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THE EXODUS 39
Lottie Taylor (Piano) Minor Hall (Drums) Ed Garland (Bass)
Thus, 'King' Oliver has the distinction of being the first bandleader to record the real music for posterity. You may notice that his band has a female pianist; the piano was gradually replacing or augmenting the guitar or banjo, and a female pianist was becoming the accepted way of adding box-office attraction in one of the less strenuous roles of the orchestra. Again, top-flight male pianists found plenty of engagements as solo players in which they could earn a great deal more than they would in the band.
It is worthwhile at this point mentioning the particular influence of St. Louis on the jazz musicians who emigrated there. St. Louis was the town where forty-two railroads met. Railroading was the chief occupation of ex-slaves; the negro enjoyed good earnings and was a respected member of the community. Much of the population was of French or German extraction: this accounted for the presence of a European musical atmosphere, with two principal results. Firstly, most St. Louis musicians could read music, and were seen "carrying their 'dots' about with them". Secondly, European orchestral traditions were responsible for adding a whole group of reed instruments to the horns of the traditional New Orleans-type band.
But from this time on, the principal growth of jazz |
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