Texas is known across the globe for many things and its music is on top of the list. The local fabric of the region is interwoven with tunes and beats of traditional jazz that is also popularly known as the original New Orleans music. This is surely one of the many glories that North Texas is known by.
For music lovers, New Orleans music is a buoyant performance of trombones against the deep sound of string bass, which gives a taste of the local flavor. The music culture in North Texas really has a lot to tell about the birth of sound in this region.
For many, the sound of music in Texas reminds them of country. You can walk into a honky-tonk where verses from Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson are celebrated and clarinets and trumpets are infusing the air with music in the background. Since that’s what many identify with, let’s begin with country music.
Country Music
The early settlers who migrated from the South to lodge in Texas brought with them their music from back home. With an interesting mix of guitar acoustics and banjo that tugs at your heartstrings as it rolls, the country music was far from the Anglo-Saxon strain.
Another prominent instrument was a fiddle that was largely symbolic of the African origin. However, the sound of it was tailored to what country music in Texas was like. It was characterized by single-note bow strokes that were slow and long, and this way Texas fiddlers were able to try different variations of the melody.
Swinging rhythms were created with a variety of chords to make guitar tunes that stood out from conventional folk music. This wave of instrumental music paved the way for early 20th-century jazz music.
Bob Wills and Western Swing
Western swing was born in late 1920s as a sub-genre of country music. It’s the perfect blend of folk music and Dixieland jazz with polka and blues, which is complemented by a mix of drums, piano and saxophones.
Bob Wills—the founding figure of Western swing as we know him—began flourishing his music career fairly early on. It’s said that he got his knack for swing music from his father, John Wills, who played as a fiddler in contests and dances.
The Senior Wills’ signature holler was the most prominent quality that his son inherited and it was this iconic “Ah-hah” that won him many fiddle contests. Many figures like Robertson often remarked that the older Wills often succeeded in out-hollering him rather than out-fiddling him in a one-on-one match.
Bob Wills was said to be deeply moved by the Empress of the Blues—Bessie Smith— and her music. She wasn’t only one of the greatest blues vocalists in the early 1920s but also a major influence on other jazz singers. Pronounced traces of Western Swing were also found in Dixieland music and trad jazz which revived as a music form on the West Coast in late 1930s.
If you want to train your ears, and treat your soul with the sound of some of the best traditional jazz Dixieland music, head over to Razzmajazz Dixieland Band’s online page! They’re the best live jazz band in Dallas, TX and they also offer to perform live at wedding receptions!
