Classic jazz band tune list
Classic Jazz Band:
Representative tunes with brief introductory notes
Our main sources:
Kinkle, Roger D. The Complete Encyclopedia of
Popular Music and Jazz, 1900-1950. (1974).
New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House.
Rust, Brian, Jazz Records 1897-1942.
4th Ed. (1978). New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House.
Jacobs, Richard and Jacobs, Harriet.
Who Wrote That Song?
2nd Ed. (1944). Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books.
Gardner, Edward F. Popular Songs of The Twentieth Century.
1900-1949. (2000). St. Paul, MN: Paragon House.
Shapiro, Nat. Popular Music: An Annotated Index of
American Popular Songs. Vol. 5, 1920-1929. (1969). New York: Adrian Press.
The Composer’s Honor Roll and Index, an accessory of the Charles B. Anderson
Master Fake Book. April 1997 Edition. Edited by Cal Owen.
Ace In The Hole
(1909) George Mitchell
Barbary Coast saloon tune. Clancy Hayes favorite in 50’s
A Hundred Years From Today
(1933) Victor Young
Young wrote many tunes from Sweet Sue (1928) to Around World in 80 Days (1956)
Recorded in 1933, 1934: Teagarden, T. Dorsey, Goodman, Krupa, Ethel Waters.
A Kiss To Build A Dream On
(1935) Oscar Hammerstein
1951 movie “The Strip”. Popularized by Louie Armstrong
All of Me
(1931) Seymour Simons & Gerald Marks
Also Breezing Along W/ Breeze
Ruth Etting 78 rpm#1 song in 1932. Louie also 1932
Bill Kenney sings it in French!
Avalon
(1920) Al Jolson and Vincent Rose
#1 Song in 1921 Sophie Tucker
Based on Puccini aria from Tosca
Blue Skies
(1927) Irving Berlin
#1 song March 1927
Featured in first ‘Talkie’, “Jazz Singer” October 1927 sung by Al Jolson
Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me
(1919) McCarron & Swanstrom
#4 in 1919 Jimmy Durante 1920. Ted Lewis early 20’s
China Boy
(1922) Dick Winfree
Associated with the Chicagoans, Condon’s Gang, and Goodman. And many
Others including the French Hot Boys and The Ballyhooligans
Creole Love Call
(1928) Duke Ellington 1927, 1932
Also Cab Calloway
Similar to Oliver’s 1923 Camp Meeting Blues
Dans le rue Antibes
(In the streets of the city)
(1958) Sidney Bechet
Doin’ The New Lowdown
(1928) Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh
From Blackbirds of 1928
Composers of Exactly Like you, Sunny Side of Street, Don’t Blame Me
Fidgety Feet
(1918) Nick LaRocca & Larry Shield
Nick Cornet, Larry Clarinet ODJB
Original title: War Cloud. ODJB recorded it 6/25/1918
Girl of My Dreams
(1927) Sunny Clapp
#2 in January 1928. C & W crossover
Picked up Rudy Vallee
Hard Hearted Hannah
(1924) Jack Yellen, Milton Ager
Women seem to like this more than men do.
Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee sang this in a 50’s movie
If You See My Mother
(Si Tu Voir Ma Mere)
(1958) Sidney Bechet
1st recorded by Bechet w/Claude Luter in Paris 1/18/52
I Guess I’ll Get The Papers
(1946) Hughie Prince
Armstrong recording.
Title of Doc Cheatham’s auto-biography but did he record it?
Indian Summer
(1919) Victor Herbert
Sub-title An American Idyll
Bechet 1940. Late 30’s Tommy Dorsey, Jan Savitt
I Would Do Anything For You
(1931) Alex Hill, Claude Hopkins
Recorded by Hopkins May 1931. Was his theme for a while
Art Tatum (Toledo) 2x in 1933
Jazz Me Blues
(1917) Tom Delaney
ODJB #8 song in 1921. Bix & Wolverines 1924
Just A Song At Twilight
(1884) James Molloy, Irish composer who wrote 3 operettas
Original title: ‘Love’s Old Sweet Song’ Fire House 5 version
Le Marchand De Poissons
Fish Merchant or Fish Vendor
(1964)Sidney Bechet
Limehouse Blues
(1922) Braham and Furber
Oriental themes popular in the early 20’s E.g.,
China Boy, China Girl, Japanese Sandman, Japanese Sailor,
Japanese Moon, Oriental Eyes, Oriental Strut
This recorded often but not w/ verse
Limehouse Blues really refers to the London Chinatown
Mandy Make Up Your Mind
(1924) Clarke, Turk, et al
Broadway revue: “Dixie to Broadway”
Paul Whiteman 1925
Midnight In Moscow
Based on an old Russian folk song
Kenny Ball – 1960’s Russian lyrics
My Blue Heaven
(1927) Walter Donaldson
Composer also wrote: Carolina in Morning, Yes Sir That’s My Baby,
Makin’ Whoopee, Little White Lies
New Orleans Shuffle
(1925) Halfway House Orchestra
Bill Fuller introduces with Tom-Tom a la Krupa
Old Bones
Unsure of origin.
Recorded about 20 years ago by George Burns
Rhythm King
(1928) J. Russel Robinson
Also wrote Margie
Pianist with ODJB in London 1919
Bix & Gang, Paul Whiteman
Riverboat Shuffle
(1924) Hoagy Carmichael
Star Dust, Georgia, In the Cool Cool of the Evening
Bix & Wolverines, 1924
Rose of Washington Square
(1919) Ballard McDonald, James Hanley #1 June 1920.
2nd Hand Rose 1919; Breeze, Indiana, 1917;
Introduced by Fannie Brice in a 1920 Ziegfield production
St. James Infirmary Blues
Copyright Walter Melrose 1930
Old minor blues 1890’s ‘Dyin’ Gambler’s Blues’. Dozens of verses
Since My Best Gal Turned Me
(1927) Howdy Quicksell, bjo w/ Goldkette, Whiteman
Bix, 1927
Sweet Lotus Blossom
(1934) Sam Coslow also wrote Spike Jones #s My Old Flame, Cocktails for 2.
This from 1935 movie: Murder at the Vanities w/ Ellington band
Swing That Music
(1936) Armstrong & Gerlach
Louie’s big band in 1936
‘Tain’t No Sin To Take Off Your Skin
(1929) Walter Donaldson
Also wrote: My Blue Heaven,Makin’ Whoopee, Little White Lies
Yes Sir That’s My Baby
That Da-Da Strain
(1922) Mamie Medina & Ed Dowell
Recorded by Mamie Smith in 1923
Mugsy Spanier, Geo. Brunis, Pee Wee Russell, Red Nichols all did it
That’s A Plenty
(1914) Lew Pollack also Charmaine
Vaudeville performer
Song based on piano rags:
Steamboat and Ticklin’ the Ivories