The JAZZ Story

met in friendly but fierce contests--the beginnings of what would later be

known as jam sessions.

In Chicago, a very different piano style came into the picture in the late

`20s, dubbed boogie-woogie after the most famous composition by its first

significant exponent, Pinetop Smith (1904-1929). This rolling,

eight-to-the-bar bass style was popular at house parties in the Windy City

and became a national craze in 1939, after three of its best practitioners,

Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson and Meade Lux Lewis, had been presented

in concert at Carnegie Hall.

KANSAS CITY SOUNDS

Johnson was from Kansas City, where boogie-woogie was also popular.

The midwestern center was a haven for Jazz musicians through-out the

rule of Boss Pendergast, when the city was wide open and music could be

heard around the clock.

The earliest and one of the best of the K.C. bands was led by Bennie

Moten (1894-1935). By 1930 it had in its ranks pianist Count Basie

(1905-1984) who'd learned from Fats Waller; trumpeter-singer Oran (Hot

Lips) Page (1908-1954), one of Louis Armstrong's greatest disciples; and

an outstanding singer, Jimmy Rushing (1903-1972). The city was to put its

imprint on Jazz during the `30s and early `40s.

DEPRESSION DAYS

The great Depression had its impact on Jazz as it did on virtually all other

facets of American life. The record business reached its lowest ebb in

1931. By that year, many musicians who had been able to make a living

playing Jazz had been forced to either take commercial music jobs or leave