1. Warren "Baby" Dodds was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
31 Facts About Baby Dodds
1. 2.
Baby Dodds is regarded as one of the best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era.
3.
At age 16, Baby Dodds saved up enough money to buy his own drum set.
4.
Baby Dodds started playing in street parades around New Orleans with Bunk Johnson and his band and then gained a job playing in Willie Hightower's band, the American Stars.
5.
The band played in various venues around New Orleans, and Baby Dodds recalled hearing many musicians along the way, including Buddy Bolden, John Robichaux, and Jelly Roll Morton.
6.
Baby Dodds gained a reputation as a top young drummer in New Orleans.
7.
In 1918, Baby Dodds left Sonny Celestin's group to play in Fate Marable's riverboat band.
8.
Baby Dodds describes playing with this band as "a beautiful experience".
9.
King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band broke up in 1924 due to disagreements about travel and musical style; the argument became so heated that the Baby Dodds brothers threatened to beat up Oliver.
10.
Baby Dodds recorded with Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Art Hodes, and his brother Johnny Baby Dodds.
11.
Baby Dodds played in Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven groups.
12.
Baby Dodds, having remained a New Orleans style drummer untouched by the influence of swing, found himself playing a role in the New Orleans jazz revival.
13.
Baby Dodds stayed with this outfit for only three months before they went to California, while Baby Dodds decided to stay in Chicago.
14.
Baby Dodds ended up playing with Johnson's band in New York.
15.
The group ended up playing solely in France, and Baby Dodds had a great experience, saying that Europeans "take our kind of music much more seriously than they do in our own country".
16.
Baby Dodds returned to Chicago after the European tour and while taking a trip to New York in April 1949, he suffered a stroke.
17.
Baby Dodds died on February 14,1959, in Chicago, and was buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.
18.
Several accounts of the Baby Dodds brothers suggest that they did not always get along.
19.
In 1959, Larry Gara's The Baby Dodds Story was published for the first time.
20.
Several critics have questioned the validity of this book, given the fact that it is solely Baby Dodds giving an extensive interview, and therefore the events in the book are based on what Dodds himself remembers.
21.
Gara wanted this book to be Baby Dodds telling his story rather than Gara telling it.
22.
In many of his recordings, Baby Dodds had to use a wood block rather than a drum set because of the nature of the recording technology.
23.
Baby Dodds did begin recording again in 1940, and by this time, the technology was able to show his talent on the drum set.
24.
Baby Dodds is perhaps the first jazz drummer to record unaccompanied: in 1945 he recorded two solos for Circle Records, and the next year recorded a series of solos and reminiscences for Folkways Records.
25.
On his part of the record, Baby Dodds discusses his drumming techniques and his drumset and playing examples of techniques.
26.
Baby Dodds continues to be admired for the creativity of his playing.
27.
Baby Dodds believed in playing something different for every chorus of every tune.
28.
Baby Dodds was best known for what he called his "shimmy beat", which he first used in 1918 at Jack Sheehan's in New Orleans.
29.
Besides his unique drumming style, something important to Baby Dodds was paying attention to the musicians in the outfit and fitting his drumming into the style the band was playing.
30.
Baby Dodds tried to get to know each member in the outfit and learn about how each person played his or her instrument.
31.
Baby Dodds recorded together with his brother's washboard band occasionally.