10. Dan Levinson’s Roof Garden Jass Band, “Ostrich Walk”

(Nick LaRocca, Larry Shields)

For use with Lesson #12.

 

Style: Early “Dixieland”

Personnel: Jon-Erik Kellso cornet, Dan Levinson clarinet, David Sager trombone, Tom Roberts piano, Kevin Dorn drums. Recorded in 1998.

Issued on Loup-garous LG1001.

“Jass” was an alternative spelling of “jazz”. This all-ensemble performance characterizes the sound of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and similar groups of the late teens and early 1920s. “Ostrich Walk” was written and recorded by the ODJB, and this performance in modern fidelity is based on that recording. The phrasing here is not quite as “stilted” as in the original records, but listen to the cornet’s phrasing at 0:56 for a sample of the rhythmic note placement that was common in this style. The shrill clarinet sound often heard in this style is exemplified at 1:52.

Sequence for this track

0:00 Ensemble intro (4 bars)

0:06 Second ensemble intro (4 bars)

0:11 First strain: ensemble (breaks by clarinet)

0:31 First strain repeat: ensemble (breaks by clarinet)

0:51 Second strain: ensemble (breaks by clarinet)

1:11 Second strain repeat: ensemble (breaks by clarinet)

1:31 First strain reprise: ensemble (breaks by clarinet)

1:52 First strain repeat: ensemble (breaks by clarinet)

2:11 Second strain reprise: ensemble (breaks by clarinet)

2:31 Second strain repeat: ensemble (breaks by clarinet)

2:51 Second strain repeat: ensemble (breaks by clarinet)

3:11 “Doo-dop” ending

Roof Garden Jass Band