big Bands are normally associated with a slightly later era, but there were several large bands playing during this period, including Fletcher Henderson. Bix Beiderbecke was a cornet soloist who played with several bands and was considered a legend in his time.