Baby Dodds: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|American jazz drummer (1898–1959)}}

Dodds gained a reputation as a top young drummer in New Orleans. In 1918, Dodds left Sonny Celestin's group to play in [[Fate Marable]]'s riverboat band. A teenaged [[Louis Armstrong]] also joined the band, and the two of them were on the boats together.{{sfn|Brothers|2015|p=21}} The band played on four different boats, and usually left New Orleans in May and traveltraveled to [[St. Louis]], though they also sometimes traveled further north. They played jazz, popular, and classical music while on the boats. Dodds and Armstrong left Fate Marable's band in 1921 due to a disagreement about musical style, and Dodds soon joined King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. At this time, the personnel in Oliver's band were [[Joe "King" Oliver]] on cornet, Baby Dodds' brother [[Johnny Dodds]] on clarinet, [[David Jones (jazz musician)|Davey Jones]] on alto saxophone, [[Honoré Dutrey]] on trombone, [[Lil Hardin]] on piano, [[Jimmy Palao]] on violin, and Eddie Garland on bass fiddle. They moved to [[California]] in 1921 to work with Oliver there, and they played together for about fifteen months. In 1922, the band, excepting Garland, Palao, and Jones, followed Oliver to [[Chicago]], which would be his base of operations for several years. They began playing at the Lincoln Gardens, and Armstrong also joined this outfit. Dodds describes playing with this band as "a beautiful experience".{{sfn|Dodds|Gara|1992|pp=21–24, 34}} King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band broke up in 1924 due to disagreements about travel and musical style; the argument became so heated that the Dodds brothers threatened to beat up Oliver.{{sfn|Brothers|2015|p=116}} Dodds recorded with Armstrong, [[Jelly Roll Morton]], [[Art Hodes]], and his brother Johnny Dodds. Dodds played in Armstrong's [[Hot Five]] and [[Hot Seven]] groups. In May 1927, Armstrong recorded with the Hot Seven, which consisted of Johnny Dodds, [[Johnny St. Cyr]], Lil Hardin Armstrong, John Thomas, [[Pete Briggs]], and Baby Dodds. From September to December 1927, the Hot Five Armstrong assembled consisted of Johnny Dodds, [[Kid Ory]], Johnny St. Cyr, [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|Lonnie Johnson]], and Baby Dodds.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harker |first1=Brian |title=Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |pages=4–5, 145}}</ref> During the decade, he also performed with the [[Black Bottom Stompers]], [[Chicago Footwarmers]], [[Willie Hightower]], and [[Charlie Elgar]].<ref name=R0/>

Dodds continues to be admired for the creativity of his playing. He believed in playing something different for every chorus of every tune. Most of his contemporaries played a short buzz or press roll on the backbeats (the 2nd and 4th beats), but Dodds played a long roll that lasted till the following beat, which created a smoother time feel that he later developed into the jazz ride pattern most commonly used ever since.<ref name="pas2">{{Cite web | url=http://www.pas.org/experience/halloffame/DoddsWarren.aspx | title=Warren 'Baby' Dodds | publisher=The Percussive Arts Society | access-date=2011-11-21 | quote=Dodds' way of playing press rolls ultimately evolved into the standard jazz ride-cymbal pattern. Whereas many drummers would play very short press rolls on the backbeats, Dodds would start his rolls on the backbeats but extend each one to the following beat, providing a smoother time flow. | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927104938/http://www.pas.org/experience/halloffame/DoddsWarren.aspx | archive-date=2011-09-27 }}</ref> Dodds was best known, however, for what he called his "shimmy beat", which he first used in 1918 at Jack Sheehan's in New Orleans. He described it in his autobiography: "One night a French soldier came in. When he heard the music he couldn't dance to it, but he just started to shake all over. That's the way it affected me. I saw him do it and I did it, too".{{sfn|Dodds|Gara|1992|p=20}} Dodds' unique shimmy beat caught Louis Armstrong's eye as well, who said: "To watch him play, especially when he beat on the rim of his bass in a hot chorus, he sort of shimmied when he beat with his sticks. Oh! Boy that alone was in my estimation the whole worth of admission".{{sfn|Giddins|1998|pp=79-80}} Besides his unique drumming style, something important to Dodds was paying attention to the musicians in the outfit and fitting his drumming into the style the band was playing. He tried to get to know each member in the outfit and learn about how each person played his or her instrument.{{sfn|Dodds|Gara|1992}}{{page needed|datep=September 202389–90}} Throughout his autobiography, Dodds talks about listening to the different band members and using his role as a drummer to help the band come together: "It was my job to study each musician and give a different background for each instrument. When a man is playing it's up to the drummer to give him something to make him feel the music and make him work. That's the drummer's job".{{sfn|Dodds|Gara|1992|p=39}}