New Orleans Jazz Ensemble Tune List

Algiers Strut  In 1948 Frankie Laine recorded You’re All I Want For Christmas.  Kid Thomas
Valentine re-titled this song as Algiers Strut.  New Orleans jazz staple.

Avalon  (1920) Vincent Rose and Al Jolson.  Based on an aria from Puccini’s Tosca (E lucevan le
stele). Reprised in movie “The Jolson Story”. Standard jazz tune for clarinet players.

At The Jazz Band Ball  (1918)  Nick Larocca, Larry Shields  ODJB.  Richmond, Indiana 1917

Basin St. Blues  (1928) Spencer Williams.  Also: Farewell To Storyville (Good Time Flat Blues);
Tishomingo Blues; Everybody Loves My Baby; Blue Mama’s Suicide Wail (Mountain Top Blues); Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble.

Bill Bailey  (1902)  Hughie Cannon  Huge success;  follow-ups:  When Old Bill B. plays the Uke.;  Bye Bye Bill Bailey; Since Bill Bailey Came Home

Black Girl   (1927)  Lizzie Abner  Also called In The Pines.  Many variations in folk and jazz idioms.

Bourbon St. Parade  (1949) Paul Barbarin  N.O. Drummer

Bogalousa Strut  (1927) Sam Morgan.  Popular among New Orleans bands.

Borneo  (1928)  Walter Donaldson  wrote over 600 tunes.  Little White Lies;  Carolina in Morning; Love Me Or Leave Me; Makin’ Whoopee; My Blue Heaven; My Buddy;  Yes Sir That’s My Baby; Tain’t No Sin To Take Off Your Skin and Dance Around In Your Bones

Bugle Boy March  (1907)  Francis Meyers. Based on older tune called American Soldier.

Canal St. Blues   (1923) King Oliver.   171 ft. wide street now; was a canal.  Louie on 2nd cornet.

C. C. Rider  (1927) Ma Rainey.  Blues singer rival of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith.  Many Variations.

Ciribiribin  (1898)  Albert Pestalozza.  Italian aria.  Big hit for Harry James, 1938.

Columbus Stockade Blues  (1943) Jimmie Davis.  Crossover to folk music.

Dallas Blues (1925)  Hart Wand & Lloyd Garrett.

Don’t Give Up The Ship.  (1935) Harry Warren, prolific composer: Sept in Rain; That’s Amore;
Atchison Topeka & SF; Jeepers Creepers; I Only Have Eyes for You.  Collaborated w/ Johnny
Mercer.  Don’t Give Up the Ship in a Hollywood movie called “Shipmates Forever”.  With Dick Powell & Ruby Keeler.

Gee Baby Ain’t I Good To You  (1929) Whispering Don Redman band leader, sax player, and talking vocalist.  Wrote excellent arrangements for late 20’s early 30’s bands:  Fletcher Henderson; McKinney’s Cotton Pickers

Girl Of My Dreams  (1927)  Sunny Clapp.  #3 in 1928. Favorite of the New Orleans Revival Jazz
Bands.  As a ballad:  Big hit for Perry Como in the late 40’s.

High Society  (Bb-Eb)  (1901) Porter Steele.  Perhaps based on a band march or French quadrille. Clarinet players emulate Alphonse Picou clarinet solo.

His Eye Is On The Sparrow  (1905) Charles Gabriel.  Hymn.  Title of Ethel Waters’ biography.

Hula Lou   (1924).  Milt Charles & Wayne King. Another pop tune inspired by Romantic Hawaii.

In The Good Old Summertime  (1902). Geo. Evans, Ren Shields. Vaudeville tune: Empire Quartet.

Isle Of Capri  (1934)  Jimmy Kennedy & Will Gosz.  #1 in Jan. 1935.  Kennedy also wrote: Harbor Lights; Red Sails In The Sunset;  and a Platters hit:  My Prayer.

I Wish I Could Shimmy  Like My Sister Kate (1921)  Armand Piron, Geo. Brunies.  Recorded with
New Orleans Rhythm Kings.  Collaborated w/ Spencer. Williams & Peter. Bocage
I Wonder Why Pop tune in the 1950’s; picked up by New Orleans bands.

Jambalaya (1952)  Hank Williams.  #1 on the Hit Parade in August 1952. Williams died a year
later.  Left a legacy of country tunes. E.g., Your Cheatin’ Heart; Hey, Good Lookin’; Cold, Cold Heart.

June Night (Give Me A) (1924) Cliff Friend.  Cincinnati 1893-74 Test Pilot @ Wright Field, Dayton,
OH. Also wrote When My Dreamboat Comes Home; Then I’ll Be Happy; Broadway Shows and movies.  Just A Closer Walk With Thee  Traditional hymn.  Very popular for decades.

Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now  (1932)  Fats Waller. Prolific composer, excellent stride piano player,
and wonderful entertainer.  Also wrote standards such as Ain’t Misbehavin’ and HoneySuckle Rose.

Lady Be Good   (1924) George and Ira Gershwin.  Written for a 1924 Broadway musical starring
Fred Astaire. Ran for 330 performances. Has been a jazz standard for over 80 years.  

Lily Of The Valley  (1917) Anatole Frieland  w/ Wolfe Gilbert.  Frieland had a successful career in
pop music.  E.g., Waitin’ for the Robert. E. Lee., Down Yonder, Mama Inez.,   Hopalong Cassidy theme song.

Linger Awhile  (1923)  Vincent Rose & Harry Warren.  See Don’t Give Up The Ship.  1940 Blueberry Hill;  1920 Whispering

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Louisiana Fairy Tale  (1935)  J. Fred Coots.  Recorded by Fats Waller in ’35.  Known now as Theme song of the TV show “This Old House.” Coots wrote for Broadway shows and movies movies.  Well know songs: Love Letters in The Sand; Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town.  And such forgettables as Good Bye Mama I’m Off to Yokohama.

My Blue Heaven  (1927)  Walter Donaldson.  Composed 600+ songs. Last half of career in
Hollywood.  Well known:  Yes Sir That’s My Baby; Carolina In The Morning; Makin’ Whoopee; You’re Driving Me Crazy.

Muskrat Ramble   (1926)  Edward (Kid) Ory was active in jazz from as early as 1912 through the
1960’s. This jazz classic was written and recorded by him in 1926.  It has been recorded by dozens of bands in the 80 years since it was written.Ory. Ory with 7 Pods of Peppers, 1922, 1 of first Black jazz bands recorded.

Old Fashioned Love  (1923)  James. P. Johnson.  James P. was a Harlem stride pianist and composer. Strong influence on Fats Waller. Charleston;  musical Running Wild;  If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight.

Old Spinning Wheel  (1933) Billy Hill. This song had 3 good years: 1933-36. Favorite of George Lewid bands.  Hill wrote Western songs & movies  BIG:  Last Roundup   Chapel In The Moonlight; Glory Of Love.  

Over In The Gloryland  (1906) James W. Acuff and Emmett Dean. Spiritual.

Peoria  (I Wish’t I Was In) (1925) Harry Woods & Billy Rose.  Tin Pan Alley kings. Left legacies of
such songs as: I’m Looking Over A 4 Leaf Clover, Side by Side, When The Red Red Robin Comes BobBob Bobbin’ Along, It’s Only A Paper Moon, Barney Google, Don’t Bring Lulu, Me and My Shadow, and Kate Smith’s famous When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain.

Precious Lord  (1938)  Thomas A. Dorsey.  Hymn  Favorite of George Lewis and New Orleans bands.

Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet  (1909)  Percy Wenrich.   Big hits were this one, Moonlight Bay, and When You Wore A Tulip  Wrote Red Rose Rag for his wife, vaudeville singer Dolly Connolly.

Rose of Washington Square  (1919)  James Hanley Ballard, McDonald. Rose introduced by Fannie Brice in a 1920 Ziegfield production.  It was her signature song. #3 1920. Hanley also wrote 2nd Hand Rose; Breeze; Zing Went the Strings in My Heart;  as well as Indiana recorded in 1917.

St. Louis Blues  (1914)  W. C. Handy.  Beale St. Blues, Aunt Hagar’s Blues, Yellow Dog Blues.
St. Philip’s St. Breakdown  Geo Lewis.  Street in French Quarter near Bourbon St.

Say Si Si  (1936)  Al Stillman.  Composer of  Juke Box Saturday Night; Moments To Remember;  and Johhny Mathis’ big hit Chances Are.

Sing On   (1927) Sam Morgan.  Morgan was cornet player and vocalist.  Recorded a few songs in New Orleans in 1927.  Also wrote Bogalousa Strut.

Slide Frog Slide (1940’s??) Waldren Frog Joseph, bass player.  Slide Frog recorded by  Dukes of
Dixieland and other New Orleans bands.

South  (1924) Bennie Moten.  Pioneer of Kansas City jazz. Born in KC, died there at age 41.  Count Basie worked for Moten for 6 years.  South was on the flip side of another KC song – Vine Street Blues in 1924.

Sweet Georgia Brown  (1925)  Maceo Pinkard, Ben Bernie.  Gimme A Little Kiss; Them There Eyes; Livin’ High; Storyville Blues; I’ll Be A Friend With Pleasure.

Swing That Music  (1938) Louis Armstrong.  Written and recorded during Louie’s big band days.

Tailgate Ramble  (1944) Wingy Manone.   based on a traditional chord sequence; lots of  lyrics.

Tishomingo Blues  (1918) Spencer Williams. Wrote 100s of forgettable songs.  But also Basin St.
Blues, Everybody Loves My Baby, Farewell to Storyville, Blue Mama’s Suicide Wail.  Collaborated with Spencer Williams: Royal Garden Blues, I’ve Found A New Baby, Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll.

Way Down Yonder In New Orleans  (1922) Henry Creamer.  The Georgians, a band within a band.

What A Wonderful World  (1967)  George Weiss. Louie.   2nd life as a commercial for allergy drug.

Why Don’t You All Go Down To New Orleans (1960s??) Margaret T. Baird.

You Always Hurt The One You Love  (1944)  Al Roberts & Doris Fishe. Hit: Mills Bros                  
#1 song in 1944 was Mairzy Doats;  also Bing’s I’ll Be Home For Christmas