Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1920-04-19

published by the students at Ames. eX-
~Iplains very succinetly the why" OF so
called Jazz music. 1t is written by
Ed Chinette, himself an orchestra play
er. Says he:
l attended a dance recently. In fact
l did more than merely attend this
dance, for l played in the orchestra.
1t was the first dance l have attended
in any capacity for nearly a year.
There were five of us in the or
chestra. The room was small. so that
the softest note on any one of the in
struments could have been heard to
the fartheSt end of the hall. And for
the first two or three numbers We at
tempted to give a sort of creditablc
recognition to musical requirements as
written. Did that suit the dancers?
1t did not. \. friend came up and said:
ED, you fellows are asleep. Can't
YOU put some life in it? All Of you got
the fin and need an undertaken? Give
'er pep. man, give 'er some real pep.
We know yOn got it in YOU. Jazz EN-
up. This isn't an old ladies sewing
circle, you know And with that he
left. Then we also left off playing
music as music and jazzed.
The pianist took off the front of the
piano. The drummer numbered
several crash symhals, a large assert
ment of bells pertaining to cows.
sheep, dinner, and engines. Friend
Buckton hung Il perforated can over
the bell of his trombone and produced
a noise closely resembling a meat
hound bowling at a full moon: and
not content with that, his originally
led him to %discOnnect the bell OF his
horn and to bring forth weird penetrat-
ing sounds, musical as the call OF Il
crow. The violinist unlimbered his
heaviest bow, ran his hand through his
curly locks, waltzed out onto the floor,
laid several Kreisler fiOurishes and bore
down hard. Not to be Outdone / got
out my high c oil, triple tongue
m0uthpiece, FF shank, and Joined in,
with a tone likened unto Il heavy
freight train putting on the emergency
brakes on a frosty morning. Joining
together then, these various noise
producing machines proceeded to jazz
.er up as friend dancer requested.
Some Comparisons.
l stood at corral gate on a sheep
ranch in Wyoming once when some
three thousand lambs were being
separated from the ewes. thought
they made some nOise-But! l have
visited Niagara Falls and stood under
meath those millions of tons OF falling
water and thought there was some
volume in that sound also-But! And
I heard nine hundred amateur must
clans playing in one big band at the
Toronto fair with thirty bass drums.
and verify they could sound some
But: And l have been to the musical
coliseum on the campus and heard
three pianos, six %viOlins, n clarinet,
two trOmbOnes, three saXOphOnes ana
two singers all busily engaged stimuli
%ltaneously upon sounding forth their
various disconnected eXercises-But!
There wasn't a one of those that had
ANYTHING on our five piece orchestra
for genuine, unadultered volume OF
noise; no not one thing on us; as we
blew in, blew out and blew up. Read
music. did we? l should say not.
The budding buddies bucked: The
shimmering sisters shook: ION with
1.-THE dance. Let joy be unconfined."
And it was-uncOntincd. The only
things we noticed as confined were the
four walls and ! believe these shook a
shaky shamble. We were Immediately
beseeched OH all sides for further dates
for the orchestra. For were we not
the iazziest jimmers that ever jam
med? Yea, verify!
The "Why" of 1t.
/ went home and shook up as though
IN II, Il. had exploded under me. !
got to thinking it over. Who, or which
was it that led the other astray? Dld
the music lead the dancers or did the
dancers lead the music? l am speak
ing now of the beginning OF the jazz
craze and not Of this dance, for TINS
dance-sO l have been told since, was
an unusually decorous affair. cannon
answer the question. Perhaps you
can. At present we know that the
musicians are the victims OF the cir
cumstance which they may or may moi
have created. They are playing for
the money and endeavor to give what
is demanded of them. They have TO
iazz or are not in demand. l KNOW
of one orchestra in .Ames, which, las
year endeavored to play music as 1t Is
written and they We're never booked
for Il single return dance. nor did they
ever receive n favorable report from I;
place at which they did play. Ana
they were good men, too.
In regard to the music which Is
now scored for dance orcheStras IL