John McCusker

This is a fun book. The author is a journalist. Kid Ory was a major bandleader in New Orleans. Louis Armstrong played in his band. So did Kid Oliver and later he played in Oliver's band. He played in Chicago & on the West Coast. His personal life is detailed as much as possible. His 2nd wife didn't want him to be African American so she changed some of the history. However he was part African American. There is an interesting story about Louisiana in the 19th century and what life was like for people in rural areas.… (mais)

Way back in high school and a bit of college, I was a trombone player. My favorite group was, of course, Jazz Band, and since this was Louisiana, we played a bit of classic New Orleans jazz. Out of this time came an interest in jazz overall, and the early New Orleans jazz in particular. So when I came across this little library book on Kid Ory, one of the second tier classic New Orleans jazz figures, I snapped it right up.

Edward 'Kid' Ory was of Creole heritage from St. John the Baptist Parish just up river from New Orleans in the late 19th century. This was a time when live music was big - every picnic, park and dance had a live band. There were brass bands and string bands (really mostly wind instruments with violin, guitar or banjo added) playing all sort of music. As Ory grew up, he heard "soft" bands playing mostly written popular music and "hot" bands that played loud, gutbucket music by ear. Bands often advertised by playing from the back of wagons pulled through town, and groups from New Orleans often came up river to play for the country folk - like Buddy Bolden, one of the near-mythical "inventors" of jazz.

So naturally, Ory and his friends started their own band - the equivalent of today's teen garage bands. And surprisingly, he was a local success. With no real musical education, just by watching what other band leaders did, Ory put together a group that by the early 20th century was able to take New Orleans by storm. For the next 15 years or so, until the late 1920s, Ory's group played constantly, even giving such later stars as King Oliver and Louis Armstrong their start. Later in life, Ory moved to first LA, then Chicago as part of the Great Northern Migration of southern African Americans to northern and western cities. Unfortunately, Ory's musical style didn't keep up with the changes in jazz through this time, so as he got older he became more of a side man for the big names. Still, he played on some classical recordings folks still listen to - Armstrong's Hot Five recordings and Jelly Roll Morton's Hot Chili Peppers, among others. And in the 1950s, when classic jazz underwent a revival, Ory was one of the old-timers that made a bit of a comeback.

John McCusker's biography of Kid Ory is a short, but interesting look at mostly Ory's early life and music. It's a bit short on details of his life per se, but the musical connections with other players and the look at the musical scene in and around New Orleans as this thing to be named jazz came about was fascinating. Unfortunately, so much of these people and their time is undocumented, so it's hard to be more specific, I suspect.

Recommended, but I suspect jazz fans who are familiar with the bigger names of that era will be most interested.… (mais)