LOUIS AND LIL ARMSTRONG IN CHICAGO; part one

As our centennial celebration of Louis Armstrong’s arrival in Chicago ramps up this summer, we offer you a three part series on jazz starting pre-Louis through his profound impact on the art. No story on the Louis in Chicago could be complete without discussing the role of Lil Hardin Armstrong. A gifted and talented pianist and writer, she married Louis in Chicago and helped him develop into an international superstar. present suite that honors his roots and relatives

By Kent Richmond & Howard Mandel

There was jazz in Chicago before young trumpeter Louis Armstrong arrived in 1922 – indeed, even before 1910! But it takes a stretch of imagination to envision what life here was like then.

Radio had become commonplace for commercial communications at the turn of the 20th century but wouldn’t be used for music broadcasts until the mid ‘20s (and then, most broadcasts were local). Personal devices for listening – phonographs -- were a luxury item that most people could not afford. The recording industry was still in its infancy.

The most popular recordings were of John Phillip Sousa, the March King, with his Marine Band; Irish tenor John McCormack, and opera singer Enrico Caruso. Music by Black people, which would later be termed race records, was seldom considered worth recording, although the song “Nobody,” by Bahamian-born vaudeville star Bert Williams, had proved to be a best seller in 1906 (and was enduring: Cécile McLorin Salvant revived it in 2013). Ragtime, introduced to Chicago in the form of syncopated piano compositions at the World’s Columbia Exposition of 1893 by its progenitor Scott Joplin, was all the rage in songs printed as sheet music– the leading form of music popularization in that era. Chicago was a national center of music publishing, with operators such as Will Rossitor – who published Morton’s “Jelly Roll’s Blues” in 1915 – and, a little later the Melrose brothers, Walter and Lester, selling their scores at stores such as Lyon & Healy, which also manufactured harps and marching band instruments.

World War I (1914-1918) was a catalyst in large part for the beginning of the Great Migration. This historic influx of Black Americans from southern states where 90% lived prior to 1910 to northern centers like Chicago was driven by booming industrial jobs created by the “The Great War” as it was called. This population brought its distinct and rich cultures to the northern cities. The impact was transformational to these city’s economies, including an injection of musical artistry not seen or heard previously.

Musicians commonly traveled, or “toured,” anyway – segregated, of course -- in minstrel shows of Black troupes or all whites in black-face, theatrical productions, and on their own. Jelly Roll Morton, for instance, left New Orleans for the road in 1904 (he was about 14) and passed through Chicago in 1910, settling down here for a couple years in the mid-teens.

By then, the city’s Black population was approximately 125,000, concentrated in the area today called Bronzeville. The State Street Stroll -State between 26th and 39th streets, later extending south to 47th Street – was the main drag, encompassing all varieties of business and entertainment, busy with well-dressed people day and night. There were vaudeville and movie theaters, poolhalls, bars, restaurants and clubs for dancing and gambling.

In 1917 the Secretary of the Navy ordered the closing of Storyville, the New Orleans brothel district where many pianists and bands were employed. This motivated musicians who legendarily created jazz to come north. One of them was already here -- Tony Jackson had become the first New Orleans musician to determinedly move to Chicago, in 1912. (Singer Alberta Hunter beat him here by a year, but she was from Memphis.)

Known since childhood for extraordinary musicianship, described by Lil Hardin Armstrong as a better pianist than Morton, and Morton’s mentor, Jackson come to Chicago for career opportunities and to escape his hometown’s homophobia -- he was proudly and openly gay. Primarily a pianist, he never established a band but had a great voice and performance style, as well as innate tunefulness. He held the copyright for one standard, “Pretty Baby,” but reputedly gave away many hits to Tin Pan Alley for peanuts and no credit. Jackson died of cirrhosis and/or syphilis in 1921 at age 38. In 2011, Tony Jackson was named to the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.

Chicago was becoming a hot jazz town. New Orleans cornetist Freddie Keppard – who famously turned down what would have been the first jazz recording because he didn’t want anyone to “steal my stuff” -- had settled here in 1917. Clarinetist Jimmy Noone and trumpeter Joe King Oliver followed, in 1918. Pianist “Georgia Tom” Dorsey, founder with guitarist Tampa Red of pre-rock ‘n’ roll “hokum music” and as Thomas A. Dorsey, the father of gospel – yes, the same man – arrived in 1919. Coincidentally, Sousa had received a military commission, and was stationed at Great Lakes Naval Station with a Navy Band, asserting a Chicago presence.

It should be noted that to white society at that time “the blues” meant music by Blacks. It was not uncommon for a child who said the word “jass” or “jazz” in a strict household to have their mouths washed out with soap – it was a dirty word. Still, jazz in Chicago wasn’t only being played by Black musicians. In 1916 Stein’s Dixie Jass band from New Orleans was contracted for an engagement at Schiller’s, a venue on the Stroll. A year later, renamed as The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, cornetist Nick LaRocca and his crew packed in audiences at Reisenweber’s Café in New York City, and recorded “Livery Stable Blues” for Victor – the first jazz record.

Chicago attracted people with ambitions. Lil Hardin had studied piano and classical music at Fisk University in Nashville; she relocated to Chicago with her mother Dempsey in 1918, and found work as a demonstrator in Jones Music Store at 3409 1/2 S. State St. Customers naturally would want to hear how a tune sounded before buying sheet music that cost five or 10 cents.

Due to her piano skills and personality, Lil Hardin was soon earning $10 a week. She was also memorizing a lot of scores. Music stores were hangouts for musicians looking for leads to gigs, and Lil herself hoped to get a job with a band. Pianists were at a premium then –a piano was considered a white instrument, due to its expense. Most Black people could only get their hands on a piano in church.

Lil got a chance to break in to performing with Lawrence Duhe’s New Orleans Creole Jazz Band – the first ensemble to relocate from New Orleans, very popular on the Stroll, booked at the DeLux Café and Dreamland. She was surprised to learn that no one in the band could read music. When a tune was struck up, she would ask for the key, but the other musicians didn’t know. She had to do a lot of improvising to keep up with this bunch.

Although popular and working steadily, the band suffered turmoil and turnover. Cornetist Keppard was replaced by Joe Oliver. When Duhe quit the band out of frustration, eventually returning to New Orleans, Oliver took over and got a booking at the Royal Gardens on East 31st St.

Lil, however, stayed on as the house pianist at the Dreamland, earning $100 a week. She accompanied Alberta Hunter, duly impressed with the singer’s vocal virtuosity, her beaded gowns and her $500 a week salary (often sweetened with generous tips). Hunter had worked her way up. From 1911 to ’13 she’s worked at Dago Frank’s, from ’13 to ’15 at Hugh Haskin’s Saloon; from ’15 to ’17 at the Panama Club, and in later ’17 was at the Delux, getting $35 a week.

Lil was pretty, slender and petite in an era when buxom was in vogue. She was always stylishly dressed, and looked younger than her years, although she was only 20 when she joined Duhe’s group. Her piano skills outshined all that. Her playing style was described as masculine because of her driving, uptempo rhythms. To emphasize her looks and piano prowess together, she was billed as “Hot Miss Lil.” And so she was known when Louis Armstrong came to town.