1924 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of jazz in the year 1924.
Musicians born that year included the drummer Max Roach and singers Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. In 1924, Leopold Stokowski, the British orchestral conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, observed that jazz had "come to stay."

Jazz scene

In 1924 the improvised solo had become an integral part of most jazz performances
Jazz was becoming increasingly popular in New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago and New York City and 1924 was something of a benchmark of jazz being seen as a serious musical form. John Alden Carpenter insisted that jazz was now 'our contemporary popular music', and Irving Berlin made a statement that jazz was the "rhythmic beat of our everyday lives" and the music's "swiftness is interpretive of our verve and speed". Leopold Stokowski, the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1924, publicly embraced jazz as a musical art form and praised jazz musicians. In 1924, George Gershwin wrote Rhapsody in Blue, widely regarded as one of the finest compositions of the 20th century, saying he conceived it "as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America–of our vast melting pot, of our incomparable national pep, our blues, our metropolitan madness."
Black jazz entrepreneur and producer Clarence Williams recorded groups in New Orleans, among them Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong. Williams moved from New Orleans to Chicago and opened a record store. In Chicago, Earl Hines formed a group and incidentally inhabited the neighboring apartment to Armstrong while he was in Chicago. Also in Chicago, trumpeter Tommy Ladnier begins playing in King Oliver's band. Bechet moved to New England with Ellington during the summer of 1924, playing dances.
While in 1924 in jazz, ensembles in the Kansas City area began play a style with a four even beat ground beat as opposed to a New Orleans two beat ground beat behind a 4/4 melody, European jazz included a fox trot by the Swiss composer Frank Martin for the Marionette Theatre in Paris.
Charlie Parker grew up in Kansas City listening to this style of jazz. In 1924, Django Reinhardt became a guitarist and began playing the clubs of Paris. Noted Classic Blues singer Bessie Smith began to achieve major fame.

Events

5 February: Louis Armstrong marries pianist and composer Lil Hardin.
12 February: Paul Whiteman brings jazz to the concert stage, at Aeolian Hall in New York City. The concert includes such jazz tunes as Livery Stable Blues, and was the premier of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. According to jazz historian Marshall Stearns, "Paul Whiteman made jazz semi-respectable in 1924."
18 February: A 20-year-old Bix Beiderbecke, Min Lelbrook, Jimmy Hartwell, George Johnson, Bob Gilette, Vic Moore, Dick Voynow and Al Gandee form The Wolverines and make their first recording at the Gennett studios in Richmond, Indiana with "Fidgety Feet".
June: Armstrong quits the Oliver band upon the request of his wife much to his dismay and is later rejected by Sammy Stewart because he "wasn't dicty enough".
July: Meyer Davis was reportedly offered a hundred dollars to come up with a new name for "jazz". Concern over the name disappeared by the end of 1924 and did not resurface until 1949 when Down Beat Magazine ran a $1000 contest in the searching for a new name, remarking that the name "jazz" had lost all significance.
30 September: Louis Armstrong, having left King Oliver's band in Chicago to be replaced by Lee Collins, arrives in New York City.
October: Armstrong joins Fletcher Henderson's band in New York City upon his wife's insistence. They begin performing at the Roseland Ballroom on 51st street and Broadway in Manhattan. His new style of jazz playing greatly influences the style of other New York musicians such as Coleman Hawkins and Duke Ellington. Ellington and his Washingtonians perform at the Hollywood Club on 49th street and Broadway, whilst Bix Beiderbecke and the Wolverines, renamed Personality Kids perform at the Cinderella Ballroom on 41st street and Broadway. Hoagy Carmichael is much impressed by Beiderbecke and the Wolverines and later states, "I could feel my hands trying to shake and getting cold when I saw Bix getting out his horn. Just four notes...But he didn't blow them; he hit 'em like a mallet hits a chime..."
5 December – A 17-year-old Jimmy McPartland replaces Beiderbecke in the Wolverines band and violinist Dave Harmon joins. Bix reportedly quietly sat in the back of the club during the audition, later revealing himself with the compliment, "I like ya, kid. Ya sound like me, but you don't copy me." They became friends and roomed together while Bix gave McPartland pointers. At that time, Bix picked out a cornet for McPartland that he then played throughout his career.

Standards

Standards published that year included "Everybody Loves My Baby" and Jelly Roll Morton's "King Porter Stomp".
"When My Sugar Walks Down the Street", a sweet jazz song written in 1924 by Gene Austin, Jimmy McHugh and Irving Mills. Victor Talking Machine recorded the song in January 1925. Victor A&R executive Nathaniel Shilkret selected Aileen Stanley, a well-known Victor artist, and Austin, then unknown, as the recording artists, accompanied by Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra. The recording was very popular and launched Austin's career. Austin estimated his lifetime sales at 80 million records. It was recorded by the Wolverines late in 1924, Duke Ellington, and numerous other artists.

Criticism

Both Europe and the US had critics of jazz in 1924. While the songwriter and music business executive Arnold Shaw wrote in 1989 that "1924 was a 'hot' year in jazz...", a columnist for The New York Times wrote in 1924 that "Jazz is to real music exactly what most of the 'new poetry,' so-called, is to real poetry. Both are without the structure and form essential to music and poetry alike, and both are the products, not of innovators, but of incompetents." The American composer and critic, Virgil Thomson, wrote in 1924 that jazz rhythm shakes but doesn't flow; it lacks a climax; and it "never gets anywhere emotionally". Jazz in 1924 was just "popular syncopated music" according to the Austrian composer Hugo Riesenfeld.

Deaths

; Unknown date

Black Benny, New Orleans–based bass drummer.

Births

; January5 – Shotaro Moriyasu, Japanese pianist.10 – Max Roach, American drummer and composer.22 – J. J. Johnson, American trombonist.24 – Joe Albany, American pianist.26

* Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress.
* Bob Bain, American guitarist.

; February2

* Dinah Kaye, Scottish singer.
* Sonny Stitt, American saxophonist.6 – Sammy Nestico, American composer and arranger of big band music.7 – Ray Crawford, American guitarist.15 – Jiří Šlitr, Czech songwriter, pianist, and singer.

; March13 – Dick Katz, American pianist.16 – Beryl Davis, English singer.18 – Vojislav Simic, Serbian musician, conductor and composer.26 – Brew Moore, American tenor saxophonist.27 – Sarah Vaughan, American singer.
; April3 – Jacky June, Belgian saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader.6

* Charlie Rouse, American hard bop tenor saxophonist and flautist.
* Jimmy Roberts, American tenor singer.12 – Dick Marx, American pianist.14 – Shorty Rogers, American trumpet and flugelhorn player.16
* Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor.
* Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist and singer.17 – Chuck Higgins, American saxophonist.20 – Orlando DiGirolamo, American accordionist and pianist.23 – Bobby Rosengarden, American drummer.26 – Teddy Edwards, American saxophonist.28 – Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist.

; May6 – Denny Wright, English guitarist.10 – Teddy Riley, American trumpeter.11 – Oscar Valdambrini, Italian jazz trumpeter.14 – Coco Schumann, German guitarist.25 – Marshall Allen, American saxophonist.30 – Armando Peraza, American percussionist.
; June1

* Hal McKusick, American alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and flutist.
* Herbie Lovelle, American drummer.6 – Gil Cuppini, Italian drummer and bandleader.16 – Lucky Thompson, American saxophonist.18
* Jimmy Cheatham, American trombonist.
* Mat Mathews, Dutch accordionist.20 – Chet Atkins, American guitarist.24 – Jacques Pelzer, Belgian alto saxophonist and flautist.

; July1 – Ruth Olay, American singer.6 – Louie Bellson, American drummer.10 – Major Holley, American upright bassist.19 – Al Haig, American pianist.22 – Bill Perkins, American saxophonist and flutist.28 – Corky Corcoran, American tenor saxophonist.
; August4 – Tom Talbert, American pianist.20 – Joya Sherrill, American singer.26

* Dick Buckley, American radio presenter.
* Frances Wayne, American singer.29 – Dinah Washington, American singer and pianist.30 – Kenny Dorham, American trumpeter and singer.

; September1 – Stewart "Dirk" Fischer, American composer.10 – Putte Wickman, Swedish clarinetist.20 – Jackie Paris, American singer and guitarist.22 – Ray Wetzel, American trumpeter.26 – Lammar Wright, Jr., American trumpeter.27 – Bud Powell, American pianist.
; October1 – Roger Williams, American pianist.7 – Marty Flax, American saxophonist.13 – Terry Gibbs, American vibraphonist and band leader.19 – Pete Chilver, British guitarist and hotelier.22 – Jesse Drakes, American trumpet player.25 – Earl Palmer, American drummer.27

* Gary Chester, American drummer.
* George Wallington, American pianist and composer.

; November2 – Rudy Van Gelder, American recording engineer.6

* Bruno Canfora, Italian composer, conductor, and music arranger.
* Dick Cathcart, American trumpeter.12 – Sam Jones, American upright bassist and cellist.25 – Paul Desmond, American saxophonist and composer.

; December11 – Nunzio Rotondo, Italian trumpeter and bandleader.20 – Arne Domnérus, Swedish saxophonist and clarinetist.21 – Rita Reys, Dutch singer.24 – Pupo De Luca, Italian actor and musician.31 – Wilbur Harden, American trumpeter.