Klarinet Archive - Posting 000969.txt from 1998/07

From: Lisa Clayton <lisakc@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Benny Goodman/Jazz Clarinet
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 13:54:35 -0400

>The short explanation is that "Swing" is one of the named forms that
>occurred during the gradual development of jazz. It was the predominant
>form between Dixieland and Bebop, or between the early 1930's and
>mid-to-late 1940's. And I tend to agree with you. Swing is less
>contrapuntal, yet conversely more organized, than Dixieland, yet more
>melodic than Bebop and most of what came after. It's MY favorite.

Not to put too fine a point on it, and with the caveat that I'm no more
than an enthusiastic jazz fan with too much time on her hands, I do want to
point out that pre-swing music wasn't known as Dixieland back then.
Technically, what we think of as "Dixieland" now was actually more or less
created in the 40's. It does have its roots firmly in the traditional jazz
of the 20's and early 30's, and folks like Bunk Johnson, Kid Ory and Louis
Armstrong heavily influenced both traditional jazz and Dixieland jazz.
During the 20's/early 30's, the sound was just known as "jazz" and that
term actually encompassed quite a bit of pop music in general, not just
what we've come to think of as "real" jazz.

Anyway, this is merely from my limited understanding of the way Dixieland
evolved, and I am very much looking forward to hearing other, more learned
historians expound on this.

Lisa Clayton
lisakc@-----.com

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