Louis Metcalf in Apollo Theater

from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, page 205:

To my mind, the controversy about the two different styles of playing, Eastern and Western, came to a head when Louis Armstrong joined Fletcher Henderson [early 1920's], taking Joe Smith's chair. It was a real jazz feud with all the musicians taking sides. Louis represented the Western style of jazz, while Joe Smith was the Eastern. It was the most terrific thing I ever heard--that midnight show at the Apollo Theatre when Henderson showed off Louis. I don't remember if anybody knew about it in advance, but Joe Smith was sitting in the pit with the house band, and, believe me, when he opened…   more >>

cite as

Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro, Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It (London, 1992), p. 205. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1435066737377 accessed: 9 November, 2024

location of experience: Apollo Theater

Listeners

Louis Metcalf
cornetist, trumpeter
1905-1981

Listening to

hide composers
East coast jazz performed by Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra, Joe Smith

Experience Information

Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Tue, 23 Jun 2015 14:38:57 +0100
Approved on Tue, 30 Aug 2016 12:57:10 +0100