I'm a big fan of Kansas City jazz and am always on the lookout for good territory band collections. Turns out there are tons of recordings of jazz bands outside of New York and Chicago and not just Kansas City but also Milwaukee, Omaha, and Knoxville. Today's post is the first of three posts that concentrates on a cd collection rom Frog records of different territory bands entitled
Frog is based in England and along with JSP, are one of the better reissue labels of vintage jazz. I feel these days, the English have better jazz scholarship than us Americans with strong studies and aided by excellent reissue labels. Part of it I believe are the copyrights behind the publishing and the ownership of the material, but I think it's also because there is just more interest in jazz, and specifically earlier styles of jazz than in the U.S.. Perhaps it's easier for the English to study American music as outsiders, after all we have such a complicated history understanding and accepting our own culture as recent events dictate. This is the part one of three because with eight different bands, there's a lot of ground to cover and doors to open.
George E. Lee and his Novelty Singing Orchestra
This post will focus on the sessions in Kansas City featuring George E. Lee (1896-1958) and his sister Julia Lee (1902-1958) from three different recording sessions in 1927 and 1929. These sides were first collected in a 1975 Canadian compilation and roughly every ten years or so gets re-released on a new compilation from a different label usually in a different country! George E. Lee was a vocalist, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist who led one of the most popular Kansas City bands from 1927 through 1935. He played in the Army band in 1917 and led various bands in Kansas City with his sister on piano through the early 1930s, playing a variety of instruments (seems a lot of bandleaders during this era were multi-instrumentalists). His name might be familiar to many jazz fans, as Charlie Parker, after being ridiculed on stage in Kansas City, famously joined his band in the summer of 1937 at a resort in Eldo, Missouri, and experience a musical epiphany that led towards the development of the bebop style. However, it had little to do with Lee's music,which by then was full-on entertainment and strictly for laughs. Lee's significance though is much wider than the association with Bird. His music represents important contributions to the development of jazz in Kansas City and the Southwest, while featuring two musicians who would become important in the development of rhythm and blues and later rock'n roll.
The first session is from 1927 was billed as "George E. Lee and his Novelty Singing Orchestra" featuring a small group with Sam Utterbach (trumpet), Thurston "Sox" Maupins (trombone), Clarence Taylor (soprano and alto sax), Julia Lee (piano and vocals), unknown banjoist, Clint Weaver (tuba), Abe Price (drums) and George E. Lee (tenor sax and vocals). The two tracks from this session, "Down-home Syncopated Blues" and "Meritt Stomp", are based in ragtime. His vaudeville-like vocals, which are in fact quite strong are the highlight. Another is the banjo and tuba providing the groove for the dancers. The unknown banjoist even takes a nice chordal solo on "Down Home Syncopated Blues", but I believe the banjo solo was a byproduct of the vaudeville circuit and might have contributed to their "novelty" sound. Bennie Moten's recordings also feature their banjoist strumming away, but I don't recall any Duke Ellington or Fletcher Henderson or anyone else's recording with a banjo feature. Perhaps it was a Kansas City tradition?
The other stand out is Clarence Taylor on soprano saxophone, playing a melodic statement in the beginning and a solo later. His tone is piercing and really sounds rudimentary, like a child playing, but, kind of like Ornette Coleman playing a plastic saxophone, also sounds very much like a human voice and at times sounds like he's wailing. Once I get past the expected standards of jazz musicians today in 2020, I start to understand that this music, and especially Taylor's soprano, is completely informed by the blues; it's embedded in his sound and even his lines. This is not a school art, this is very much street music and the connections to rural blues and African American folk songs are not that far off. Taylor prioritizes blues feeling and nothing technical. When he goes up to the root from the major third, he sits on that note and it sounds like a powerful cry. Add the poor recording quality, which adds another dimension to the sound, and it sounds surprisingly like electric guitar! I looked around for other recordings of Taylor, but I couldn't find anything and I'm curious if this was his style, as it's quite unique. Other highlights include Julia Lee's piano solo on "Meritt Stomp" (more on her in a minute). Far from being chosen based, it is textural with focus on the left hand---again, the aesthetic seems rooted in blues.
George E. Lee and his Orchestra
On November 6, 1929, the same band with extra trumpet (Harold Knox), new trombonist (Jimmy Jones), two extra saxophonists (Herman Walder on clarinet and alto and Albert "Bud" Johnson on tenor sax), new or credited banjoist Charles Russo and new drummer Pete Woods. Johnson would go on to arrange for Earl Hines, Billy Eckstine, and others. The ragtime sound is shedded and this band sounds stronger, more inspired, and surprisingly more modern that the last recording session. They aren't billed as "George Lee and his Novelty Singing Orchestra" and instead simply as "George E. Lee and his Orchestra" and it's easy to hear the difference. A major reason for this is the addition of Jesse Stone (1901-1998) as arranger and part-time pianist. Lee's biggest rival at the time was Bennie Moten and Stone was hired to help stave off the competition. He brought in new musicians and the band produced some challenging music that was ahead of Moten himself, including the two lone tracks recorded by this band, "Paseo Strut" and "Ruff Scufflin'". A native of Atchison, Missouri, Stone contributed to the sound of the Southwest as evidenced on his few recordings with his own band, Jesse Stone and the Blues Serenaders. "Starvation Blues" from 1927 features arranged passages mixed with powerful blues feeling (that's at times startlingly dissonant) that was far ahead of its time.
Stone grew up in Kansas City leading or participating in a number of bands through the 1930s. An early band included Coleman Hawkins on cello and besides, writing for Lee, he also helped Terrence Holder form a band in 1929 (presumably after Andy Kirk took over his group), Later he wrote for Earl Hines' big band in Chicago before writing for a number of shows and acts in New York including the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. By the late 1940's, he ended up working behind the scenes in rhythm and blues, eventually writing hits for Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner ("Shake, Rattle, and Roll"), the Clovers and others. Here's an instrumental he recorded under his name from 1954 called
"Runaway". He is credited by Ahmet Ertegun as having an important role in shaping the sound of rhythm and blues as it emerged jazz (and became rock'n roll). He wasn't done just yet, starting a long running duo with his wife Evelyn McGee Stone that lasted through the 1970's. He continued to perform until shortly before his death in 1998. This is just a tiny sampling of his career, but he deserves wider recognition especially given the strong ties between Kansas City jazz, rhythm and blues, and early rock'n roll. His musical mind was already finely tuned for the recording session in November 1929.
"Paseo Strut" and "Ruff Scufflin'" are tiny gems of composition and arranging where Jesse Stone brought in some cues from Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, and Jelly Roll Morton. Both songs feature extended forms derived from ragtime and are through-composed and/or arranged from start to finish. "Paseo Strut" features three different sections (ABC), where each section can be broken down into four sections. A and B feature variations on aaba while C features aabb sections. There are also introductions and transition material and throughout the entire piece it doesn't sound like anything is orchestrated the same way twice, as Stone often adds small variations in texture (muted vs open trumpet) and timbre (breaks for the hi-hat and tuba). Rhythmically it gets very syncopated, especially in the C section which displaces the beat and the intro which also turns the beat around. This is difficult music, but the band pulls it off great. It's a testament to Lee just how well rehearsed they are. Otherwise, Stone's muscular arrangement would not work.
The overall scheme of "Ruff Scufflin'" is ABA where each section is comprised of an aaba form. I didn't mention the amount of breaks in "Paseo Strut" but he makes use of that here as well creating some fine drama. The textures are equally varied here and we are also treated to a Redman special, the clarinet soli. The first a theme is interesting as the first four bars feature an ascending bass line while the next four bars feature a descending bass line. I'm sure if one looks further into the notes and harmonies, there will be more noteworthy information. Like Jelly Roll Morton on "Grandpa Spells" and "Black Bottom Stomp" which the cascades of never-ending textures, Jesse Stone exhibits a level of detail that not many arrangers attempted and seems to be an attempt to bolster his music as art.
The vocal tracks, "If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight" and "St. James Infirmary" feature the same refined but more straight forward arrangements that were likely done by Stone. No longer playing saxophone on this session, Lee's vocal performances are very strong, particularly on "St. James Infirmary".. Russo takes a nice single note banjo solo on the first track and the second track features Jones on trombone with a strong melodic statement.
Julia Lee
Two days later, the band entered the studio again and this time, sister Julia Lee (1902-1958) is the featured artist singing "He's Tall, Dark, and Handsome" and "Won't You Come Over To My House". While George E. Lee's career faded in the 1930's, Julia Lee's career continued and prospered as she was active performing and recording a number of rhythm and blues hits. She sung a range of rhythm and blues songs but she attracted a lot of fans as a risqué performer singing "dirty blues" or double-entendre songs, such as "King Size Papa" and
"I Didn't Like It The First Time (The Spinach Song)".
Lee's solo career as a singer and pianist started after working in her brother's band from 1920 through 1933. She held a long residency at Milton's Tap Room in Kansas City and recorded a series of rhythm and blues hits in the 1940's and early 1950's with numerous swing musicians including Red Callendar, Benny Carter, Vic Dickenson, Jay McShann and others. Her success led to tours around the country including a gig at the White House playing for President Truman in 1949---I would love to know the repertoire for that set!
From the session on November 8, 1929, her blues rooted vocals and piano playing are strong and she even a little stride on "He's Tall, Dark, and Handsome". Behind her vocals, muted trombone and trumpet gently improvise. Clarence Taylor played on the session from two years ago and whom I discussed in detail above is on bass sax and sounds considerably stronger. The song is arranged without tuba, so he plays some nice responses to Lee's vocal that fill out the lower register. His sound is surprisingly clean and light and his solo almost sounds like a bari. He maintains the same vocal-like and blues aesthetic on this track and is quite sensitive in handling the instrument. The title and lyrics "Won't You Come Over To My House" doesn't leave much to the imagination and would be the direction Lee would follow in the future, in fact she would re-record this song for Capitol years later. There is a nice instrumental section up front and strong solos by Harold Knox on trumpet and Jimmy Jones on muted trombone.
Upon reflection, the first session of this music sums up the first part of the Kansas City formula: ragtime and blues. The second session adds the sounds of the Northeast bands. Turn up the jazz content with stronger soloists and a refined head arrangement formula and the recipe is complete. Moten's band would prevail in the cut-throat world of the Kansas City dance band scene, but on these tracks we get a peek into the laboratory as the music was developing. Quite a bit of history in these tracks. Connecting these kinds of dots, especially crossovers into other styles like rhythm and blues helps us understand the fuller picture of the music we listen to.
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