The Birth of the Blues

I listened to a terrific show this week, and really wanted to share it with you. It's a toe-tapping episode from the Screen Guild Players, which is dedicated to the musical pioneers of Memphis and New Orleans - those early jazz men who took American music 'out of the rut and put it in the groove!'

In the story, one of those pioneers was little Jeff Lambert, a talented clarinet player. 

Jeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He eventually forms his own group, the Basin Street Hot-Shots, which includes a cornet player called Memphis, and a singer called Betty Lou Cobb. 

Both Memphis and Jeff fall in love with Betty Lou, and this coupled with the bands struggles to get their music accepted by the cafe society of the city, and a run-in with a local racketeer, results in a really great story - with some fabulous musical accompaniment!

The plot of the story itself, loosely follows the origins and breakthrough success of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in New Orleans, and Jeff is played by none other than Bing Crosby, who reprises his role from the Paramount Pictures 1941 movie of the same name.

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their 'Livery Stable Blues' became the first jazz record ever issued, with many more to follow, including their most famous release, 'Tiger Rag'.

The band was a racially integrated group of musicians who played for parades, dances and advertising in New Orleans, and their style of music swept New York by storm in 1917. At the time, Jimmy Durante was part of the audience at Reisenweber's Cafe on Columbus, and he invited them to play at a club called the Alamo in Harlem, where he himself played piano - which resulted in Jimmy assembling a group of like-minded musicians to accompany him.

He wasn't the only one to join the jazz craze though, with several more jazz bands being formed in the wake of the success of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, copying their style and sound. But as the first band to record jazz successfully, they established and created jazz as a new musical idiom and genre of music - one that I'm a big fan of!

You can listen to the show, The Birth of the Blues live on RUSC today. 

Happy listening my friends,