From New Orleans To New York

¤  ‘All That Jazz, From New Orleans to New York’

←An anthology of Jazz music which prior to the popular swing era of the 1930s and ’40s is often referred to as «early jazz.» Through its origins before the turn of the 20th century, jazz had evolved from a regional music, central to New Orleans and its surroundings, to a musical style at the forefront of national and international popular music by the 1930s and 1940’s.

•→ http://theconversation.com/explainer-the-history-of-jazz-51729 ⇐

¤  The New Orleans Style of Jazz ↔ 1914 to 1935

 Louis Armstrong_King Of Jazz

Armstrong defined what it was to play Jazz. His amazing technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity, and amazingly quick, inventive musical mind still dominate Jazz to this day and only Charlie Parker comes close to having as much influence on the history of Jazz as Louis Armstrong did. As one of the first soloists on record, Armstrong was more responsible than anyone else for jazz changing from an ensemble-oriented folk music into an art form that emphasized inventive solo improvisations.

Louis Armstrong was the father of jazz improvisation, the first (and for some the most) influential jazz trumpeter and, with Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker, one of the music’s trinity of great creators. In the 1920s, Armstrong formulated the essential elements of jazz—solos that soared above the basic harmonies of a song, a driving sense of instrument and a deep understanding of the blues.

The elements of jazz are so much an accepted and familiar part of the soundtrack of 20th century life that it’s difficult to imagine what it was like without them. Yet to an extraordinary degree, the creative development and the widespread distribution of those elements would not have happened without Armstrong.

— Don Heckman in the Los Angeles Times June 30, 1996

◊  ‘We have all the time in the world’  ↓

Music composed by John Barry with lyrics by Hal David for the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

The song title, «We Have All the Time in the World«, is taken from James Bond’s final words in both the novel and the film, spoken after his wife’s death→

We have all the time in the world
Time enough for life to unfold all the precious things love has in store

We have all the love in the world
If that’s all we have, you will find we need nothing more

Only love …

∞  Louis Armstrong & Jack Teagarden  ⇓  ‘Jeepers Creepers’  [1958]

Jeepers Creepers, where’d ya get those peepers*?
Demon, oh demon, the way …
Gosh all git up, how’d they get so lit up?
Gosh all git up, how’d they get that size?

Golly gee! When you turn those heaters on,

Woe is me – Got to put my cheaters * *on,

Jeepers Creepers – Where’d ya get those peepers?

On, those weepers  –  How they hypnotize,

Where’d ya get those peepers*? Where’d ya get those eyes*?

[** glasses]

∞  Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong  ↓  ‘Let’s call the whole thing off’ [1957]

A song written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 film ‘Shall We Dance’ where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as part of a celebrated dance duet on roller skates.

∞  ‘Dream A Little Dream Of Me’  ⇓

[Verse 1 – Ella Fitzgerald]
Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper, I love you
Birds singin’ in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me

[Verse 2 – Ella Fitzgerald]
Say nighty-night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me
While I’m alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me

[Verse 3 – Louis Armstrong]
Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I’m longin’ to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this

[Verse 4 – Ella Fitzgerald]
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me

[Verse 3]
Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I’m longin’ to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this

[Outro]
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Leave the worries behind you
But in your dreams, whatever may be
You’ve gotta make me a promise, promise to me
You’ll dream, dream a little dream of me

♦  Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry  ↓ Ain’t Got No Home  (Chess – 1956)

I ain’t got no home – No place to roam
Ain’t got no home – No place to roam
I’m a lonely boy – I ain’t got a home

I got a voice and I love to sing
I sing like a bird and I sing like a frog
I’m a lonely boy – I ain’t got a home

Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo

I ain’t got a man – I ain’t got a son
I ain’t got a daughter – I ain’t got no one
I’m a lonely girl – I ain’t got a home

Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo

I ain’t got a mother – I ain’t got a father
I ain’t got a sister – Not even a brother
I’m a lonely frog – I ain’t got a home…

Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo

Δ→  Dry Wood ←[preview]  a film by Les Blank °←(1973)

° A portrait of black Creole life in the Louisiana Delta, accompanied by the hot sounds of Zydeco music.

Δ  . . .  Hot Pepper  [Les Blank]  ↓  Clifton Chenier (accordion)

¤  THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND  ¤

In 1977, The Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club in New Orleans began showcasing a traditional Crescent City brass band. It was a joining of two proud, but antiquated, traditions at the time: social and pleasure clubs dated back over a century to a time when black southerners could rarely afford life insurance, and the clubs would provide proper funeral arrangements. Brass bands, early predecessors of jazz as we know it, would often follow the funeral procession playing somber dirges, then once the family of the deceased was out of earshot, burst into jubilant dance tunes as casual onlookers danced in the streets. By the late ’70s, few of either existed. The Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club decided to assemble this group as a house band, and over the course of these early gigs, the seven-member ensemble adopted the venue’s name: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

•→ ‘Use Your Brain’  ⇐

•→ Gov’t Mule & the Dirty Dozen Brass Band: ‘Chameleon’ ⇐[2003]

◊  The Neville Brothers ↓ ‘Yellow Moon’  [2004]

Oh, yellow moon, yellow moon
Why you keep peeping in my window?
Do you know something
Do you know something that I don’t know?

Did you see my baby
Walking down the railroad tracks?
You can tell me, oh, if the girls
Ever coming back

Is she hid out with another
Or is she trying to get back home?
Is she wrapped up in some other’s arms?
Or is the girl somewhere all alone?

Can you see if she is missing me
Or is she having a real good time?
Has she forgotten all about me
Or is the girl still mine all mine?

With your eye so big a shiny
You can see the whole damn land
Yellow moon, can you tell me
If the girl’s with another man, man?

Oh, yellow moon, yellow moon, yellow moon
Have you seen that creole woman
You can tell me
Oh, now ain’t you a friend of mine . . . 

♦  ◊  Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue ↓ ‘Get your groove on’  [2011]

I like the way you’re doin’ your things – Keep with it!

All the fellows wanna know your name – Keep turning!

You’re the one that’s in my dreams, just the one that’s made for me, baby

So come and do your thing to me … oh girl …

Get your groove on . . . yeah . . . Get your groove on …

•  ‘On Your Way Down’

Sunrise and sunset
Since the beginning, it hasn’t changed yet
I say some people fly high begin to lose sight
You can’t see very clear when you’re in flight
Well it’s high time
That you find
The same people you misuse on your way up
You might meet on your way down
You think the sun rise and set for you
The same sun rise, set, and shine on the poor folks too
But I don’t mind, you’re turning around
I myself would like a little higher ground
Well it’s high time
That you found
The same people you walk all on your way up
You might meet on your way down
On your way (Down, down, down) . . .
On your way down … On your way down
She’s so fine, and her Mercedes is cool
It’s your thing, It’s your thing, it pleases you
You got to frown, when you cross town
You think it’s an honor just to have you ‘round
Well it’s high time
That you find
The same dudes you misuse on your way up
You might meet on your way down

•  The Craziest Thing

I’m talkin’ to you even when I sleep, and you’re not there.
People keep tellin’ me that I’ve changed, but I don’t care.

If being with you means I am being a fool,
I don’t mind. I don’t mind.

I’m spending my money on things that I can’t afford.
Anything you want, just let me know and it’s yours.

If being with you, is the only thing I do,
I’ll be alright. I’ll be alright.

You got it,
I want it,
You call,
I’m comin’.
Your love makes me do the craziest thing.

You like it,
I’ll try it,
You want it,
I’ll buy it.
Your love makes me do the craziest thing.

In doing things that I would normally do,
I walk around the world four times if it might satisfy you.

Ask me to jump and I’ll fly almost a hundred feet high.
I ain’t lyin’. I ain’t lyin’.

Ask me to bring you the moon, I’ll put the sky in your room.
I’ll die tryin’. I’ll die tryin’.

You got it,
I want it,
You call,
and I’m comin’.
Your love makes me do the craziest thing.

You like it,
I’ll try it,
You say it,
I believe it.
Your love makes me do the craziest thing.

Your love’s about to drive me crazy.
I need someone to come and save me.
Your love’s about to drive me crazy.
I need someone to come and save me, yeah.

You got it,
I want it,
You call,
I’ll come runnin’.
You like it,
I’ll try it,
You want it,
I’ll buy it.
You say it,
I’ll believe it,
You need it,
I need it.
Your love makes me do the craziest thing.