By Jacob S. Pembelton
Brief History of Early Jazz
It’s hard to begin talking about the upright bass (or double bass) and its use in early jazz without offering a short history of how jazz music began. Like history itself, there is no definitive answer to how early jazz began, but most scholars believe that in New Orleans during the 19th century (1800s), the co-habitation of the music of enslaved Africans in Congo Square, Caribbean music, field hollers, spirituals, the blues, gospel music, and military march music led to a blending of cultural and musical styles resulting in early ragtime and eventually, early jazz music in the 20th century (1900s).
Two distinct features of early jazz are the front line and collective improvisation.
The Front Line
The term comes from the marching band, when the clarinet, trumpet (or cornet), and trombone would lead the marching band. The snare drums, bass drums, and cymbals would follow in the middle, and finally the followers at the end formed the second line. In early jazz, the front line refers to the same instruments as melody instruments, and the back line would consist of the rhythm section: the banjo (or guitar), piano, double bass (or tuba), and the newly formed drum set.
Collective Improvisation
The front line, when playing, would improvise or play freely all together, creating a polyphonic or multi-voiced sound. Each instrument had a separate role, with the clarinet being on top, the trumpet or cornet playing in the middle, and the trombone at the bottom. Each instrument’s speed of playing and unique sound (timbre) allows all to play together without stepping on each other’s toes.
For a good listening example check out Jazz at Lincoln Center’s video here:
The Rhythm Section and The Bass
The role of the rhythm section is very similar to what we think of when we see or hear jazz music being played today. The piano, guitar, or banjo, sometimes two, play the chords in a comping style outlining the harmony, the double bass or the tuba plays the bassline, and the drum set, which at this point was not unified as we think of it today, but instead a mixture of marching band drums and equipment, created a steady pulse.
The individual playing style of the upright bass during this time period is interesting. The walking bass line as we know it today, consisting of 4 quarter notes moving stepwise per bar of 4/4 time [ex. 1], had not yet been created, so many early jazz bassists played in a “2-feel” or 2 half notes per bar of 4/4 time [ex. 2].
Ex. 1 Walking Bass line
Ex. 2 “2-feel”
This is actually better notated as two quarter notes on beat 1 and beat 3 [ex. 3], due to the quick attack and dissipation of the gut strings that were used. If not in a “2-feel,” the bass would often play two repeated quarter notes of the same pitch [ex.4]. This is either alternating between the root and the 5th of the chord or switching between the root of one chord and the root of the next chord.
Ex. 3 “2-feel” with space between notes
Ex. 4 a repeated second note of the pitch to give more energy than the original “2-feel”
(To learn more about jazz theory and history, check out our “Jazz Unlocked” courses here)
Playing in a slap style was also common for bassists at the time. Using the right hand to pull the string away from the bass and releasing it created a slap or snapping sound when the string struck the fingerboard. This gave a punch and percussive element to the sound, as well as producing more volume since the instrument wasn’t yet amplified. Another technique used more often than in swing or modern jazz was the bow. Although we had standouts into the swing era and beyond like Slam Stewart and Paul Chambers, the use of the bow generally fell out of style largely once the walking bass line became popular in the 1930’s.
As a note, the tuba was also an important companion to early jazz bass playing, as recording technology at the time not able to capture the quiet nuance of the bass. This often meant that the bassist would play tuba to allow for better recording quality.
A good video of “Pops” Foster playing and soloing on W.C. Handy’s Beale Street Blues:
Notable Players
Some notable bass players from the time were:
Bill Johnson (1872-1972): One of the early slap players. He was cited as having broken his bow while on tour with a band and began slapping. He worked in Vaudeville and led The Original Creole Orchestra. He worked with King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band.
Henry Kimball (1878-1931): Another really early bassist was Henry Kimball. Although very little is known about him, he was heavily significant to the development of “Pops” Foster and Wellman Braud.
Theodore “Steve” Brown (1890-1965): Played both bass and tuba extensively, playing in both Jean Golkette’s and Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra.
Wellman Braud (1891-1966): Famous for working with Duke Ellington and utilizing some of the earliest forms of the walking bass.
George “Pops” Foster (1892-1969): Played bass and tuba professionally and was the most well-known of the bassists of the time, having worked with King Oliver, Kid Ory, Louis Armstrong, Sid Catlett, Mezz Mezzrow, Sidney Bechet, and many more.
Ed “Montudie” Garland (1895-1980): Played both tuba and bass in various New Orleans bands, including for Freddie Keppard and King Oliver.
Al Morgan (1908-1974): Worked with Cab Calloway, Jelly Roll Morton, and Fats Waller.
In Closing
A bassist playing early jazz would have had to be able to use a blend of new and old techniques and would have been expected to be able to slap, bow, and pluck the bass, play by ear, read music, and often double on the tuba. This was no small feat and the pioneers during this time period, though often overlooked, contributed greatly to the swing, be-bop, and modern jazz that we know and love today.
Jacob S. Pembelton is a bassist and musical instrument maker in The Plains, VA. Having trained under Thomas Wolf for a number of years he now works full-time at Wolf Instruments specializes in the building and repair of the double bass. Jacob holds an M.A. in Jazz Studies from the University of Iowa (’21) and a B.M. from Shenandoah Conservatory (’19). He leads a personal project The Sweet NOLA’s Po’Boys, playing traditional jazz and new orleans music and freelances in in the Northern VA/DMV area. You can catch him Friday and Saturday nights with The Szymon Aleksander Trio at L’Auberge Provençal, in White Post VA.
Find more about Jacob at:
Instagram @theupright1