Jelly Roll Morton 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, page 53:
A lot of bad bands, what we used to call "spasm" bands, played any jobs they could get in the streets. They did a lot of "ad libbing" in ragtime style with different solos in succession, not in a regular routine, but just as one guy would get tired and let another musician take the lead.
None of these men made much money--maybe a dollar a night or a couple of bucks for a funeral, but still, they didn't like to leave New Orleans. […] So, the town was full of the best musicians you ever heard. Even the rags-bottles-and-bones men would advertise their trade by playing the blues … 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. 53. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1433683270989 accessed: 4 December, 2024
Listeners
Listening to
hide composers| blues | |
| ragtime tunes |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | early 20th Century |
| Medium | live |
| Listening Environment | in the company of others, outdoors, in public |