His tone is variously smooth and clear (e.g. Here are the recordings and transcriptions, with written analysis below:Įvans’s solos in “Beale Street Blues” show his tonal flexibility and command of the saxophone. Analyses of Evans’s solos on “Beale Street Blues” and “Billy Goat Stomp” – two songs he recorded with Jelly Roll Morton’s band in the late 1920s – will demonstrate some of the features of Evans’s playing that make him a true jazz master, in my opinion. What makes “Stump” Evans great?Īccording to scholar Stephen Cottrell, Coleman Hawkins acknowledged Evans as a significant early jazz musician, and after hearing and analyzing his playing, I’m inclined to agree! So let’s check out a few of Evans’s solos. He tragically died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis after having worked with some of early jazz’s most seminal artists, including King Oliver, Priscilla Stewart, and Jelly Roll Morton. He moved to Chicago in his late teens right around the time that jazz was starting to pick up steam as a style of new and popular music. What we do know is that Evans was born Lawrence, Kansas, learned music from his father as a young man, and played a variety of instruments before settling on the clarinet and saxophone in his teenage years. As a primary oral/aural tradition with an early developmental history which initially predated the widespread use of recording technology, jazz’s earliest practitioners often suffer from a lack of documentation. Not a lot is known or documented about this elusive but fascinating musician. Paul “Stump” Evans (1904-1928) was among the first saxophonists to ever record solos in a jazz style. I’ll briefly introduce him with a bit of background biographical and career information, then I’ll discuss a few analyzed transcriptions of some of his solos, and I’ll end with a few possible explanations as to why this stellar musician isn’t as well-known as I think he ought to be. I’ve selected an early alto saxophonist who I believe is a virtuoso jazz master worthy of more attention: Paul “Stump” Evans. So with all of this in mind, I’m writing this to help set the historical record straight – or at least get everyone to question the mainstream story of jazz history a bit (I hope!). Though these saxophonists (most of whom are tenor players, it should also be noted) are undeniably some of the most important and influential jazz musicians of all time, there are saxophone players (especially altoists) who came before and after them who deserve more attention as key contributors to the history of jazz, and especially the history of jazz saxophone. Bessie Smith).īased on the way jazz history is narrated in many conversations, books, documentaries, and classrooms, it might appear that the history of the saxophone begins with Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins, and Lester Young and continues to eventually include key players such as Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Wayne Shorter. Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton), and blues singers (e.g. Joe “King” Oliver and Louis Armstrong), pianists (e.g. Despite the fact that the saxophone is, for many people, the most quintessentially “jazzy” instrument of all, the early historical narratives of jazz tend to emphasize primarily trumpet/cornet players (e.g. Even though the saxophone is an iconic jazz instrument in the popular imagination, the story of jazz’s earliest past often leaves the saxophone by the wayside.
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