I’m still working my way through the interview, but this is a fascinating glimpse into that era, at a street level that you normally don’t see. It’s compulsive reading.
I was going to send you a link to when I captured on my cell phone Aaron Diehl performing a James P. Johnson piece as an encore at his appearance with the Cleveland Orchestra earlier this year only to find it doesn't exist. Knowing I was going to record the broadcast the following night I didn't bother with my cell phone and the following night Diehl chose to play a Phillip Glass piece instead. Cue the sad trombone.
Interesting seeing Jelly Roll Morton get a few positive mentions here; my recollection was that the East Coast pianists all put him down ... though Johnson's general comment that in the West and South pianists played "in smaller dimensions" I think relates to what Ellington, e.g., meant when he said Morton played like a schoolmarm. (Morton's reputed arrogance probably evoked a bunch of nonmusical irritation as well.)
In his memoirs, Earl Hines is careful to praise Jelly Roll Morton, especially Morton's very fine sense of tempo, and I speculate Hines is responding to Ellington's absurd denigration of Morton's time feel ("he played like a Washington DC schoolteacher"). My sense is that the black New Yorkers were taken aback by the surging popularity of the blues and were eager to keep their knowledge of European piano glitter and harmony to the forefront. Jelly Roll thus was "unschooled" etc. It's all pretty ridiculous, Jelly Roll is awesome.
I forget where I got it (maybe James Dapogny's introduction to his transcriptions?) but somewhere I read, and thought reasonable, that the NYC pianists thought Morton had an old-fashioned left hand and Morton thought the NYC pianists had an old-fashioned right hand. Your hypothesis re: the blues is stimulating, especially given the comments (often singled out and critiqued in your writing) about how James P., Tatum, etc., couldn't "really" play the blues.
I also wonder if Hines, from Pittsburgh back when some people might have considered it "midwestern," and then heading west to Chicago and working with Armstrong, just identified more with the New Orleans/Chicago axis of the music.
If you find the source of "NYC pianists thought Morton had an old-fashioned left hand and Morton thought the NYC pianists had an old-fashioned right hand" let me know. If it is a worthy practitioner I will add it to my bag of tricks. At any rate your original comment is very on point: James P. Johnson indeed praises Jelly Roll Morton, and that praise can get lost in the shuffle.
Never mind the music, I'm not sure an article has ever exposed how much I don't know about suits to this degree before
haha I feel you!
So good! Fascinating reading - a proverbial time-travel into another era. Wow, the survival skills.
I’m still working my way through the interview, but this is a fascinating glimpse into that era, at a street level that you normally don’t see. It’s compulsive reading.
"Street level" is a good way of putting it! Thanks!
Bravo, Ethan.
Thank you for transcribing these unique documents.
Such vivid portraits of a lost era.
A sociological treasury.
Such the notion that you had to know how to dance and dress --besides the music.
And the danger everywhere.
The racism.
How did they manage to survive, let alone flourish musically?
It is impossible to comprehend what life was like for JPJ and his peers. Thanks for comment.
I was going to send you a link to when I captured on my cell phone Aaron Diehl performing a James P. Johnson piece as an encore at his appearance with the Cleveland Orchestra earlier this year only to find it doesn't exist. Knowing I was going to record the broadcast the following night I didn't bother with my cell phone and the following night Diehl chose to play a Phillip Glass piece instead. Cue the sad trombone.
How Marvelous. And what a memory! I loved the Time Machine effect.
A different world!
Well that was a fantastic read. Now when they deliver my time machine, I've got a few additional spacetime coordinates to punch in. Thanks!
yes, isn't it amazing?? Thanks for comment
Interesting seeing Jelly Roll Morton get a few positive mentions here; my recollection was that the East Coast pianists all put him down ... though Johnson's general comment that in the West and South pianists played "in smaller dimensions" I think relates to what Ellington, e.g., meant when he said Morton played like a schoolmarm. (Morton's reputed arrogance probably evoked a bunch of nonmusical irritation as well.)
In his memoirs, Earl Hines is careful to praise Jelly Roll Morton, especially Morton's very fine sense of tempo, and I speculate Hines is responding to Ellington's absurd denigration of Morton's time feel ("he played like a Washington DC schoolteacher"). My sense is that the black New Yorkers were taken aback by the surging popularity of the blues and were eager to keep their knowledge of European piano glitter and harmony to the forefront. Jelly Roll thus was "unschooled" etc. It's all pretty ridiculous, Jelly Roll is awesome.
I forget where I got it (maybe James Dapogny's introduction to his transcriptions?) but somewhere I read, and thought reasonable, that the NYC pianists thought Morton had an old-fashioned left hand and Morton thought the NYC pianists had an old-fashioned right hand. Your hypothesis re: the blues is stimulating, especially given the comments (often singled out and critiqued in your writing) about how James P., Tatum, etc., couldn't "really" play the blues.
I also wonder if Hines, from Pittsburgh back when some people might have considered it "midwestern," and then heading west to Chicago and working with Armstrong, just identified more with the New Orleans/Chicago axis of the music.
If you find the source of "NYC pianists thought Morton had an old-fashioned left hand and Morton thought the NYC pianists had an old-fashioned right hand" let me know. If it is a worthy practitioner I will add it to my bag of tricks. At any rate your original comment is very on point: James P. Johnson indeed praises Jelly Roll Morton, and that praise can get lost in the shuffle.