Syncopated Brass Bands 2
As the popularity of ragtime grew, so did syncopated brass band music. "In other words, with the arrival of ragtime and related Afro-vernacular expressions, brass bands were transformed into syncopated bands" (Stewart 1998, 119). However, before the advent of the big band sounds of Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington in the twenties, the man who dominated this musical style was Europe (Brooks 1984, 102). According to Eileen Southern, Europe "attracted attention because of his association with Ernest Hogan in producing a show that has been called the first public concert of syncopated music in history" (Southern 1997, 345).
Southern further elaborates on Ernest collaboration with Europe, among others:
James Reese Europe (1881-1919)
Hogan organized a group of about twenty experienced entertainers (singers, dancers, and instrumentalists); call them the Memphis Students (also referred to as the Nashville Students, both names serving as elliptical and exploitative references to the Fisk Jubilee Singers and their success); brought in Joe Jordan and Jim Europe to write music and help with the rehearsing; then took his show to Hammerstein's Victoria Theatre on Broadway in May 1905, for a two-week engagement. The show was so successful that it was held over for five months.
(Southern 1997, 345)
After spending time working in musical theatre, he turned his attention to the organization of Black musicians in New York in 1910. His work led to the formation of the Clef Club, "which served as a social club, booking agency, and musicians' union and controlled the music and entertainment business" (Southern 1997, 346; Floyd 1995, 105). It is during the second decade in New York that Europe recorded " Castle House Rag"-in tribute to the Castle House for the Teaching and Correct dancing associated with Vernon and Irene Castle-," "Castle Walk," "Memphis Blues" and "Clarinet Marmalade," (Floyd 1995, 105). Floyd's analysis of "Castle House Rag" classifies it as a:
The Memphis Blues
"trot and one-step," combining the one-step, the ubiquitous dance of the ragtime period, with elements of an African American animal dance called the turkey trot. The dotted shuffle rhythms of the one-step in the first part contrast sharply with the syncopated rhythms of the second. The later clearly revealing its African American lineage. Europe's musical conception based in the military march and in ragtime, made use of blues and jazz devices that he had probably heard in various syncopated orchestras
of Will Marion Cook and Hogan and elsewhere.
(Floyd 1995, 105)
Listen to and view the score of "Castle House Rag" performed by James Reese Europe with his Society Orchestra on February 10, 1914.
Castle House Rag by Jim Europe (1914, Ragtime piano) [ 00:00-00:00 ]