A weblog in English and Dutch about jazz and related music, record collecting and other music projects originally created by Hans Koert.|Een webblog in het Engels en het Nederlands over jazz, jazz-verwante muziek, platen verzamelen en verrassende projecten, oorspronkelijk opgezet door Hans Koert.
The recording of Livery Stable Blues and Dixieland Jass Band One-Step made February 26, 1917 for Victor in New York by the Original Dixieland Jass Band were released as Victor 18255 on March 7, 1917 and is considered the first ever jazz record.
Livery Stable Blues_Victor 18255-B
Tony Sbarbaro (dm), Edwin Edwards (tb), Nick LaRocca (co), Larry Shields (cl), Henry Ragas (p)
The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a band of white musicians from New Orleans. The band consisted of five musicians who had played in the Papa Jack Laine bands, a racially integrated group of musicians who played for parades, dances, and advertising in New Orleans. ODJB billed itself as the "Creators of Jazz". It was the first band to record jazz commercially and to have hit recordings in the new genre. Band leader and cornetist Nick LaRocca argued that ODJB deserved recognition as the first band to record jazz commercially and the first band to establish jazz as a musical idiom or genre.
Henry Ragas (p), Larry Shields (cl), Nick LaRocca (co), Edwin Edwards (tb), Tony Spargo (dm)
Victor Records advert
Below is inserted the audio of the first jazz record to remimd us where it started - a centennial of recorded jazz.
The keep(it)swinging blog likes to honor the Danish jazz violinist Svend Asmussen, who passed away earlier this month at almost 101 years of age. Below some live performances from uploaded videos at YouTube to keep our memory of a great artist alive.
Benny Goodman and Svend Asmussen had met and played together before Goodman's last live performance in Copenhagen at the Tivoli Gardens in 1981. At this concert Goodman and Asmussen shared solo spots in a repertoire of jazz standards, i.e. After You've Gone
Toots Thielemans & Svend Asmussen (YouTube still photo)
Toots Thielemans and Svend Asmussen performed together in a Swedish TV production from around the same time as the Goodman concert above
From a 1986 live performance at Club Montmartre, Copenhagen - It Don't Mean A Thing, If It Ain't Got That Swing
Finally, Svend Asmussen quartet featuring Jacob Fischer (g), Jeper Lundgaard (b) and Aage Tanggaard (dm) from a live performance at Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen 1993 - Limehouse Blues
The media have just released the sad news that the Danish jazz violinist Svend Asmussen has passed away today. A true legend and giant of the jazz violin has left the scene.
Kostas Bezos and The White Birds, Olvido Records (OLV-002) and Mississippi Records (MRP-098) (2017)
The Hawaiian hype hit all over the the world during the first decades of the 20th century. The sound of the steel guitar and the ukulele as played by native Hawaiian musicians reached and attracted a global audience through records, films and visiting Hawaiian ensembles. The effect of the hype furthermore gave inspiration to local musicians in every country and region to create their own version of 'Hawaiian' music by using the novelty instruments in performance and interpretation of popular music of their own region. This way local musicians the world over supported a dream of Hawaii which fascinated their audiences, and in many instances records were made documenting the local version of 'Hawaiian' music. An example of such a local ensemble performing music in the Hawaiian style is the Greek steel guitar virtuoso Kostas Bezos and his White Birds which recorded some remarkable 78 rpm discs in Athens during the 1930s. A selection of these recordings has just been reissued in a limited LP and bonus CD edition or as a digital download version, co-released by Olvido Records (OLV-002) and Mississippi Records (MRP-098)
Kostas Bezos (-seated, center left) and his ensemble (photo courtesy Les Cook, SteelGuitarForum)
Kostas Bezos (1905-1943) was from a village near Corinth in Greece. He was a political cartoonist, frequented the 'underground scene' in Athens and performed as a guitarist playing rebetiko songs, but also played excellent steel guitar in Hawaiian style. He recorded several 78 rpm discs for Columbia and His Master’s Voice, both rebetiko and Hawaiian style repertoire.
A HMV 78 rpm disc featuring Kostas Bezos (1931)
The first-ever compilation of Kostas Bezos' Hawaiian influenced music containing 32 recorded and remastered sides including extensive notes, rare photos and lyrics in both Greek and English is now available produced by Gordon Ashworth, Tony Klein and Dimitris Kourtis. You can find more info about this compilation and also have the opportunity to listen to all 32 recordings in streaming audio and purchase online here. - To give you an impression of the music as played by Kostas Bezos and his White Birds ensemble, I'll insert a couple of uploaded audio videos from You Tube. Here is first the 1936 recording of Ta Aspra Poulia Sta Vouna (The White Birds in the Mountains), also available at the compilation mentioned above
The strange animal imitations at the beginning of this record are superseded by great choir vocal and outstanding lap steel guitar, the atmosphere is not too serious, but rather unrestrained. A similar atmosphere is to be found in the recording of Pame sti Honolulu (Let's Go to Honolulu), here even including yodelling
Let's end this small presentation of Kostas Bezos and his White Birds with the ensemble's version of a song titled The False Kisses of Women in English, here in the You Tube video from the original Columbia 78 rpm
Retrospect
Keep Swinging (old)
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