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Chapter 5: The Birth of an American Music: Jazz into the 1920s
James Scott
Scott (1885–1938), born in Neosho, Missouri, learned piano as a child by listening
to his mother, a former slave, play folk, blues, and gospel songs. His diligence
and perfect pitch made him a quick study.
Scott composed close to 40 rags beginning in 1903. After Scott Joplin heard
Scott’s rags, he helped him land a publishing deal, and James Scott’s “Frog
Legs Rag” (1906) sold almost as many as Joplin’s bestselling “Maple Leaf
Rag.” By 1921, Scott had published two dozen popular rags.
Jazz began to eclipse ragtime in popularity in the 1920s, so Scott wrote a
protest song entitled “Don’t Jazz Me — Rag (I’m Music)” in 1921. But by the
late ’20s the popularity of ragtime was declining, and Scott couldn’t find a
publisher for his new compositions.
The evolution of ragtime into stride piano
After ragtime became a popular phenomenon that sold thousands of copies
of sheet music, the piano style, with its jaunty left-hand bass lines and twinkling
right-hand melodies, evolved into the style known as stride. Stride refers
to the striding pattern of the pianist’s left hand, which jumps between low
notes and chords and notes an octave higher, resulting in a sort of “oompah”
bass pattern. The right hand, meanwhile, plays light, fast melodies. Stride
was important because it was the style that during the ’20s bridged the transition
between ragtime and swing.
Here’s a look at a few important stride pianists.
Eubie Blake
Blake (1883–1983) was a key composer and player during the 1920s prime of
stride piano and early jazz, and, due to his longevity, was around to authenticate
early jazz for contemporary listeners.
Blake, a musician, composer, and performer from Baltimore, published his first
rags in 1914. He met his lifelong friend and collaborator, Noble Sissle, the
following year. When Sissle enlisted in 1917, he recruited Blake to join the
military band, but Blake was too old to serve, so he began composing music
for the band. After the war, Blake and Sissle went on to write and perform
such notable musical hits as “I’m Just Wild About Harry” and such successful
Broadway shows as “Shuffle Along.”
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