Mckenzie-Condon Chicagoans Music Analysis

The McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans was created in 1922. The team member, Jim Lanigan, Jimmy McPartland, Dick McPartland, Bud Freeman and Frank Teschemacher, were all the students from Austin High School. They always got together at a place named the Spoon and Straw to listen to their favorite jazz. One afternoon, they heard a new batch of music played by The New Orleans Rhythm Kings. They felt excited and played this kind of music five hours at the Spoon and Straw. They formed their band and named it “The Blue Friars” to salute the band of The New Orleans Rhythm Kings. Jimmy McPartland played the cornet, Dick McPartland played the banjo, Bud Freeman played C-Melody saxphone, Frank Teschemacher played a clarinet and Jim Lannigan played the sousaphone.
The McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans/The Austin High School Gang represented the Chicago style. It dominant instruments included piano, drum set and acoustic bass. In the At The Jazz Band Ball, we could hear the saxophone and trombone as the dominant instrument and feel the improvision through the song. The section of bass was not so obvious. In the China Boy, we could feel a more lively rhythm. The main instrument was trumpet, trombone, cornet and clarinet. The section of bass was through the whole song. However, the jazz style of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band preferred to the New Orleans style, which was featured by the group improvision. In Blackbird Special, the more modern instrument electronic organwas added into the song. We could feel its sense of modernness by its more obvious and agile drumbeat compared with the The Austin High School Gang. The improvision could be seen in this song as well. The differences between the two bands was the Austin High School Gang had a greater emphasis on individual solos, while the Dirty Dozen Brass Band put more emphasis on the overall play. And the Dirty Dozen Brass Band had a more relaxed feeling and a kind of