Duke Ellington in Harlem
from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, pages 168-169:
…[A]t nights everybody used to carry their horns round with them and wherever there was a piano you'd find horn players sitting and jamming. There'd be maybe a piano player, and a drummer, and about six different cornet players; everybody trying to outblow everybody else. And whoever owned the place would stand drinks all night long. It was OK by him, he got free music that way…
The earliest bands I can remember (about 1923) were those of Fess Williams, Wilbur Sweatman, Jack Hatton the trumpet player, and the famous trumpeter, Johnny Dunn. Mamie Smith had a wonderful … 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. 168-169. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1435053384243 accessed: 30 October, 2024
Listeners
Listening to
hide composers| jazz band performance | performed by Cecil McCoy, Earl Frazier, Jack Hutton, Mamie Smith Band, Wilbur Sweatman, Johnny Dunn and His Band, Bubber Miley, Fess Williams, Sidney Bechet |
Experience Information
| Medium | live |
| Listening Environment | in the company of others, indoors, in public |