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KANSAS
CITY
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Kansas
City was home to a unique jazz orchestral
style developed in the 1920s urban American Southwest
that differed from the styles of New
Orleans, Chicago or New York because
of its local variant of ragtime and blues tradition. Kansas City
(KC), with its geographical strategic position - the meeting point
of the rivers Kansas and Missouri - and trade in livestock, was
its focal point.
Of great significance was the 'Prendergast
prosperity': KC's corrupt political leader, Tom Prendergast,
promoted its underground economy and nightlife, until his conviction
for tax fraud in 1938, and created a gambling precursor to Las Vegas.
Many of the effects of the depression, at least for musicians, were
absent, and there was plenty of work, especially in the big bands
which thrived.
From
the mid-1930s the Kansas City sound was incorporated into the mainstream
of swing.
Bebop
had a strong Kansas City derivation with
its use of a less prescriptive rhythm section.
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THE
KANSAS CITY STYLE
New ideas brought in by the travelling vaudeville shows were incorporated
with the local musical traditions of the brass band, ragtime orchestra
and rural blues.
Saxophones were prevalent, and emphasis
was placed on simple memorized arrangements and the 12-bar blues
(many of its leading singers such as Joe Turner & Jimmy Rushing were
'blues shouters'), which gave a stylistic unity. A 4/4 conception
of time superseded the two-beat pulse of New Orleans and Chicago,
which allowed greater freedom for the soloist, as did the
riff - a repetitive ensemble device against which soloists improvised.
This in turn led to soloists becoming more competitive: 'cutting contests',
where soloists duelled with each other and where reputations were
won and lost, took place after hours, one notorious contest taking
place in 1934 when Coleman Hawkins took
on Lester Young, Herschel Evans and Ben
Webster, and lost!
Pianists began to 'comp', playing backing chords and becoming
less reliant on a full stride piano repertoire; the idea of a walking
bass line was developed and the drummer's hi-hat was emphasised at
the expense of the bass drum. The rhythm
section par excellence was Bill Basie, Walter Page and Jo Jones. |
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SIGNIFICANT
BAND LEADERS
Bennie Moten
(1894-1935), from Kansas City, had studied with two of Scott Joplin's
pupils. His first recordings in 1923 were all blues, and he was one
of the first to replace the tuba with a string bass. The early-1930s
was his heyday, and he attracted members of Walter Page's Blue Devils
(Count Basie, Lester
Young, Eddie Durham, Jimmy Rushing, Hop Lips Page). He died whilst
undergoing surgery in 1935.
Walter Page
(1900-57), a trained musician who formed his group the Blue Devils
in 1925, he was able to attract good musicians but unable to keep
them.
Count Basie
Andy Kirk (1898-1992)
grew up in Denver and studied music theory with Paul Whiteman's father.
He joined Terrence Holder's Dark Clouds of Joy in 1925 and assumed
leadership in 1929, renaming the band Clouds of Joy. He moved to Kansas
City in 1929, where they recorded and began to rival Moten's band
for popularity. Mary Lou Williams was
the band's pianist, skilful arranger and composer until 1942. The
band was much more subtle than its rivals and less dependent on riffs;
it had commercial leanings. Kirk's soloists included Dick Wilson,
Don Byas, Shorty Baker, Howard McGee, Fats
Navarro and Charlie Parker. The band
dissolved in 1948, although Kirk remained active until the 1960s.
Jay McShann.
'Hootie', a self-taught pianist with a percussive style who drew on
the blues and boogie-woogie, moved to Kansas City only in the mid-1930s
where he formed, before a big band in 1939, a sextet. The big band
was first recorded in 1941 but moved to New York in 1942, now including
Parker. McShann returned to KC in the
1950s and continued to tour widely, especially in a trio format.
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