The History of Jazz (89 page)

5
. Cab Calloway and Bryant Rollins,
Of Minnie the Moocher and Me
(New York: Thomas Crowell, 1976), p. 105.

6
. Quoted in Ed Berger’s liner notes to Benny Carter’s recording,
Harlem Renaissance
(MusicMasters 65080).

7
. See John Howland,
Ellington Uptown: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson and the Birth of Concert Jazz
(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2009), pp. 202–211.

8
. Smith with Hoefer,
Music on My Mind
, p. 101.

9
. W. O. Smith,
Sideman: A Memoir
(Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1991), p. 77.

10
. Tom Davin, “Conversations with James P. Johnson,” reprinted in
Ragtime: Its History,
Composers and Music
, ed. John Edward Hasse (New York: Schirmer, 1985), p. 170.

11
. Gunnar Askland, “Interpretations in Jazz: A Conference with Duke Ellington,”
Etude
, March 1947, reprinted in
The Duke Ellington Reader
, ed. Mark Tucker (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 255–258.

12
. Davin, “Conversations with James P. Johnson,” p. 170.

13
. From Duke Ellington’s foreword to Smith with Hoefer,
Music on My Mind
, p. x.

14
. Duke Ellington’s comments come from his foreword to ibid., pp. x–xi. James P. Johnson quote is from Davin, “Conversations with James P. Johnson,” p. 177. Nat Hentoff’s remark is from his liner notes to
Luckey & the Lion: Harlem Piano
(Goodtime Jazz 10035).

15
. Count Basie, as told to Albert Murray,
Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie
(New York: Random House, 1985), p. 9.

16
. Ethan Iverson, “The Dozens: Ethan Iverson on Stride Piano,” ed. Ted Panken, January 12, 2009, Jazz.com (http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-ethan-iverson-on-stride-piano).

17
. See Maurice Waller’s account of this legendary session in his biography of his father, Maurice Waller and Anthony Calabrese,
Fats Waller
(New York: Schirmer Books, 1977), pp. 96–98.

18
. André Hodeir, “Art Tatum: A French Jazz Critic Evaluates the Music of a Great Pianist,”
Downbeat
, August 10, 1955, p. 9 (see also Billy Taylor’s rebuttal to Hodeir in
Downbeat,
September 21, 1955, p. 19); Gunther Schuller,
The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930–1945
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 478–479.

19
. As reported by Noble Sissle. See Reid Badger,
A Life in Ragtime: A Biography of James
Reese Europe
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 65.

20
. See James Lincoln Collier,
Jazz: The American Theme Song
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 165–172, for a revisionist account of the development of the jazz band, which stresses the contributions of Ferde Grofé, Art Hickman, and several other unsung musicians.

21
. From the interview with Gary Giddins included in the liner notes to Benny Carter,
Central City Sketches
(MusicMasters 5030).

22
. Duke Ellington,
Music Is My Mistress
(New York: Doubleday, 1973), p. x.

23
. Ibid., p. 10.

24
. Ibid., pp. 6, 15.

25
. See James Lincoln Collier,
Duke Ellington
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 12.

26
. The trumpeter’s name is usually spelled Whetsol, yet the preponderance of evidence—including his own signatures, copyright documents, etc.—indicate that the correct spelling is Whetsel.

27
. These and other early reviews are reprinted, in their entirety, in Tucker,
The Duke Ellington Reader
. See pp. 21–32.

28
. Comments from Barney Bigard and Cootie Williams are from oral histories on file at the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies. Quote from Ellington from Ellington,
Music Is My Mistress
, p. 446.

29
. Quoted in Chad Heap,
Slumming: Sexual and Racial Encounters in American Nightlife
,
1885–1940
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), p. 82.

30
. From Sonny Greer’s oral history on file at the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies.

31
. This and below from Cootie Williams’s oral history on file at the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies. Note that, although Williams claimed that Ellington never fired anyone except Miley, Charles Mingus later recounted his own dismissal from the Ellington band. Yet Mingus adds that Ellington was protective of his reputation for not firing musicians—so he merely insisted that the bassist offer his immediate resignation (which Mingus did).

32
. R. D. Darrell, “Black Beauty,” originally from
disques
, June 1932, pp. 152–161, reprinted in Tucker,
The Duke Ellington Reader
, pp. 57–65.

33
. Spike Hughes, “The Duke—in Person,”
Melody Maker
, May 1933, reprinted in Tucker,
The Duke Ellington Reader
, pp. 69–72.

34
. Barry Ulanov,
Duke Ellington
(New York: Creative Age Press, 1946), p. 151.

1
. This and above from Lionel Hampton with James Haskins,
Hamp
(New York: Warner Books, 1989), pp. 31, 37.

2
. Jas Obrecht, “On Charlie Christian: Benny Goodman,”
Guitar Player
, March 1982, p. 61.

3
. John Hammond with Irving Townsend,
John Hammond on Record
(New York: Ridge Press/Summit Books, 1977), p. 232.

4
. For this and the figures below, see Ross Russell,
Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971), pp. 8–9.

5
. Count Basie, as told to Albert Murray,
Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie
(New York: Random House, 1984), pp. 4–5.

6
. Ibid., p. 29.

7
. Ibid., pp. 7–8.

8
. Mary Lou Williams’s full account of this evening is included in Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff,
Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya
(New York: Rinehart, 1955), pp. 292–293 (and originally appeared in
Melody Maker
, May 1, 1954, p. 11).

9
. Duke Ellington,
Music Is My Mistress
(New York: Doubleday, 1973), p. 141.

10
. Jackie McLean quote from liner notes to
Let Freedom Ring
(Blue Note 46527).

11
. Red Callender and Elaine Cohen,
Unfinished Dream: The Musical World of Red Callender
(London: Quartet Books, 1985), p. 45.

12
. Paul Bowles, “Duke Ellington in Recital for Russian War Relief,”
New York Herald Tribune
, January 25, 1943, reprinted in
The Duke Ellington Reader
, ed. Mark Tucker (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 165–166.

13
. Gunther Schuller,
The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930–1945
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 150.

14
. Quoted in Nat Hentoff, “This Cat Needs No Pulitzer Prize,”
New York Times Magazine
, September 12, 1965, reprinted in Tucker,
The Duke Ellington Reader
, pp. 362–368.

15
. Basie, as told to Murray,
Good Morning Blues
, p. 283.

16
. From George Avakian’s liner notes to
Ellington at Newport
(Columbia CL 934).

17
. See, for example, Radcliffe Joe, “Thank You, Duke: Thousands Say Farewell to Ellington, a Prince Who Loved People Madly,”
Billboard
, June 8, 1974, p. 3.

1
. Robert Reisner, ed.,
Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker
(New York: Citadel, 1962), p. 167.

2
. Dizzy Gillespie with Al Fraser,
To Be or Not … to Bop
(New York: Doubleday, 1979), pp. 116–117.

3
. This and below from Gillespie with Fraser,
To Be or Not … to Bop
, pp. 1–2, 27–28.

4
. Valerie Wilmer, “Monk on Monk,”
Downbeat
, June 3, 1965, p. 20.

5
.
Collier’s
, March 20, 1948, cited—with other early putdowns of modern jazz—in Lewis Porter and Michael Ullman,
Jazz: From Its Origins to the Present
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1993), p. 207. Armstrong quote from “Bop Will Kill Business Unless It Kills Itself First,”
Downbeat
, April 7, 1948, p. 2. For the
Time
magazine quotation, presented in the context of an excellent discussion of the tensions between traditional and modern jazz players, see David W. Stowe,
Swing Changes: Big Band Jazz in New Deal America
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), p. 207.

6
. Miles Davis quote from Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe,
Miles: The Autobiography
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989), p. 93. Howard McGhee quote from Scott DeVeaux, “Conversation with Howard McGhee: Jazz in the Forties,”
Black Perspectives in Music
, Spring 1987, p. 75.

7
. From Robert Reisner, ed.,
Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker
(New York: Citadel, 1962), p. 144.

8
. Quoted in Gillespie with Fraser,
To Be or Not … to Bop
, pp. 324–325. McKibbon quotes below from ibid., pp. 320, 325.

9
. Quoted in Nat Hentoff,
The Jazz Life
(New York: Da Capo, 1978), p. 214.

10
. Davis with Troupe,
Miles: The Autobiography
, p. 52.

11
. Quoted in Reisner,
Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker
, p. 293.

12
. Ibid., p. 152.

13
. Quoted in Robert Perlongo, “Bud Powell in Paris: A Situation Report,”
Metronome
, November 1961, p. 16.

14
. Quoted in Alan Morrison, “Jazz Great Bud Powell Dies,”
Jet
, August 18, 1966, pp. 58–62.

15
. Leonard Feather,
Inside Bebop
(New York: J.J. Robbins, 1949), p. 10. See also, Robin D. G. Kelley,
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
(New York: Free Press, 2009), pp. 149–150.

16
. Keepnews’s original 1948 interview (along with his later reflections on Monk) are included in Orrin Keepnews,
The View from Within: Jazz Writings 1948–87
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), pp. 110–111.

17
. From Ira Gitler’s liner notes to
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
(Jazzland JLP-46).

18
. Gunther Schuller,
The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930–1945
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 840.

19
. Quoted in Whitney Balliett,
Jelly Roll, Jabbo and Fats: 19 Portraits in Jazz
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1983), p. 151.

20
. Leonard Feather, “A Bird’s-Ear View of Music,”
Metronome
, August, 1948, pp. 14, 21–22.

21
. Cited in Ross Firestone,
Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman
(New York: W.W. Norton, 1993), p. 354.

22
. Schuller,
The Swing Era
, p. 719.

23
. Quoted in Steve Voce,
Woody Herman
(London: Apollo Press, 1986), p. 8.

24
. Quoted in William D. Clancy and Audree Coke Kenton,
Woody Herman: Chronicles of the Herds
(New York: Schirmer, 1995), p. 146.

25
. Nat Hentoff, “Pop Record Hit for Woody Could Help Whole Band Biz,”
Downbeat
, July 27, 1955, p. 11.

26
. From Will Friedwald’s liner notes to
Stan Kenton: The Complete Capitol Records of the
Holman and Russo Charts
(Mosaic MD4–136).

CHAPTER 7: THE FRAGMENTATION OF JAZZ STYLES

1
. Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe,
Miles: The Autobiography
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989), p. 122.

2
. Quoted in George Simon’s liner notes to
The Uncollected Claude Thornhill: 1947
(Hindsight 108).

3
. Davis and Troupe,
Miles: The Autobiography
, pp. 117–118.

4
. Ibid., p. 118.

5
. Winthrop Sargeant,
Jazz, Hot and Hybrid
, 3rd ed. (New York: Da Capo Press, 1975), p. 257.

6
. Davis and Troupe,
Miles: The Autobiography
, p. 140.

7
. Ibid., p. 127.

8
. Ibid., p. 191.

9
. Ibid., p. 221.

10
. Quoted in Don Nelsen, “Bill Evans,”
Downbeat
, December 8, 1960, p. 17.

11
.
Gene Lees Jazzletter
, January 1985, p. 3.

12
. Quoted in J. C. Thomas,
Chasin’ the Trane
(New York: Doubleday, 1975), p. 132.

13
. This and below from Bob Thiele and Bob Golden,
What a Wonderful World: A Lifetime of Recordings
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 127, 123.

14
. These comments, originally from an interview conducted for
Metronome
in the spring of 1961, are included in Robert Levin’s liner notes to
Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot, Volume 2
(Prestige P-7294).

15
. Sonny Rollins, interview by Bob Blumenthal,
Downbeat
, May 1982, p. 18.

16
. Juan Rodriguez, “Sonny Rollins: Improvisational Virtuoso,”
Montreal Gazette
, June 27, 2010.