Post 552: BUNK JOHNSON AND THE 'BLUE BELLS GOODBYE' MYSTERY

Among the many tunes recorded by Bunk Johnson in the early 1940s, one of the favourites was Blue Bells Goodbye (available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nGE7W-R0A4). Its appeal is easy to understand, because, following its leisurely 16-bar Verse, the Chorus breaks into 2/4 time and offers a pleasant, simple 32-bar melody.

The tune achieved even wider popularity when it was taken up by revivalists, such as the bands of Ken Colyer and Papa Bue. The first version I came across (nearly sixty years ago) was the Ken Colyer recording, which you can listen to BY CLICKING HERE.

But where did this tune come from? Bunk claimed to have recalled it from his youth. But nobody could find any evidence of a  'Blue Bells Goodbye' before his recording.

Some fans who idolised him believed that Bunk himself had composed it. Others speculated that it could have been a march dating back to the American Civil War.

Well, here is the solution to the mystery. In 1905, Egbert Van Alstyne composed a tune called Bright Eyes Goodbye. Words were provided by Harry H. Williams.

Sure enough, it has the same melodies as Bunk's tune, and the same 32-bar up-tempo Chorus preceded by the leisurely 16-bar Verse.

Our jazz bands still go on playing it as Blue Bells Goodbye. Perhaps we ought to correct the mistake and begin calling it Bright Eyes Goodbye. But titles get changed in the evolution of jazz, so would it be better to leave it with Bunk's title?

We can excuse Bunk for getting the title slightly wrong. He probably had a much better memory of the tune than of its title.

Here's the original sheet music. You can see that it's the tune in question all right. The Verse is virtually identical to what Bunk plays. The Chorus is almost so, especially at the start, though he seems to have tweaked a few of the later notes. The probable reason for this is that Bunk was further confused by memories of a song called 'Blue Bell' (not 'Blue Bells Goodbye') that had been composed in 1904 by Theodore F. Morse, with lyrics by Edward Madden. Its structure is remarkably similar to that of 'Bright Eyes, Goodbye'.

My good friend Todd Brown has not only offered me his own analysis of this matter (see foot of this post). He has also recorded 'Blue Bell' on his guitar, and you can watch his performance on YouTube BY CLICKING HERE.

Here are Todd Brown's perceptive comments: My guess is that Bunk was conflating "Bright Eyes Goodbye" with another song, known as "Blue Bell" or "Goodbye My Blue Bell" (music by Theodore F. Morse, lyrics by Edward Madden.) Like "Bright Eyes," "Blue Bell" has a lyric that begins with a soldier bidding goodbye to his sweetheart and telling her not to cry; unlike "Bright Eyes," it ends sadly, as we learn in the second verse that the soldier has died in battle, so the two will never be reunited. Interestingly, "Blue Bell" was published in 1904, while "Bright Eyes" was published in 1905. This suggests to me that "Blue Bell" came first and "Bright Eyes" was a sort of "answer song" written in response to it. (Lyrically, the first verse of "Bright Eyes" is remarkably close to "Blue Bell," and the phrase "I'll return true as blue" may have been included in the chorus as a nod to the earlier song.) Bunk Johnson had probably heard both songs and got the titles a little mixed up.

Incidentally, these days "Blue Bell" seems to be best known from an instrumental version by the American guitarist Merle Travis; the title is often rendered, incorrectly, as "Blue Belle" or "Farewell My Blue Belle." I suspect that's because here in the States, most people assume that the setting is the American Civil War and that the title refers to the young lady as a blue (i.e., sad) "southern belle." Given the spelling on the sheet music, I think we are actually meant to assume that the soldier calls his sweetheart "Blue Bell" because her "eyes so blue" remind him of the flower known as a blue bell.

Post 550: MAY AUFDERHEIDE'S 'DUSTY RAG' - AND THE EVOLUTION OF TUNES

I have often made the point that some of the tunes played by our bands have been transformed since the original composer penned the piano manuscript many decades ago.

What often happened - especially with those tricky early rags - was that the bands distilled the melodies from the pieces and played them more simply. This was mainly because it is not possible on a cornet or trumpet to play the range of notes and the rapid leaping semi-quavers that a pianist's fingers could cover. Also, the rags often included three or four parts, sometimes with a change of key in the final part. But the jazz bands tended to drop at least one of these parts and might have no key change in their version.

The popular Dusty Rag is interesting to examine.

The first performance I heard of Dusty Rag was a recording made in a relaxed manner by Ken Colyer's Jazzmen in about 1959. It was an attractive jaunty piece of music.

I discovered much more recently that Ken had kept very close to the version recorded by Bunk Johnson in 1942. Bunk's band had a stellar line-up:

Bunk Johnson - trumpet

George Lewis - clarinet

Albert Warner - trombone

Lawrence Marrero - banjo

Chester Zardis - bass

Walter Decou - piano

Edgar Mosley - drums

You can listen to Bunk's version on YouTube BY CLICKING HERE.

As you can hear, they play the piece entirely in the key of Eb. After a four-bar Introduction, there is a 16-bar first theme played twice through, and then a second theme (also 16 bars) played several times, always as full ensemble. The entire piece takes about three minutes and ends without a Coda. Here are the chords, as supplied to me by a banjo-playing friend.

You can hear Tuba Skinny in 2014 playing the piece quite briskly and without the four-bar Introduction (or a Coda) if you CLICK HERE. They make the tune last four minutes, with much soloing on Part B. 

More recently, I have seen the original sheet music. It was entirely in the key of C. It too began with a four-bar Introduction, not dissimilar to what the jazz bands play. And it too had a first theme of 16 bars, with a pattern very like the band version, and even including the attractive and distinctive diminished chord arpeggio in Bars 13 and 14. Then comes the second theme of 16 bars, which is very closely followed by Bunk and his imitators. Finally there is another theme of 32 bars, much in the spirit of the earlier themes. No jazz band, as far as I know, plays this third theme. Ever since Bunk, bands have decided that the first two themes give them enough to work on.

Dusty Rag was composed in 1908 by May Aufderheide of Indianapolis. This remarkable lady was only twenty years old at the time. Her proud, wealthy father set up a small music publishing business to sell her sheet music. Dusty Rag became very popular and she went on to compose many more pieces. One of them was Thriller Rag, which is also still played by our bands.

May Aufderheide lived to a good old age. She died in 1972. So she experienced the entire early evolution of jazz from Buddy Bolden until long after the death of Charlie Parker. Amazing to think she was still alive to hear The Beatles'  recordings of A Hard Day's Night and Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

She lived through nearly three decades of my own life. How I wish I had had the chance to meet her and talk about those early days, and what she thought of Bunk Johnson's and Ken Colyer's versions of her music.

Here's May Aufderheide's composition. It was orginally called just Dusty, as you can see.

May Aufderheide

Post 494: KEN COLYER

A few years after the Second World War, here in the UK and also in some other countries, the 'Trad Boom' began. Dozens of young men formed themselves into amateur bands and quite a few went on to have professional careers.

However, only ten years later the boom was over and not many fully professional bands were able to survive.

In England, a few of the band-leaders did well by making 'commercial' hit records. Think of Acker Bilk's Stranger on the Shore. The formula was to play a good, memorable, simple melody in a well-arranged manner, without exactly giving it a New Orleans Jazz style performance. Such records made it into the Top 10. In fact Stranger on the Shore, in which Acker Bilk is backed by the Leon Young String Chorale, was a No. 1 hit even in the U.S.A. Another example was Kenny Ball with Midnight in Moscow. Kenny and his trombonist Johnny Bennet in turn pumped out the haunting, minor-key 24-bar melody. It sold over a million copies.

However, of all those British bands, the one many consider the most important in terms of its place in the history of traditional jazz was that of the trumpet and cornet player Ken Colyer.

Much has been written about Ken's character, philosophy and life, so I will not go over all that again.

What matters is that he was admired for his integrity in sticking rigidly to what he considered authentic early-style New Orleans Jazz. He was not much interested in making recordings or in using his music to generate personal wealth.

It is sometimes said that he was quite a difficult musician to work with. I believe players occasionally left him because of a clash of philosophy or because they could not deliver in the way he wanted. He had his ideals and pursued them single-mindedly. Certainly, there were regular changes of personnel in the line-ups of his band over the few years during which they toured the clubs and played to enthusiastic fans who considered that Ken's was the only 'true' jazz.

Ken had a distinctive tone and he used vibrato very skilfully. But his playing was never showy or raucous, like that of so many jazz trumpeters. He stated the melodies in the decisive but delicate, uncomplicated manner much appreciated by clarinet players and trombonists whose job it is to add the decoration. And in ensembles, Ken provided pretty colouring phrases - always harmonically accurate. He believed great jazz needed great teamwork, so the emphasis was on ensemble playing, even though he happily employed some outstanding players who were very capable and creative soloists. Among them were Sammy Rimington, Monty Sunshine, Mac Duncan, Johnny Bastable, Ian Wheeler, Lonnie Donegan and Ray Foxley.

Sadly, Ken Colyer died in 1988 at the age of only 59. He had earlier suffered from stomach cancer.

In his day, it was not yet commonplace for videos to be made of almost every performance. So surviving videos of him playing, as far as I know, are only those filmed when he was growing weak and no longer had a band of his own. One such is this of Postman's Lament, where he sings and plays, but it is still a performance of considerable beauty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL7FpOAOoMQ

However, Ken and his musicians did leave a number of sound recordings so we can still enjoy his music at its best. Try these three.

(1) Back in 1956, playing The Old Rugged Cross:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Dec3fkUCo

(2) From 1960, with Sammy Rimington on clarinet, Maryland, My Maryland:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZTVOcUWdqg

(3) My favourite. This is a model for us all in how to lead and build up the excitement - Blame it On The Blues from 1956. Ian Wheeler, Mac Duncan and Johnny Bastable are in the band and the playing  is 100% ensemble throughout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A79yvcDRzIw
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Post 488: 'BLAME IT ON THE BLUES'

Recently I recommended the storming version by Ken Colyer's band of Blame It On The Blues. You can listen to it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A79yvcDRzIw

This is such a good number that it is worth a closer look.

Fortunately, Lasse Collin ( http://cjam.lassecollin.se ) - that great benefactor of jazz musicians the world over - produced a lead-sheet of this piece on his website. So we have a good clear version of the music to work from.

Here, with thanks to Lasse, is his lead-sheet.

This piece was composed as a Rag for Piano in 1914 by Charles L. Cooke.

It is typical of its time, comprising two 16-bar themes in one key followed by a more leisurely 32-bar theme in which we modulate into the key a fifth below. This final theme was called the 'Trio' - a term whose usage dates at least from the classical music of the 18th Century.

Think of At a Georgia Camp Meeting, Climax Rag, Hiawatha Rag and Buddy's Habit. They are constructed in a similar way.

Our jazz band version of Blame It On The Blues is remarkably faithful to the original sheet music, (using Lasse's labels) in Themes A and B. But what we play as Theme C (the Trio) is a simplification and reinterpretation of the notes Cooke wrote for the piano. Here's his original Theme C (The Trio). Note that it also had a 4-bar Bridge which our bands do not play:

Theme A, in Eb Concert, is very lively, with much swooping down the octave. B is simple but exciting, because it clambers up through the arpeggio of the Chord of C diminished. This is a very effective device (also found in Memphis Shake and Dusty Rag).

Normally, bands play A - A - B - B - A - before relaxing into C. This final Theme has a good though more leisurely melody, but in the related key of Ab.

Note that, throughout this piece, the chord progressions are basic and memorable. This is a reason why it is a good number to play - and not too difficult.

Playing ends with as many improvisations as desired on Theme C. The chord pattern here is straightforward, familiar, and a joy for clarinet players to work on.  Note what Ian Wheeler manages to make of it in the Ken Colyer recording.

Conclusion? It's a very good tune, a joy to play and hear and - dating from over a hundred years ago - historically interesting and important. Let's play it.

Post 479: 'MOOSE MARCH'

My introduction to 'Moose March' was hearing the Ken Colyer band play it about 50 years ago. Probably Ken had picked up the tune during his time with the musicians in New Orleans.

In order to learn tunes to play on my cornet and keyboard, I like first to try to establish the dots and chords for storage in my mini-filofaxes. Here's what I came up with for 'Moose March'.

You will note that it has two themes - the main 32-bar melody and the 'fanfare' interlude. This is how jazz bands can still occasionally be heard playing it.

What I did not discover until very recently is that this traditional jazz 'standard' is in fact taken from a quite long and complex good old-fashioned brass band march, called The Moose. It was composed in 1909 by Mr. P. Hans Flath (about whom I know nothing). It has a 4-Bar Introduction, followed by a first Theme of 32 bars. Then comes another Theme, also of 32 bars. Next there is a four-bar link (the start of 'The Trio' - see below) leading to a change of key from Eb to Ab and ONLY THEN comes the 32-bar Theme and 16-bar Fanfare Interlude as played by the jazz bands. So the truth is that when we play Moose March we are really using only 48 bars of a much longer composition. That's the kind of thing that happened in the early days of jazz repertoire creation.

Post 221: 'SATURDAY NIGHT FUNCTION'

One of the leaders in whose band I 'dep' has taken a fancy to Saturday Night Function - the Duke Ellington tune. He wants to add it to his band's repertoire.

I remember that Ken Colyer made an impressive recording of it long ago.

I have listened to it and note that it's essentially a 16-bar tune with some lovelier-than-usual harmonies. It's a useful tune because you can play it at slow-to-medium tempo, thereby creating a contrast with some of the quick numbers we all love to play.

This is how I've worked it out and this is how I shall try to play it, unless anyone supplies me with a more accurate version.

I'm not certain about the Ebdim in Bar 12, though it sounds like a strong possibility. An alternative could be B major or B major 7th. What do you think?

(Insertion: Henry - banjo from Germany - has just told me it should be B7. I think he's right.)

In some performances on record, free-style solos on a straightforward 12-bar blues progression are played after the above, before returning to the 16-bar theme to finish.

What exactly was a 'Saturday Night Function'? Most probably it was a means of paying the rent. You invited people to buy tickets for a Saturday-night party at your house; and the admission charges covered the cost of your rent.

There's another Duke Ellington tune with the same sociological background - Rent Party Blues.

Post 152: 'BLACK CAT ON THE FENCE'

A correspondent says he is trying to work out how to play Black Cat on the Fence.

As it happens, I went through the same experience. I listened to a couple of recordings of the tune and tried to make a lead sheet by ear. Here's the lead sheet to Black Cat on the Fence that I came up with for inclusion in my mini Filofax. It's actually in Bb but I put it in C to suit my transposing cornet.

I tried the tune out with friends and it went quite well, partly because it is fairly easy to play and to improvise upon. It is a pretty rag that is best taken at a medium tempo.

My friend Brian Hutchinson in Australia has much more recently sent me a link to the American Music recording made in 1949 by Louis Delisle's Band in a private house in New Orleans. Here is a picture of the band that Brian sent to me:

The musicians are (left to right) Johnny St. Cyr, 'Big Eye' Louis Nelson Delisle, the tune's composer Charlie Love, Louis Nelson, and Ernest Rogers. Missing from the photo is the string bass player Austin Young.

And here is a link to the recording:
CLICK HERE.

I had never been sure who wrote the tune, or when. The record tells us it was Charlie Love. (Recently a source gave the composers as Waller, Brooks and Razaf in 1929. But I suspect that is wrong: I think this source was confusing it with Black and Blue. So I'll stick with Charlie Love.)

Ken Colyer made Black Cat on the Fence popular in England a few decades ago. Listen to him playing the tune:
CLICK HERE.

Post 107: HOW THOSE OLD TUNES WERE PASSED DOWN

The names, content and shapes of some of the good old jazz tunes have become confused over the past century. Studying the old classics can be hard work.

Here's the kind of thing that happened over the decades.

First, in 1908, an American composer (classically-trained and influenced by the structures of classical music), composes a tune he calls Moss Point Rag. It is published as piano sheet music, running to 6 sides of paper. Moss Point Rag comprises three sections in G, followed by a change of key to C for the fourth theme - the 'Trio’.

It is an attractive, merry piece of music, full of subtleties, syncopations, elaborate decorations of the melody and complexities:

Between 1910 and the Second World War, music of this kind (of which there is plenty preserved in the university archives of America) gives the pianists in the bar-rooms of New Orleans and Chicago the chance to show off their considerable skills.

At the same time, the early dance-bands and jazz-bands (with anything from three to ten musicians) are attracted by Moss Point Rag and want to play it. But they cannot possibly play it as written: the complexities you see in the music above are fair enough for a pianist’s fingers, but the melody-playing trumpet or cornet at the heart of the band could not be expected to cope with such melodies. Even a virtuoso player would soon be exhausted if he had to produce such a flow of notes (including many high ones) for a whole evening’s gig.

So the bands play Moss Point Rag in their own way. They simplify the melodies, sometimes using a cornet (or violin in the earliest days) with clarinet to do what they can to share the tricky bits. They capture the essence of the melody, rather than its many decorative notes. Some of them leave out the section called the 'Trio', because they find it less interesting or too difficult. They add a new section, either of their own invention or plagiarised from a different composition.

(For an example of this sort of thing happening, consider Hilarity Rag, composed by James Scott in 1910. To see the sheet music and hear how it sounded as a piano piece, CLICK HERE. But to hear how it was re-interpreted when a jazz band got hold of it, CLICK HERE. You see what I mean?)

In 1928, a band based in Chicago uses just the first two themes (much simplified) from Moss Point Rag, puts them into the key of Bb for convenience and records this version under a new name, Uptown Strut.

Towards the end of this period, a clever bandleader-arranger in New York records with his band a new tune called Spring Street Stomp but later researchers will find it is suspiciously similar to Moss Point Rag!

After the War, during the Bebop era, the tune is rarely heard in any form.

But twenty years later, in what has been called the New Orleans (or Dixieland) Revival, young traditional jazz bands again blossom in the USA, in Europe and in the rest of the world. A bandleader in England picks up the old 78rpm Chicago recording of Uptown Strut from 1928, works out his own version of it by ear and gets his band to record it. Many pub bands buy the record, like it and introduce it into their repertoire.

In their turn, these Revivalists inevitably and unwittingly make further slight changes. Maybe they have to guess at some of the notes that are indistinct on the scratchy old records.

So the band (I’m now talking 1950 – 1965) plays its own version: each player has it in his head but the chances are that it is never written down.

The late Ray Foxley (he died in 2002) was the pianist in Ken Colyer’s band. Ray once told me he would learn tunes from those old 78 rpm records a few bars at a time – first listening and then working out the notes and chords on his piano.

Move on another 30 years and you find traditional jazz in decline again, though still with enough bands and enthusiasts throughout the world to keep it going as a minority art form. Uptown Strut is in their repertoire, with the composer usually credited as 'Anon' or 'Trad'.

==========
Footnote

Here are some of the old tunes still passed on from band to band in one form or another:

Blame it on the Blues (also known as Quincy Street Stomp), At a Georgia Camp Meeting, Big Chief Battleaxe, Bluebells Goodbye (also known as Bright Eyes Goodbye), Bugle Boy March (also known as The American Soldier), Ce Mossieu Qui Parle (maybe originally C’est Moi Seul Qui Parle), Chrysanthemum Rag, Climax Rag (also known as Astoria Strut), Creole Belles, Dill Pickles, Don’t Go ‘way, Nobody (almost identical to several other tunes, such as Everybody’s Talking About Sammy), Dusty Rag and Thriller Rag (both composed by a lady from Indianapolis), Golden Leaf Strut (also known as Milenberg Joys - main theme), Grace and Beauty, Gettysburg March, Hiawatha Rag, Jenny’s Ball, Kinklets, Maple Leaf Rag, Moose March, Shim-Me-Sha-Wobble, 1919 March (also known as The Rifle Rangers), Ostrich Walk, Panama Rag, Salutation March (probably a Victorian quadrille originally), Silver Bell (also known as Sometimes My Burden - second theme), Smoky Mokes, Snake Rag, That Teasing Rag, and Uptown Bumps. And how on earth did Ta-Wa-Bac-A-Wa become The Bucket's Got a Hole In It?

I doubt whether you could walk into a music shop today and buy the authentic printed original music for any of these. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

Post 97: 'CHRYSANTHEMUM RAG'

Scott Joplin wrote The Chrysanthemum in 1904.

It is a great number. But who plays it these days?

It was one of those subtle, tricky piano rags in 2/4, with plenty of tied notes and many bars comprising eight semi-quavers.

It had a typical four-theme rag structure of the time. After a 4-bar introduction, there was [A] a 16-bar theme (repeated) in Bb, followed by [B] another 16-bar theme (repeated) in F. Then Theme [A] was played again, but this time not repeated. This modulated into [C] a 16-bar theme (repeated) in Eb, and then [D] another 16-bar theme (repeated) in Eb. Finally, what I have called Theme [C] was played again to finish.

And here’s something I find very interesting: with such a structure (A-B-A-C-D-C), and modulations using a total of three keys, this piece was in a direct line of descent from the music of Haydn and Mozart.

During the second half of the Twentieth Century, somebody (probably Ray Foxley) devised a version of Chrysanthemum Rag simplified for the traditional jazz band. Obviously it had to make do with fewer notes, compared with the piano score. But it kept the spirit of what I have described above and it also managed to extract the essence of the melodies of the four themes. It even went through the same key changes.

The 'trad' version was popular in the U.K. at jazz festivals, especially when played by such bands as those of Ken Colyer or Sonny Morris. To hear Ken playing it: CLICK HERE.

I am sorry to say bands in the Twenty-First Century seem to have all but stopped playing Chrysanthemum Rag. This is sad because it is a terrific number, perhaps even more effective in its full-band version than as a piano solo. Probably bands think it too much trouble to learn, with the four strains and key changes to master. It requires playing in a disciplined manner.

Though it is possible to play it fairly ‘straight’ - without much improvisation - it gives plenty of opportunity to the trumpet, clarinet and trombone for neat teamwork. It makes a great speciality number.

So come on bands! Let’s revive Chrysanthemum Rag!

But wait. Where is the band sheet music for us to work from? The answer seems to be that it is nowhere to be found. It has been lost. I guess the musicians who devised the trad band version never bothered to get it printed.

I decided to make my own lead sheet, based on a recording of Chrysanthemum Rag played by an English traditional jazz band about 40 years ago. I put it in keys that are easy for me as a cornet player. I enter my tunes in mini filofaxes. The themes are played in the order A – B – A – C – D – C.

Post 53: SCREAMING TRUMPETS OR GOOD TASTE?

Which of these two types of trumpet (or cornet) player do you prefer?

PLAYER A: He produces screaming 32-bar solos or even 64-bar solos [32 x 2], sometimes raucous, using lots of notes, especially high ones, often pulsating, but with not much feeling apart from sheer energy, and with little attention to the subtleties of the music.

Norman Thatcher

PLAYER B : He concentrates on the effects of the ensemble, contributing subtly, imaginatively and with soul to the harmonic progressions and - if taking a solo at all - he keeps it short and achieves effects through harmony, tone, surprising phrasing - without any exhibitionism. Have a listen to the late Norman Thatcher playing in this manner. And of course Ken Colyer was famous for setting the standard in this type of playing. That's what I would call soulful and musical trumpet playing:

Click here.

When I was beginning to study traditional jazz trumpet playing 27 years ago, I attended a tasteful concert given in Norwich by the band run by the late great clarinetist Chris Blount (who incidentally may also be heard playing beautifully with Norman in the video above). Throughout the first half, I closely watched the trumpeter (Bill Dickens) who played the perfect lead in this band where good melodies and neat teamwork were always principal features.

I noticed that, although he produced some very pleasing solo choruses, he never played a note above the F at the top of the stave. I mentioned this to Bill during the interval. 'No need to,' he said.

And since 2010 we have been able to enjoy on YouTube the playing of young Shaye Cohn, who sets an example to the whole trad jazz world of how to play a brass instrument tastefully. I have watched her in more than 150 videos and never caught her attempting the screaming, raucous pointless high-note flashy type of solo.

What Shaye offers is soul. Her tone, her bluesy phrasing, her bending of notes, her emphasis on teamwork and ensemble are second to none. Some of her best and cleverest playing occurs where you hardly notice it - in the background while accompanying the singer or decorating the lead or solo being taken by another member of the band. She's particularly clever at incorporating the sixth, the flattened third and seventh and the ninths of chords into her subtle runs.

Take for example, a video of Memphis Shake - a routine performance by Tuba Skinny standards. Just concentrate on every note Shaye plays. Notice how she works hard throughout, with amazing variations on the melody, but always as part of a team - bringing out the best in colleagues and in the band as a whole.
Click here to view it.
Or look at a more recent performance of Dallas Rag. Energetic, and including a few high A flats and As, but never mere exhibitionism. Isn't that so much more musical than those screaming solos?
Click here to view it.

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Reader Sam Wood has sent me this comment:

Hello Ivan,
 
There is a way to deal with screaming trumpeters.  Near the end of their second screaming 32-bar chorus, just shout "Great, do another!"  Usually their lip can't manage another 32 screaming bars and the third chorus falls somewhere between anti-climax and disaster.  Sometimes they take a hint from this experience.
 
Works best with over-enthusiastic sitters-in.  Doesn't work so well when the trumpet player is the band leader.
 
If this problem occurs with a modern-style tenor sax player (it is always a tenor player) the only solution is to retire to the bar.  You will have time for a pint. 
 
Regards,
 
Sam