Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians

1. Kid Ory and the Revival Era

My first published article, which appeared in a 1949 issue of Melody Maker, featured the legendary trombonist Kid Ory. How fitting that I should begin with him; for in many ways the story of West Coast jazz originates with this outstanding musical craftsman, who played a key role in a pair of important eras in jazz history separated by two decades. Before World War I, Ory, a giant among New Orleans bandleaders , nurtured a generation of legendary musicians. Many of his sidemen were influential figures in their own right: Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Mutt Carey all got their start in his band, and greats such as Jelly Roll Morton, Ed Garland, and Johnny Dodds played with him at various times. Ory’s trombone can be heard on some of the landmark recordings of the Jazz Age. After World War I he moved to Los Angeles, where he helped cultivate a thriving scene of avid jazz lovers and musicians. My 1949 Melody Maker article appeared during the jazz revival period , in which Ory also played a decisive role. The traditional New Orleans sound had fallen out of fashion at the end of the 1920s, as audiences turned to big-band swing; by the mid-1940s traditional jazz was considered passé. Kid Ory played an important role in its revival. At that time, I wrote, “generations had grown up without hearing real jazz. ... musicians have yielded to more lucrative forms of popular music . Ory has the courage to hold to the traditional style. As a result, his Creole Jazz Band is now the only such group in existence.” 1 KID ORY AND THE REVIVAL ERA Floyd Levin’s first article, originally printed in Melody Maker, February 5, 1949. It was my privilege to know Kid Ory and all the members of his band. They were not only great musicians but also great people. My recollections follow in this chapter. Kid Ory Edward “Kid” Ory was born on Christmas Day 1886 at Woodland Plantation, near La Place, Louisiana (about thirty miles from New Orleans ). When he was eight years old he started his first band with a group of youngsters, all of them playing handmade string instruments. Within a few years Ory had surfaced in New Orleans, playing string bass and leading his own jazz band. By 1914 he had switched to trombone , and his Brown Skin Babies were the highest-rated band in the Crescent City. The Babies featured the legendary Joe Oliver on cornet; when Oliver left for Chicago, young Louis Armstrong took his place. “We worked every night at Pete Lala’s 25 Club in the ‘district,’” Ory said as a guest on my radio program many years ago. “My band included Joe Oliver on cornet, Johnny Dodds, clarinet, Emile Bigard, violin, Lorenzo Staultz, guitar, Ed Garland, bass, and Henry Martin on drums. We played softly ... we didn’t have to play loud to produce good ragtime music. It’s the feeling that makes it swing. The bands would come to Lala’s when they got off work. We’d have jam sessions that started at 4 a.m. and continued until dawn.” When crowds exceeded the capacity of Lala’s cabaret on Iberville Street, Ory moved the band to Co-operator’s Hall, where frequent police raids impeded attendance. He learned that Pete Lala, who had “connections,” was resentful of the change and arranged the harassment that continued wherever Ory moved the operation. The trombonist decided to leave New Orleans. Turning down an offer to join Oliver in Chicago, Ory moved to California in 1919 and established his Creole Jazz Band, the first resident New Orleans band on the West Coast. He sent for Mutt Carey and opened at the Cadillac Cafe on Central Avenue with clarinetist Wade Whaley, pianist Manuel Manetta, and drummer Alfred Williams —all from New Orleans. The Cadillac job lasted almost a year. Ory left Los Angeles during the 1920s and headed back east, playing for some of his former sidemen. His trombone supplemented Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Hot Seven in Chicago; he later worked with King Oliver’s Dixie Syncopators, Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers, Kid Ory 11 and the New Orleans Wanderers (Armstrong’s Hot Five with George Mitchell on trumpet instead of Louis). Important recordings by those leading groups vividly document Kid Ory’s tremendous contribution to the Jazz Age. After several triumphant years with...