4. King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, “Snake Rag” (Joe Oliver)

 For use with Lesson #4.

 

Style: Classic New Orleans

Personnel: Joe “King” Oliver cornet, Louis Armstrong (age 21) cornet, Johnny Dodds clarinet, Honore Dutrey trombone, Lil Hardin piano, Bill Johnson (age 18) banjo, Warren “Baby” Dodds drums. Recorded in 1923.

Issued on Gennett 5184.

Reissued on Archeophone OTR-MM6-C2 and Retrieval RTR 79007.

Louis Armstrong’s first recordings were made with this seminal group of New Orleans musicians. “Snake Rag” is one of the finest examples of the hot, thickly textured Oliver ensemble, and of the famed two-cornet harmonized breaks that Oliver and Armstrong deployed frequently.  These breaks can be heard at 1:58 and 2:36 (at 2:31, Armstrong previews the harmonized break that occurs five seconds later). Rhythmic variety informs this performance, notably the trombone’s shifting between legato (e.g. 1:52) and staccato (e.g. 2:05) phrasing, and the piano’s interesting three-against-four accompaniment to the ensemble at 1:06.

Sequence for this track

0:00 Ensemble intro (8 bars with break by cornets and trombone)

0:10 First strain: ensemble (with break by cornets and trombone)

0:29 Second strain: ensemble (with break by trombone)

0:47 First strain reprise: ensemble (with break by cornets and trombone)

1:06 Third strain (key change): ensemble (with break by clarinet)

1:42 Third strain repeat: ensemble (with harmonized break by cornets)

2:19 Third strain repeat: ensemble (with harmonized break by cornets); “double ending”

King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band