JOHNNY DODDS AND HIS BLACK BOTTOM STOMPERS

Biography

Johnny Dodds (April 12, 1892 – August 8, 1940) was born in Waveland, Mississippi, and raised in New Orleans in a musical household — his father and uncle played violin, his sister played melodeon, and young Johnny sang high tenor in the family quartet. He began clarinet around age 13, largely self-taught, though he received some early instruction from the respected New Orleans teacher Lorenzo Tio Jr. He never learned to read music, playing entirely by ear with a blues-drenched, deeply expressive tone that set him apart from more polished contemporaries. He came up through the New Orleans scene playing with Frankie Duson and Kid Ory before joining Joe "King" Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, with which he moved to Chicago and made his first recordings in 1923.

In Chicago, Dodds became one of the city's most in-demand session players, recording prolifically with Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven, Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers, and Lovie Austin. From 1924 to 1930 he served as house clarinetist and bandleader at Kelly's Stables. His most celebrated studio vehicle was Johnny Dodds' Black Bottom Stompers — a pickup ensemble he fronted for Vocalion/Brunswick sessions in April 1927, featuring a murderers' row of talent: Louis Armstrong (trumpet), Roy Palmer (trombone), Barney Bigard (tenor sax), Earl Hines (piano), Bud Scott (banjo), and his brother Baby Dodds (drums). The sessions produced classics including "Wild Man Blues" and "Melancholy," and rank alongside Armstrong's Hot Seven recordings as high-water marks of 1920s Chicago jazz.

The Great Depression devastated Dodds's career; he recorded almost nothing through most of the 1930s and suffered recurring ill health. He made brief comeback sessions for Decca in January 1938 and June 1940, but died of a stroke on August 8, 1940 at his Chicago home and was buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois. Posthumously inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame, Dodds is remembered as the premier New Orleans clarinetist of his generation — his raw, wailing, blues-saturated tone contrasting sharply with the smoother swing-era style, yet influencing generations of players who followed.

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Fun Facts

• The April 22, 1927 Black Bottom Stompers date was recorded just days before Louis Armstrong's own Hot Seven sessions that same month — the two dates share nearly identical personnel and are considered twin peaks of Chicago jazz.
• Dodds never learned to read music and played entirely by ear his entire career, yet became the most recorded jazz clarinetist of the 1920s.
• Despite being a star of the 1920s Chicago scene, Dodds invested his earnings in real estate rather than the music business, owning multiple properties in Chicago — a financial prudence that kept him solvent when the Depression wiped out many contemporaries.
• His brother Baby Dodds (Warren Dodds) became one of jazz's first important drummers; the brothers frequently appeared on each other's recordings, making them one of early jazz's most celebrated sibling pairs.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Lorenzo Tio Jr. - Early clarinet teacher in New Orleans; one of the few formal instructors Dodds studied with before developing his largely self-taught style [c. 1905–1910]
• Kid Ory - Bandleader Dodds played under in New Orleans before moving to Chicago; formative apprenticeship in the New Orleans style [c. 1912–1918]
• Joe "King" Oliver - Led the Creole Jazz Band that brought Dodds to Chicago and gave him his first major recording opportunity in 1923 [1920–1924]

Key Collaborators

• Louis Armstrong - Appeared together on the landmark Black Bottom Stompers sessions (April 1927) and Armstrong's Hot Five/Hot Seven recordings; one of the most celebrated partnerships in early jazz (Wild Man Blues, Melancholy, Hot Five/Hot Seven recordings) [1923–1927]
• Baby Dodds - Younger brother Warren 'Baby' Dodds played drums on the Black Bottom Stompers sessions; one of the first important jazz drummers (Black Bottom Stompers April 1927 sessions) [1923–1929]
• Earl Hines - Piano on the Black Bottom Stompers April 1927 sessions (Wild Man Blues, Melancholy)
• Barney Bigard - Played tenor saxophone on the 1927 Black Bottom Stompers sessions alongside Dodds's clarinet (Black Bottom Stompers 1927)
• Jelly Roll Morton - Dodds recorded with Morton's Red Hot Peppers in Chicago, key sessions in both artists' discographies [1926–1927]
• Lovie Austin - Collaborated on recordings with Lovie Austin and Her Blues Serenaders in Chicago [1924–1926]

Artists Influenced

• Benny Goodman - Goodman cited Dodds as a formative influence; Dodds's blues-laden tone shaped Goodman's early clarinet conception before Goodman gravitated toward the smoother style of Jimmie Noone [1930s–1940s]
• Cy Laurie - British clarinetist who became a devoted disciple of Dodds's style during the Dixieland revival [1940s–1950s]
• Reimer von Essen - German clarinetist known as a Dodds disciple in the European trad jazz revival [1950s–1960s]

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia