Life Magazine Article About Swing
The August 8, 1938 issue of Life has an 11-page article about “swing.” As one might anticipate for an article in Life, there are more photographs than text. The article consists of the following stories.
1. “Swing, the Hottest and Best Kind of Jazz Reaches Its Golden Age”
A general introduction with photos of Tommy Dorsey, Bob Crosby, Arty (sic) Shaw, Red Norvo, and the Benny Goodman band (which at the time included, among others, Dave Tough, Harry James, Ziggy Elman, Harry Goodman, Jess Stacy, Bud Freeman, and Arthur Rollini. Here are some excerpts from the introduction:
The most articulate hot musician cannot give a strict definition of Swing. But all definitions agree that Swing is based on:
- a driving and fluid unmechanical rhythm over which
- soloists improvise as they play.
Whatever the definition, everyone admits that of all jazz Swing is musically the most vital and interesting. Today, it is enjoying its golden era not only popularly but artistically.
Swing’s first age of glory began a dozen years ago. Spreading North with Negroes from New Orleans after the war, its influence focused in Chicago in 1926 around Bix Beiderbecke. It died in 1931, revived in 1934 with the success of Benny Goodman and the visitation of the jitterbugs.
2. “Swing’s Black Royalty”
The importance of “King” Oliver, “Prince” Armstrong, “Duke” Ellington, and “Count” Basie in jazz. Includes photos of the bands and of Louis Armstrong.
Here is the complete text:
Sometime after 1900, Swing was born in New Orleans where even funeral bands, having played respectfully on the way to the cemetary, broke into jazz on the way home. In 1914, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (white) brought jazz out of its birthplace. Modern Swing came out with two trumpeters, “King” Oliver and “Prince” Armstrong who, like the most royal of Swing’s personages, were Negroes.
The late Joe “King” Oliver took the rough, street corner jazz of New Orleans, cleaned it up and gave it form. “Prince” Louis (“Satchelmouth”) Armstrong, who had learned to play trumpet in a waif’s home, learned to play Swing in Oliver’s band, perfected his style under Fletcher Henderson. Blessed with unbelievable technique and a rich imagination, Armstrong became the greatest of all Swing musicians.
Quieter, more studious than the rampant Armstrong is Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington. Only a fair pianist but an extraordinary leader-composer-arranger, Ellingotn has taught his band to play the subtlest and most varied kind of jazz. Bill “Count” Basie, a top-notch pianist, has written a major Swing classic, “One O’Clock Jump”.
3. A Young Man with a Hot Horn Became Hero of Fact and Fiction
The only story about a single musician, accompanied by photos of Bix as a child, at Lake Forest, with the Rhythm Jugglers, with the Wolverines, and with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Here is the complete text:
In 1922, Louis Armstrong, years ahead of his time in Swing, was playing his colossal solos with King Oliver in Chicago.
A promising 19-year-old white trumpeter named “Bix” Beiderbecke heard him and realized immediately that Armstrong’s music was true hot style, that by comparison his own playing was faltering and “corny” (i.e.stale and outdated). Bix Beiderbekce was too fine a musician to be simply an imitator. But he boldly decided to absorb Negro style which white musicians then scorned to play. The decision was momentous. It made Bix the greatest of white trumpeters (he actually played cornet) and the most important of all white jazz influences. It also brought him early death and posthumous fame. Last May, “Young Man With A Horn,” a novel by Dorothy Baker based on Bix’s life, was published. A good book, it is now a best-seller.
Leon Bismarck [sic] Beiderbecke was born to a stid merchant of Davenport, Iowa in 1903. When he was 3 and still wearing bangs and dresses he could play one-finger pieces on the piano. Later he learned to play the cornet by listening to phonograph records. Shipped off to Lake Forest Academy near Chicago, the city which was fast becoming the country’s Swing capital, he stayed in school only one year, left to start his jazz career, and got jobs in small bands. After 1923, his style suddenly became mature.
Around here gathered dozens of hot players who have since become famous -Teagarden, Russell, Dorsey, Freeman, Trumbauer., etc. All were profoundly influenced and inspired by Bix. In 1927, Bix reached the top. Paul Whiteman took him on as first trumpet.
When musicians talk about Bix’s playing, they gasp for adjectives. He had tremendous drive and lift. His tone was ravishing, his taste sure, his improvisations amazingly rich. When musicians talk about Bix as a person, they recall him as a dour, reticent man, with a small face that went tense and agonized when he played as if he were trying to blow himself into his horn. His only interest was music. After quitting work in the early morning, he would round up other musicians, and go off on long, exhausting, drunken “jam” sessions.
He led the irregular, dissipated life that swing players have always led. Bix always felt frustrated. His music never satisfied him. He always wanted to do things that were beyond the capacity of either his instrument or his music. he drove himself too hard. In 1931, his worn, unhappy body broke down. Bix caught a summer cold and quickly succumbed. He was only 27 when he died.
I will comment on this piece at a later time.
4. Jitterbugs Are Poison and Bread & Butter
An account and photographs of jitterbugs. There are several mentions of Bix in the text:
Bix Beiderbecke, an earnest artist, would sadly turn over in his grave if he knew that the art for which he died had been taken over by the jitterbugs. … To the hot musicians, jitterbugs are plain poison.
But they must be humored because they have brought prosperity to Swing. In 1931, with the depression, the death of Beiderbecke, and the rise of “sweet bands”, the interest in Swing grew faint.
… The hot musician is further annoyed when jitterbugs burst into impolite applause after a soloist has finished his chorus.
The last sentence strikes a chord: it is one of my pet peeves. Artie Shaw, in a recent interview, also complained about the habit of jazz (swing in the article) aficionado [often misspelled with two fs] to applaud after a soloist completes his chorus.
5. Hot Players Make 12-in Records
A short piece about small combos making hot records. Photos of Bud Freeman, Jack Teagarden, Eddie Condon, Pee Wee Russell, and Buddy Hackett. Here are some excerpts:
The most exciting swing performances have been given by groups of pick-up musicians who met in a jam session or recording studio for the simple delight of playing as they pleased. Bix Beiderbecke always dreamed of getting together a great pick-up band, making twelve-inch records -long enough to give soloists a chance to round up their work.For the frustrated Bix, the dream never came true. But a short while ago in a Manhattan recording studio, the kind of band Bix longed for came together to make the twelve-inch records he wanted to make.
They were from five different bands. All but two had played with Bix. Two of them, Russell and Condon, appear in the tattered snapshot on page 54. [The photograph is on p. 215 of “Bix: The Leon Beiderbecke Story” by Philip and Linda Evans] Mostly they recorded never-written songs, whose general outlines were sketched on the spot. Like most good Swing, the music was literally composed by the player as he played. Released under the Commodore label, the records will probably become collectors’ items.
I believe the recording session discussed above is from April 30, 1938, where Embraceable You, Meet Me Tonight, Diane, and Serenade to A Shylock was recorded.
The first and last titles were issued in a 12-inch Commodore 1501 as Jam Session at Commodore No. Two.
The band consisted of Bobby Hackett, Jack Teagarden, Pee Wee Russell, Bud Freeman, Jess Stacy, Eddie Condon, Artie Shapiro, and George Wettling.
5. Here Are 30 Good Hot Records
A compilation of 30 hot records, in Life’s opinion. Accompanied by photos of B. Berrigan [sic], E. Fitzgerald, F. Henderson, T. Wilson, J. Marsala, M. Bailey, S. Smith, C. Boswell, F. Waller, G. Krupa, M. Sullivan, and Slim and Slam. Here is the text:
LIFE has compiled, from considered opinions, a list of good swing records. Printed below they form the nucleus of a good collection for those who would like to know more about hot music. The list does not include hard-to-get collector’s items. All these disks can be bought at stores that keep a fairly complete hot stock. Included are some items of special interest like the Beiderbecke piano solo (Bix was almost as good on the piano as on the horn) and the freak swing success, “Flat Foot Flugie.”
- Albert Ammons, piano, Boogie Woogie Stomp.
- Louis Armstrong, trumpet, West End Blues.
- Mildred Bailey, vocalist, Long About Midnight.
- Bix Beiderbecke, cornet, Riverboat Shuffle.
- Bix Beiderbecke, piano, In A Mist.
- Bunny Berrigan [sic], cornet, I Can’t Get Started.
- Connie Bowsell, vocal, Bob White.
- Eddy [sic] Condon’s Windy City Seven, Carnegie Drag.
- Bob Crosby’s Band, South Rampart Street Parade.
- Tommy Dorsey, trombone, Stardust.
- Duke Ellington Band, Clarinet Lament.
- Ella Fitzgerald, vocal (Chick Webb’s Band), A Tisket, A Tasket.
- Benny Goodman, clarinet, Don’t Be That Way.
- Benny Goodman Quartet, Moonglow.
- Fletcher Henderson’s Band, Money Blues.
- Gene Krupa, drums, Blues of Israel.
- Meade Lux Lewis, piano, Yancy Special.
- Joe Marsala, clarinet, Hot String Beans.
- Red Norvo, xylophone, Blues in E Flat.
- King Oliver, trumpet, Dipper Mouth Blues.
- Artie Shaw, clarinet, Nightmare.
- Bessie Smith, vocal, Young Woman’s Blues.
- Stuff Smith, violin, You’se A Viper.
- Joe Sullivan, piano, Honeysuckle Rose.
- Jack Teagarden, trombone, Diane.
- Fats Waller, piano, Dinah.
- Teddy Wilson, piano, Body and Soul.
- Mary Lou Williams, piano, Overhand.
- Maxine Sullivan, vocal, Overhand.
- Slim and Slam, vocal and double bass, Flat Foot Flugie.
An odd selection. I note that only Bix and Benny Goodman have two selections each. No selections from four of my favorite jazz musicians of all time, Miff Mole, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, and Adrian Rollini.
Credit for the photographs of Bix Beiderbecke is given to Bismarck [sic] H. Beiderbecke, Lake Forest Academy, Downbeat, Scholl (probably Warren), and M. Mesirov (known later as Mezz Mezzrow). I am indebted to Mike Heckman, Rich Johnson, and an anonymous Bixophile for calling my attention to this article.