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Double Bass Dixieland jazz

Norre

Norre

Jan 5, 2001
465
49
51
Antwerp, Belgium
users.telenet.be
#1
Please forgive my ignorance, but do any of you guys know if Dixieland bands have double bass players? A lot of these bands are streetbands/marching bands and have tuba or sousaphone players for the bass parts, not? I don't know much about this style of jazz, but I'd like to know more about it. If you can recommend me some good recordings and/or bands just let me know. Also links to website with info about the music itself interest me.

Thanks,

KN
 
#6
Originally tuba's were used and usually played in 2 feel walking bass. Sousaphone's were used for the marching stuff because tuba's are too hard to play standing up.

Double basses are used very commonly in dixieland.
Dixieland doesn't have to be done in a marching fashion.
When you play dixie, you have to think like a tuba player tho.
For example when playing 2 feel, make slight gaps between each note instead of full length, because tuba players usually played that way. It just fits the music style a bit better.

Check out on youtube, videos of Louis Armstrong. You will find many dixieland tunes like struttin with some bbq, when the saints go marchin in, etc.
Mostly done with a bass player, not tuba.

Hope it helps :)
 
#12
Thanks for the link. Talking about uncommon ... that bass sax sure is :smug:
There's something about dixieland jazz that really intrigues me. It's really a fascinating style of music. I just found out there's a dixieland band near my hometown. Gonna check 'm out soon. Maybe I'll meet some other musicians there in need of a bassist :D
Are there any "standards" that every dixieland musician should know? I hear a lot of bands play songs like "Oh when the saints", "Struttin' with some BBQ", "St.James Infirmary". So I guess they are standards more or less, not?
Still looking for some great recordings, so if you know 'm just let me know please ;)

Thank,

KN
 
#13
Hey Ed, that clip with the bass sax was great. I actually played guitar with a dixie band that used bass sax for the bottom line, out in California. In my 73 years on this earth, that was the only bass sax that I have ever seen. Sounded surprisingly good.

Norre, there are a ton of dixie standards out there. Beal Street Blues, Basin Street Blues, Yellow Dog Blues, etc, too many to name. Swing standards from the 30's and 40's work well with a dixie feel too, so you are not restricted to dixie standards. Dixie is my favorite genre, I like to think of it as happy music, despite the "blues" in most of the titles. Good luck with your quest for dixieland.
 
#14
I'm pretty sure I heard that the upright guitarrón is taking over from both the tuba and the DB in Dixieland. . . . Or maybe not. :hmm:

Seriously, I have read somewhere (I'll never find it again, though), that originally in NOLA the tuba was used when jazz was played outdoors, often in parades, but when they brought it indoors, the quieter, more subtle DB became more popular. Anybody know of it being divided along the lines of indoors/outdoors like that?

KN, since, you're so interested in Dixieland, you might like a story a tail-gate trombonist named John Welch told. Jamie Aebersold has reproduced it in some of his materials. You can find it here, for example:
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There's another little story about Charlie Parker, too. Read that one first because it kinda sets up the Welch story.
 
#17
Ed Fuqua said:
Neither DB nor tuba
Click to expand...

Ah, reminds me of Adrian Rollini... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Rollini)

For what it's worth, for those of us here in the "Land of the Politically Correct", prefer the term "Traditional Jazz" (or Jass) or simply, "Trad Jazz" to "dixieland". Here's another wikipedia link that does a better job than I of explaining why this is so: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixieland

The original recordings of Trad jazz tend to be pretty 'rough" because the dynamic range of the recording equipment at that time was really limited. It's still great to hear it.

There was a Trad Jazz revival in the 50's when the recording equipment was much better (and the double-bass much more common). Being a "West Coaster", I recommend Lucius "Lu" Watters and Turk Murphy. I'm sure you'll quickly find your own list of favorites.
 

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