West End Blues
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West End Blues is a multi-strain 12 bar blues composition by Joe "King" Oliver. It is most commonly performed as an instrumental, although it has lyrics added by Clarence Williams.
King Oliver and his Dixie Syncopaters made the first recording of the tune. An early vocal version was waxed by Ethel Waters. It is more usually known and performed as an instrumental than a song.
West End, New Orleans
The "West End" of the title refers to a place on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, Louisiana. While still in existence as of 2004 best known for its seafood restaurants, before Joe Oliver went up north it was a thriving weekend summer resort where live music was often played. West End then a good distance away from the city; it was connected to New Orleans by a streetcar line and a shell road. West End had dance pavillions and lake bathing as well. The name comes from the fact that West End is at the westernmost point of the lakefront in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, bordering Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.
The Armstrong Recording
By far the most famous recording of "West End Blues" is the 3-minute-plus, 78 RPM record recording made by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five in 1928, considered one of the masterpieces of early jazz.
Louis Armstrong plays trumpet (and does some relaxed scat singing) backed by a band whose most talented member was the pianist Earl Hines. In an eight-bar trumpet solo near the end of the record, Armstrong played a solo of such overarching beauty of structure and feeling, that the performance became an instant classic, and to this day is considered one of the finest recordings in jazz history.
Other portions of this record that are also outstanding are the brilliant trumpet introduction by Armstrong that begins the song, the wordless 'scat' singing chorus by Armstrong where he accompanies and varies a melody played by the clarinetist, and a brilliant piano solo by Hines. The number is closed by a deft woodblock click by drummer Zutty Singleton.
The recording can be found in many collections of the Hot Five and Hot Seven records of Armstrong on compact disc, as well as on the internet, and on LP and 78 analogue discs.
"West End Blues" has been recorded many times since, usually owing much to the Armstrong version. Jazz writer and historian William Russell has commented that other jazz trumpeters would be better off avoiding the too frequent imitations of Armstrong's introduction on the number; while the most virtuosic may have the technical ability to duplicate Armstrong's notes, they still suffer in comparison to Armstrong's feeling and originality.