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Here
is a territory band from Dayton, Ohio which is magnetized by the moment
in the
late 1920's and early 1930's when classic jazz evolved into small band
swing.
The fluidity and polyphony of the front line remained intact, while the
driving
rhythm of the banjo and tuba was lightened by the substitution of
guitar and
string bass. Unhampered by the horn sections and written arrangements
of the big
band jazz that captured the years from the dawn of the depression
through the
denouement of World War II, the music left lead players free to explore
their
individual creativity with the support of a "modern" rhythm section.
It looked backward with an affectionate smile, and forward with an
appreciative
glance.
After
amassing and absorbing the wonderful music of the giants
of jazz and the schools and styles of New Orleans, Chicago, New York,
Kansas
City and San Francisco, the aficionados who used to be affectionately
termed
"mouldie fygges" would scour the second hand stores for recordings
from the "territories" -- those areas of lighter population density
where under-recorded and under-appreciated bands often established
their own
sound and local traditions. Dayton, the home of the Wright Brothers and
Dunbar,
has been as fertile and inventive in music as it has been in technology
and
poetry. As inheritors of its territorial approach to traditional jazz,
the
Classic Jazz Stompers have enjoyed almost two decades of pleasurably
fanning the
flames of that tradition.
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This page was last updated11/18/12