Bix Beiderbecke - Jass Me Blues (1927-8)

Yes! More delightful music from a time when people were so poor that they were too poor to be poor.

Bix Beiderbecke is another early jazz musician that was not known very much in the public but he was highly admired by his fellow musicians. As far as trumpet/cornet rivals go, the only person who was on par with him was Louis Armstrong. It's a real pity that Bix died so early (in '31) because he would most definitely influence modern music in a much larger scope if he only had the time. Sadly alcohol and other various factors made him die young. But, for our consolation he left us a bit of his music behind so that we may grasp a bit of his great playing.

I might sound pompous but that's probably because he's one of my favorite players so I tend to get very subjective about him. In any case the compilation that I'm sharing is (as the title suggests) a bunch of  songs he recorded in his "late"career. At those times ragtime (or hot jazz) was starting to settle down for a more orchestrated and organized way of playing - swing so what you get here is an interesting middle ground between the two types of jazz. Musically speaking this means that songs are much more relaxed, they swing but they still have some great improvised solos which makes this record so great. You'll notice a lot things that are way ahead of their times, especially the sax solos which often hint to the bebop way of playing. They are all instrumentals so we can fully enjoy the wondrous playing of a person that just had so little luck. So sit back and enjoy the swing.

Download.

Louis Armstrong - The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings

We all know who Louis Armstrong is, even if you aren't exploring music all that much (shame on you sir). His music and voice brings an unique atmosphere whenever it's present. I don't think the Fallout 2 intro would be so popular if his song was not present in it. Although he is/was popular there is another side of him that is often kinda overlooked by the listener. Apart from being a great showman and a singer he was also one of the best trumpet players of his time. It had a very warm and powerful sound and a really loud one. This is especially noticeable (or felt) when he plays the blues.

The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings is basically all the known recordings of Armstrong when he was still at the beginning of his career. He was fresh out of King Oliver's troupe and filled with ideas. It's still ragtime but his distinct and powerful trumpet mastery can be heard on every song and that's the joy of these recordings (at least for me). The main difference from these recordings and his later works is that he sings a lot less and obviously the compositions themselves are much more improvisational and wilder. In any case this a great collection of ragtime and hot jazz classics that any jazz fan should have (or at least listen).

Part 1
Part 2

King Oliver

I always liked the 20s; not that I would like to live in those times but it had a very interesting setting. It seems to me those years were during the end of the old world and at the beginning of the new world. Everything was changing and so did the music. To experience those hectic nights at the brothels filled with unique and new music (along with the whores) at the time would be (and most likely was) fascinating. It was jazz at its early stage. Not yet swing but not anymore simple merrier versions of marching songs. People called it ragtime. Sadly you can rarely hear this kind of music live but lucky for us there are plenty of recordings around left for us to experience it at least with our ears.

King Oliver and his troupe were active mainly in Chicago and he gathered quite an interesting lineup during the heyday of ragtime. His band was the place where young Louis Armstrong really learned how to play and it's from there that he evolved to be such a great musician. Another interesting fact is that Armstrong's then wife also played with them on the piano which was somewhat weird since females didn't play that much in bands during those days.


I've uploaded several of the bands that King Oliver led and sorted them chronologically but all of these bands were led by Oliver so they do tend to sound similar. If you enjoy this kind of music you really should get this. This is also a very good starting point for those who are interested in this period of American music. These guys/gals played like there's no tomorrow, all fired up and melodic this is probably one of the best early jazz recording in my opinion.


King Oliver And His Creole Jazz Band (1923)
King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (1923-26)
King Oliver And His Dixie Syncopators (1926-28)
King Oliver And His Orchestra (1928-30)

Here's a few youtube samples:

West End Blues
High Society
Riverside Blues