Danny Barker in City of Mobile - early 20th Century
from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, page 51:
Cootie Williams, that style he played, he got that from Chris Kelly. Chris used to go to Mobile [Alabama], where they had the same caste system as New Orleans. He played a dicty dance there one night and played nothing but barrelhouse with that plunger. He was the first one I saw play with a plunger. [...] And he also played church music, especially Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. He really moved people. He should have been a preacher. But he preached so melodiously with his horn that it was like somebody singing a song, and he would go into the blues from there. When he went to Mobile … more >>
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. 51. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1433682091254 accessed: 13 October, 2024
Listeners
Listening to
hide composers| Swing low, sweet chariot | performed by Chris Kelly |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | early 20th Century |
| Medium | live |
| Listening Environment | in the company of others, indoors, in public |