The Lunceford Magic
Jimmie Lunceford - 1939
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Jimmie's band started in Memphis, Tennessee, back in the late 1920s. He was a high school band director (the first in Memphis), and he started his first band with his most promising students. They made their first records for Bluebird in 1930, and it was, even then, a very credible band indeed. And it only got better throughout the 1930s.
With all that youthful exuberance in the band, of course they played lots of hot jazz, much of it arranged by the band's pianist Ed Wilcox, later joined in that endeavor by trombonist Eddie Durham. These two provided the charts for the first Lunceford recordings to gain noticeable traction - Jealous, Bird of Paradise, Rhapsody Jr. Next came the formidable alto sax and clarinet savant Willie Smith, who wrote the intricate arrangements for such Lunceford trademarks as Mood Indigo, Rose Room and Runnin' Wild. Nearly all of these arrangements put the melody in the brass at a slow dance tempo, underpinned by intricate obbligato lines for the reeds, doodling and looping around the melody. Then, sometimes, as in Sleepy Time Gal, the deft reeds would take the spotlight, taking an acrobatic unison chorus filled with sixteenth and thirty-second notes. This formula was the sole property of the Jimmie Lunceford band for several years, and it brought them much success with the jitterbugs and dedicated dancers.
Then there was Sy Oliver, who grew up playing trumpet in the Lunceford band. Sy wrote his first arrangements for Jimmie, and they remain standouts on the jazz landscape - most notably Stomp It Off, Rain, Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down, and of course, 'Tain't What 'Cha Do (It's the Way that You Do it). Sy's mastery of two-beat jazz on these songs and others like them is what got Tommy Dorsey's attention and prompted him to hire Oliver away from Lunceford in 1940. Of course, Sy went on to write some legendary charts for Dorsey as well.
The World's Greatest Record Library is blessed with a plentiful selection of Lunceford classics, and we will hear a pile of them on this week's show, including Stomp it Off, 'Tain't What 'Cha Do, Rose Room and Margie, as well as White Heat, a "killer-diller" recorded at one of the band's last sessions for Bluebird. Just a few months later, the band would switch to the new Decca label, and find immediate popular success.
Of course, it takes great players to execute these complex and demanding arrangements, and we will hear ample evidence of the strength of Lunceford's lineup. We will hear the Great Eddie Tompkins, Tommy Stevenson and Sy Oliver on trumpets, Ed Wilcox on piano, Jimmy Crawford on drums, Moses Allen on bass...and then there's that amazing reed section populated with Willie Smith, Laforet Dent, Joe Thomas and Earl Carruthers. That section alone was responsible for more standing ovations than many bands got in their entire careers.
Needless to say, this will be a fantastic way to kick off the show this week. Hope you're ready to be impressed!
Hour 2 begins with about 20 minutes of extremely high-quality dance music from one of the clarinet Greats, Artie Shaw and his orchestra. Artie proved early on that his band could make a lot of noise and bring the Lindy Hoppers onto the dance floor. And by 1939, Artie was moving toward a smoother, more sophisticated sound. We will hear some excellent examples of both from his 1938-40 bands, including Jungle Drums, I Surrender Dear, and a live broadcast of April in My Heart, from the Blue Room of the Hotel Lincoln in New York. We will even go back and spin our original Vocalion 78 of The Blues A & B from 1937
Besides the amazing segments dedicated to Jimmie Lunceford and Artie Shaw, this week's In the Mood brings on a tall stack of red-hot shellac from the best of the Big Bands of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, including, but not limited to, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Ralph Flanagan, Lionel Hampton and many others. We'll hear from the Andrews Sisters, Helen O'Connell, Eddie Heywood, Jack Teagarden, and even Bing Crosby singing with Paul Whiteman in 1928.
Yes, I must admit, I am a shameless name-dropper!
Remember to contact a young player or band student and invite them to listen to the show with you this week! With all of our affiliates streaming online 24/7, you'll have plenty of chances to catch the show this week on any of our 9 affiliates!
Of course, we would love to hear from you with a comment or a request, either here or on our
Be good to one another this week, and above all,
Keep Swinging!
Scott
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