"Black Bottom Stomp" is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

composition. It was composed by

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...

in 1925 and was originally entitled "Queen of Spades". It was recorded in Chicago by Morton and His

Red Hot Peppers Red Hot Peppers was a recording jazz band led by Jelly Roll Morton from 1926–1930. It was a seven- or eight-piece band formed in Chicago that recorded for Victor and featured the best New Orleans-style freelance musicians available, includ ...

, for

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

on September 15, 1926. __TOC__

Technique

The recording has many features that are typical of the New Orleans style: *the frontline of trumpet, clarinet and trombone and rhythm section comprising piano, banjo, double bass and drum kit *the structure, derived from multi-thematic

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

structures, with a transitional interlude leading to a new key *collective improvisation ensemble sections, the main melody woven together with a

counter-melody In music, a counter-melody (often countermelody) is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody. In other words, it is a secondary melody played in counterpoint with the prima ...

and the accompaniment *the counter-melody relies upon scalar patterns and arpeggios *the instrumental performance techniques such as the trombone counter-melody glissandos, sometimes known as "tailgating" *the percussive "slapped" bass used to help keep time in the rhythm section.

Structure

John Szwed notes that in "Black Bottom Stomp," "Morton practiced what he preached, managing to incorporate in one short piece the 'Spanish tinge,' stomps, breaks, stoptime, backbeat, two-beat, four-beat, a complete suspension of the rhythm section during the piano solo, riffs, rich variations of melody, and dynamics of volume, all of the elements of jazz as he understood it." # Intro: B♭ major, 8 bars, full ensemble # A section in B♭. Three 16 bar choruses: (i) full ensemble; (ii) trumpet calls with ensemble response; (iii) clarinet solo # Interlude: 4 bars, for full ensemble # B section in E♭: Seven 20 bar choruses: (i) Full ensemble with trumpet and trombone break; (ii) clarinet solo (iii) piano solo; (iv) trumpet solo ''

stop-time In tap dancing, jazz, and blues, stop-time is an accompaniment pattern interrupting, or stopping, the normal time and featuring regular accented attacks on the first beat of each or every other measure, alternating with silence or instrumen ...

'' chorus; (v) banjo solo; (vi) full ensemble with

drum break In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece. A break is usually interpolated between sections of a song, to ...

; (vii) full ensemble with trombone break # Coda in E♭ for full ensemble The harmonic basis is relatively simple, using standard II - V - I progressions. During the A section chorus, the chord progression passes through the relative minor. With only seven instruments in the ensemble, Morton produces five distinct textures: #trumpet and rhythm section #clarinet #banjo and rhythm section #clarinet and rhythm section #piano solo The piece displays traits of Morton's compositional style: *built-in breaks *stop-time phrases *rhythmically lively themes *frequent contrasts of sustained semibreve phrases with syncopated semibreve patterns *a

stomping A stomp (also referred to as a stamp) is a downwards strike with the heel of the foot from the stand-up position, and is usually directed at the head or body of a downed opponent. A stomp similar to an axe kick is referred to as an axe stomp, w ...

"trio" section Some distinct rhythmic features of New Orleans jazz appear throughout: *2-beat mixed with 4-beat time *''

'' * Charleston rhythm

Performers

The performers on the original recording were: *Clarinet:

Omer Simeon Omer Victor Simeon (July 21, 1902 – September 17, 1959) was an American jazz clarinetist. He also played soprano, alto, and baritone saxophone and bass clarinet. Biography The son of a cigar maker, Omer Simeon was born in New Orleans, Louisian ...

*Trumpet: George Mitchell *Trombone:

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was ...

*Piano: Jelly Roll Morton *Banjo:

Johnny St. Cyr Johnny St. Cyr (April 17, 1890 – June 17, 1966) was an American jazz banjoist and guitarist. For banjo his by far most used type in records at least was the six string one. On a famous “action photo” with Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Pepp ...

*Double Bass: John Lindsay *Drums: Andrew Hilaire

References

Sources

* Burton W. Peretti (2006),
“Black Bottom Stomp”--Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers (1926)
Library of Congress Registry of Recorded Sound. {{authority control Jazz compositions Songs written by Jelly Roll Morton 1925 songs United States National Recording Registry recordings

Technique

Structure

Performers

See also

References

Sources