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 The cakewalk, an early Southern practice dating back to the 1870s,
spread throughout the country with hundreds of cakewalks
published and performed by concert bands and minstrel show and
Broadway entertainers. The cakewalk, with its simple pervasive
syncopation, was the precursor of ragtime and jazz. Here Karl
Koenig, a scholar of ragtime and early jazz, leads an orchestra
through twenty-three cakewalks, the largest number ever presented in a
single album. Some are the most popular and best known
cakewalks, many are recorded for the first time. A
historically significant CD with infectious rhythm and charming
melodies.
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Record Label: Stomp Off Records 1365
Total Time: 73:44
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Tracks on
'The Cakewalk, 1897-1915'
| 1. Cotton Pickers Rag and Cakewalk [3:11] |  Preview | | 2. A Warmin' Up in Dixie [2:44] | | | 3. Hello! Ma Baby [3:00] | | | 4. Hunky-dory [3:32] | | | 5. At a Georgia Campmeeting [3:35] | | | 6. Coontown Capers [2:19] | Preview | | 7. A Warm Reception [3:05] | Preview | | 8. A Coon Band Contest [3:02] | | | 9. Dusky Dudes [3:20] | | | 10. Whistling Rufus [3:10] | | | 11. Happy Mose [3:45] | | | 12. Smoky Mokes [3:24] | | | 13. Koonville Koonlets [3:08] | Preview | | 14. Shuffling Jasper [3:24] | Preview | | 15. Uncle Jasper's Jubilee [2:28] | | | 16. Southern Hospitality [2:21] | Preview | | 17. Creole Belles [3:52] | | | 18. Colored Aristocracy [3:16] | | | 19. The Darkies Drill [3:00] | | | 20. An Ethiopian Mardi Gras [3:24] | Preview | | 21. Coon's Birthday [3:53] | | | 22. Bunch O' Blackberries [3:21] | | | 23. Keep Moving [3:30] | Preview |
Reviews:
The Rag Times, December 2002, Jack Rummel:
When I was first learning about ragtime, I ket encountering
references to the cakewalk, all of which seemed to assume that
the reader already knew what a cakewalk was. How I wish I had had
this disc, for I would not have stumbled around in the dark
for such a long time. By the time you read Karl Koenig's
illuminating notes and listen to this CD in its entirety, you
will know what a cakewalk is.
All of the selections are very march-like, which is historical
homage and which is reinforced by the predominant brass, the
reedy filagrees and the omnipresent snare drum (augmented
occasionally by the cymbal and tambourine). With a lone
exception, Coontown Capers, all are played at or near a medium
tempo. The recording includes as much variety as can be
incorporated into a harmonically simple, lightly syncopated form
that eschews solos by any of the instruments.
There is a pleasant mix of standards and rarities and the best
cakewalk composers of the day, such as Abe Holzmann, Arthur
Pryor, Kerry Mills and J. Bodewald Lampe, are all represented.
While it is reassuring to hear the familiar tunes, I was quite
taken with several of the forgotten ones, such as Cotton
Pickers Rag and Cakewalk, A Warm Reception, Shuffling Jasper,
Southern Hospitality and The Darkies Drill.
To quote Koenig, "The most popular purveyor of American
popular music during the evolution of jazz was the military or
concert band..." This music apparently is a bottom rung on that
evolutionary ladder, for 17 of the 23 selections were published
before 1900 and everything is played from ensemble scores. It
is, however, a re-creation of a period military band and
there is just enough lack of extreme precision here so that
we know it is a hometown band and not the ghost of John
Philip Sousa holding the baton.
This is an historically significant recording, the likes of which
is found nowhere else in the ragtime catalog, and kudos go to
Stomp Off's Bob Erdos for producing it. At the risk of some monotony,
Karl Koenig has assembled a slice of Americana that has
largely been overlooked in other muscial arenas and the
Lake Arrowhead Early Jazz Band performs these cakewalks
with verve and charm.
It is also a grim reminder of the prejudice that existed then,
for a quick glace through the playlist reveals a number of titles
that would be offensive to today's African-American. In 1913,
Scott Joplin said, " I have often sat in theaters and listened
to beautiful ragtime melodies set to almost vulgar words...
and I wondered why some composers will continue to make the
public hate the ragtime melodies because the melodies are set to
such bad words." There is an abundance of good music here, but I
fear the public will continue to ignore much of it beacuse of
some racist titles. It was a period in our social history that we
cannot erase and I hope it will not deter anyone from purchasing
this CD and enjoying these wonderful cakewalks.
Jazz Journal, August 2001, Eddie Cook:
This music described as by an 'early jazz band' is stretching the
definition a bit far. in some ways it is even pre-ragtime, but
nonetheless interesting and entertaining for all that.
Cakewalks, marches and two-steps are general descriptions for
music of this type and early published music ofetn quoted all
three descriptions to identify it. The notes say 'the ancestor
of the cakewalk were was? the early jigs and reels of the
negro.' I don't believe this is a racist description, just an
endeavour to quote the precise origins of this type of music.
There is no doubt that minstrel bands and so-called ragtime bands were
much in evidence on late Victorian and early Edwardian times and
represented popular entertainment in British music halls. I
assume the same applied to American burlesque houses. Unless you
are a fanatic for certain jazz styles particularly ultra modern
then you could find this an interesting piece of listening, and
if you're a ragtime or early New Orleans enthusiast you'll
recognize several of the tunes. it is well played without being
too stilted as some of these recreations seem to be and
playing time is generous.
Great!!
 50.0%
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 50.0%
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Weak
Total Votes: 2
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| Performers |
Jim Ogden (crnt)
Margaret Preston (vio)
Jack Crary (fl, pic)
Nathan Duer (cl)
Harry Weiss (cl)
Marvin Ekedal (tb)
Karl Koenig (pno)
Dan White (bjo)
Mark Cassidy (st bs)
Ed Roberts (tba)
Jim Cipolla (per)
Mike O'Neil (per.)
Released in 2001
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List Price: $16.97
Our Price: $14.95
You Save: $2.02 (12%)
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