Le Jazz Hot (1938) transcript

wim · September 4

Surprisingly, couldn't find the text from the J'attendrai promo video online. The transcript on the YouTube video is not good.

So, made one myself, for posterity. Here it is, let me know if I've misheard anything..

The evolution of jazz.

This orchestra would be horrified at the thought of changing a single note or of suppressing the slightest sigh in this Largo of Handel.

The respect of the written notes is one of the essential conditions of all classical interpretations, but not so with jazz. If we say, I have just heard Handel's Largo, we also say, I have just heard a record by Armstrong. By Coleman Hawkins. By Jack Teagarden. Or by Benny Goodman. Why this difference? In jazz music, the execution is more important than the composition. How it is played is what counts, not how it is written.

The melodic theme serves as a bare background for the intricate variations of the hot jazz player, and the value of the piece depends on the quality of the interpretation.

Until about 1926, jazz music was played straight. That is, the melodic theme was more or less respected, and each air was played as written, such as for instance this one.

Then jazz, little by little, lost its coldness, and straight jazz became hot, thanks to a few musicians whose remarkable improvisations gave jazz a new lease on life. Listen to Django Reinhardt. It is the same melody, but what a difference in interpretation.

These three musicians will represent two guitars and a bass fiddle.

Finally, here is Stephane Grappelli, virtuoso violinist of hot jazz.

From the magic strings of the instruments of these five musicians was formed the quintet of the Hot Club of France.