Klarinet Archive - Posting 000940.txt from 2000/05

From: ShawThings@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] slightly off-topic
Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 08:08:04 -0400

Hi Anna (and any one else who might be interested) -

Look for reissues of Louis Jordan's Tympany 5 - there are quite a few
available.

"Five guys named Moe" was the title of one of the many hit records made by
Louis Jordan & his Tympany Five, one of the most (commercially) successful
small bands in "jazz" history.
I wrote "jazz" because they could equally be regarded as R&B or early
Rock'n'roll.
Louis Jordan was a talented vocalist/big band saxophonist who played and
recorded with Chick Webb's band in the late 20s. & I'm sure he also played
with other big name (black) big bands.
Jordan left the big bands in about 1940 to form his "Tympany 5", an immensely
popular and entertaining group which made several hits including "Is you is
or is you ain't..."

I don't think your post is really so far "off topic", although it takes a bit
of explaining why I think so.

Benny Carter and Edgar Sampson both played alto with Webb's band about the
same time as Louis Jordan.

Both were (like Jordan) great arrangers. Sampson also composed "Stompin' at
the Savoy" (later a big hit for Benny Goodman); he also composed &/or
arranged lots of tunes which became hits for others.

Carter was THE greatest arranger and (IMO) just about the greatest altoist of
his (or any) time - beautiful tone, fabulous technique, original ideas,
irrepressible swing, dateless sophistication etc. etc...
(AND he could also play beautiful melodic trumpet in earlier years). I
think he's still alive & playing - on a 1980 CD with Phil Woods, it's Woods,
not Carter who sometimes sounds a bit tired.

These 3 players illustrate the point I'd like to make which I don't think is
so far "off topic". All 3 - Jordan, Carter & Sampson are now pretty well
forgotten by the general public, as is Chick Webb, who lead one of the
greatest ever (sorry about the continuing hyperbole) bands and introduced
Ella Fitzgerald to a wider public.
Jordan was immensely popular in his own time, but his (personal) popularity
was fairly ephemeral.
Carter was/is well recognised by players/arrangers of his own and subsequent
generations as one of(if not THE) the greatest.
Sampson (who was also a good altoist) continues to be recognised as a
composer/arranger because of classics such a "Stompin at the Savoy".
If you look into the legacy of these 3 players, you'll find a that Sampson
has left us some nice tunes and arrangements, Carter has left a wealth of
near-genius standard playing and arranging, and Jordan bequeathed us the
beginnings of rock'n'roll and (almost) the end of small-band jazz. Clever
though they undoubtedly are, you'll find that Louis Jordan's popular work
seems increasingly homogeneous as you get into it. The deeper you go, the
shallower it becomes. I'm not trying to deny that he wasn't a great player
and "entertainer" with all its derogatory implications.

25 or 30 years from now, clarinettists might be rediscovering Acker Bilk,
Kenny G et al. If the re-discoverers get a thrill from it, and are
stimulated to look further, the value of such "popular" artists is
vindicated. Probably, fewer novice players would use less "popular" (in the
general sense) players as their starting point.
Tim Shaw
PS - As I re-read this before sending, I wonder whether I've communicated
anything coherent at all, let alone what I wanted to! Please let me know.

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