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In just about every way I can think of, Benjamin “Bennie” Moten rightly belongs in the 1920s. He formed his first band as early as 1918, his first recordings (for the ubiquitous Okeh Records) moved the New Orleans jazz sound to the Midwest, though another, even earlier influence from his native Missouri came in as well: ragtime. He enjoys a niche reputation to this day: according to Wikipedia’s entry on Moten, his 1923-25 recordings for Okeh count among “the more valuable acoustic jazz 78s of the era.”
Full disclosure, I dropped Bennie Moten in the 1930s for no better reason than overlooking him while digging into the 1920s. Still, he and his Bennie Moten Orchestra hit its peak the same year the decade started. More significantly, Moten carried forward the “riffing” approach to popular music and gave jazz a Midwest-inspired spin with the “stomping beat” then popular in Kansas City. A site called The Pendergast Years (one of the few sources for this post, sadly) sums up his beginnings and influence with this intro:
“On September 23, 1923, the Bennie Moten Orchestra made its first recording consisting of eight songs. By strict musical standards, the songs themselves were unrefined and not much removed from existing blues music. But the Bennie Moten Orchestra would soon build upon its earliest recordings to develop a distinct Kansas City style of jazz that later dominated the jazz scene in the late 1930s and 1940s.”
Those two innovations became foundations for a lot of the big band sound - including that of his protégé, and future member of jazz royalty, Count Basie. While I don’t think the phrase “stomping beat” confuses anyone, I want to pause here to confirm that, yes, “riffing” means about what a casual reader thinks it does. Wikipedia’s explainer on the subject gives people from the rock era some examples (e.g., Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or AC/DC’s “Back in Black”), as an aural hook for the basic definition:
“…it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompaniment of a musical composition.”
[Ed. - While that’s broad, digestible and accurate, I'm compelled to include this: “A riff is a short, repeated, memorable musical phrase, often pitched low on the guitar, which focuses much of the energy and excitement of a rock song,” because “excitement of a rock song.”]
Full disclosure, I dropped Bennie Moten in the 1930s for no better reason than overlooking him while digging into the 1920s. Still, he and his Bennie Moten Orchestra hit its peak the same year the decade started. More significantly, Moten carried forward the “riffing” approach to popular music and gave jazz a Midwest-inspired spin with the “stomping beat” then popular in Kansas City. A site called The Pendergast Years (one of the few sources for this post, sadly) sums up his beginnings and influence with this intro:
“On September 23, 1923, the Bennie Moten Orchestra made its first recording consisting of eight songs. By strict musical standards, the songs themselves were unrefined and not much removed from existing blues music. But the Bennie Moten Orchestra would soon build upon its earliest recordings to develop a distinct Kansas City style of jazz that later dominated the jazz scene in the late 1930s and 1940s.”
Those two innovations became foundations for a lot of the big band sound - including that of his protégé, and future member of jazz royalty, Count Basie. While I don’t think the phrase “stomping beat” confuses anyone, I want to pause here to confirm that, yes, “riffing” means about what a casual reader thinks it does. Wikipedia’s explainer on the subject gives people from the rock era some examples (e.g., Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or AC/DC’s “Back in Black”), as an aural hook for the basic definition:
“…it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompaniment of a musical composition.”
[Ed. - While that’s broad, digestible and accurate, I'm compelled to include this: “A riff is a short, repeated, memorable musical phrase, often pitched low on the guitar, which focuses much of the energy and excitement of a rock song,” because “excitement of a rock song.”]
