LCV Spring 2013 - (Page 69)

here from LaPlace, a whole band from the country. they could play, too,” remembered bassist John Joseph of the ory band’s arrival on the new orleans scene. future duke Ellington band bassist wellman Braud (1891-1967) recalled: “the olympia was the best band at the time until Kid ory and his band from LaPlace came to town, taking new orleans by storm. the ory band was smoother and more polished than the new orleans bands.” trombonist Earl humphrey (1902-1971), the grandson of music teacher Professor James humphrey, said, “he was a smooth player with wonderful ideas about faking music. wonderful.” these early accounts of ory and his band as “smooth” may offer a glimpse of what these musicians were doing that was different. Bolden’s band is often recalled as being “rough.” ory liked Bolden but also appreciated the musicality of John robichaux’s orchestra. Perhaps the ory band, even at this early stage, had smoothed out the rough HOGAN JAZZ ARCHIVE, TULANE UNIVERSITY between the downtown Creole bands and the uptown non-reading, gut-bucket bands like Buddy Bolden’s, and later ory’s. the Creole groups, including brass and dance bands, featured generally light-skinned musicians who played from written scores. By comparison, uptown bands like Bolden’s were comprised largely of musicians who played by ear. By 1900, changes in national musical styles provided fodder for the new orleans brass and dance band community. ragtime emerged on the scene. with its emphasis on the second beat, this highly syncopated music would inform early jazz, and ragtime tunes made their way into the repertoires of new orleans bands. around the same time, pioneers like Bolden injected the blues into the mix. the dichotomy between the Creole and uptown bands of Bolden’s day was still in evidence when ory arrived on the scene. ironically, ory, the self-described Even after moving to New Orleans in 1910, Ory’s band often played country dance halls in the River Parishes where he spent his early years. Ory’s Brown Skinned Babies most likely sat for this photo near his native LaPlace around this time. Pictured are Ed “Rabbit” Robertson, Ory, Lewis “Chif” Matthews, Johnny Brown, Joseph “Stonewall” Matthews and Foster Lewis. “Creole,” found himself at odds musically with the Creoles of new orleans. though he considered himself Creole ethnically and culturally, he was not a “Creole musician” in this context, as he did not read music and did not grow up in a historically Creole neighborhood like new orleans’ seventh ward. ory had followed the uptown bands since his first visits to new orleans, and it was of this musical school he considered himself a part. still, he had developed his own style during the five years after he first heard Bolden. “they came edges of Bolden’s sound and taken style points from robichaux to play in a more polished way—thus Braud’s recollection of ory’s band “taking” new orleans. Bassist George “Pops” foster said, “his (ory’s) band could play a waltz and make it hot.” “hot” is a term often applied to early new orleans bands that played in an improvisational, gutbucket style. that ory would play a waltz hot suggests that his was a band that played hot all the time, unlike bands of a few years earlier that may have THE DICHOTOMY BETWEEN THE CREOLE AND UPTOWN BANDS OF BOLDEN’S DAY WAS STILL IN EVIDENCE WHEN ORY ARRIVED ON THE SCENE. Spring 2013 • Louisiana CuLturaL Vistas 69 

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