Narrated slide show for my jazz history class (snow day)

1. Turn on
your sound!
HARLEM
STRIDE
PIANISTS

2. Watch "Flappers" (just for fun)
JAZZ IN NEW YORK CITY
In the early days of jazz, New Yorkers saw jazz
mainly as a type of entertainment and dance
music—it was not taken very seriously
 But by the end of the 1920s, New York had
become the center of jazz development
 Jazz musicians came to New York because it was
the entertainment capital of the nation—they
came to get national exposure and backing
 The heart of the U.S. song publishing and sheet
music business was Tin Pan Alley—many
musicians got their start here as song pluggers


3. THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
The neighborhood of Harlem became the
center of African American culture in the
1920s, with a new, educated black class
 Black artists and writers such as Langston
Hughes created novels and plays expressing
aspects of black culture
 Composers like William Grant Still wrote
symphonies and concert works based on African
American themes
 Jazz was an important part of the Renaissance as
well—jazz musicians, singers, arrangers, and
bandleaders had plenty of success in Harlem


4. HARLEM STRIDE PIANISTS
Many early jazz pianists came from the East
Coast rather than New Orleans or Chicago
 These pianists could improvise rags and
embellish written music in the style of rags
 They also introduced the stride style of playing



Stride developed from ragtime, but it was faster,
more virtuosic, incorporated blues elements, and
featured more improvisation
Harlem stride pianists such as Luckey Roberts,
James P. Johnson, and Willie “The Lion” Smith
played in neighborhood rent parties and competed
against other pianists in cutting contests

5. JAMES P. JOHNSON
Known as the “Father of Stride Piano”
 Came from New Jersey rather than New
Orleans, developing an “East Coast style” of
playing
 He developed his style playing dance music at
clubs in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen
 He won many contests by the
speed, precision, and dexterity
of his playing
 Like Scott Joplin, he composed
symphonic music, ballet, and opera
 He was also heavily involved with
Broadway theater


6. A FEW JOHNSON RECORDINGS
“Carolina Shout”
 “You’ve Got to Be Modernistic”
 “The Charleston”
 “Snowy Morning Blues”
 “Riffs”


7. FATS WALLER
One of the most popular figures in
early jazz history, with six songs
reaching number one on the charts
 He was an entertainer and singer as well as a
pianist, often adding witty remarks as he played
 He was perhaps the most gracefully swinging of
all the stride-style pianists
 His improvisations are rich and imaginative
 Two of his best-known songs are “Ain’t
Misbehavin’” and “Honeysuckle Rose”


8. A FEW FATS WALLER RECORDINGS
“I Ain’t Got Nobody”
 “Numb Fumblin’”
 “Handful of Keys”
 “Your Feet’s Too Big” *
 “Lulu’s Back in Town”


9. BOOGIE WOOGIE
Boogie woogie was an alternative to stride style,
popular with dancers in the 20s and 30s
 In boogie woogie style, pianists improvised licks
over a repeating boogie woogie rhythm
 The three most well-known boogie
woogie pianists are Albert Ammons,
Meade “Lux” Lewis, and Pete Johnson


“Honky Tonky Train Blues”