Nat Towles in New Orleans - early 20th Century

from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, pages 16-17:

Yeah, that's just the way it was in those days. You'd march to the graveyard playing very solemn and very slow, then on the way back all hell would break loose! No music you understand, we didn't know what a sheet of music was. Just six or seven pieces, half a dozen men pounding it out all together, each in his own way and yet somehow fitting in all right with the others. It had to be right, and it was, because it came from the right place.

Oh, the brass bands might have had more men, two clarinets maybe, or two cornets. Bolden used Bunk on second but I never heard that outfit. …   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. 16-17. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1433344696327 accessed: 28 March, 2024

location of experience: New Orleans

Listeners

Nat Towles
double bass player, Bandleader
1905-1962

Listening to

hide composers
New Orleans street music performed by Louis Armstrong

Experience Information

Date/Time early 20th Century
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, outdoors, in public

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Wed, 03 Jun 2015 16:18:16 +0100
Approved on Sat, 20 Aug 2016 15:41:59 +0100