Yes, it's back. I have time and I found the notebook so, why not? I don't know when I'll post the next one, but here's this one.
In the previous lesson, we learned about Paul Whiteman and his "sweet bands," and how he'd hire celebrity musicians, including Fletcher Henderson.
Fletcher Henderson enjoyed his time with Whiteman, but had greater aspirations. He was more interested in livening up the sound of jazz. In order to do this, he was able to hire the infamous Louis Armstrong into his band. Louis was to Henderson's band as Bix was to Whiteman's band.
Henderson was successful in recruiting Armstrong, who lived in Chicago at the time, to move to New York to join the band in 1924. However, because Henderson didn't let Louis sing, and because he didn't feel Henderson's musicians were very professional, Louis moved back to Chicago after only two years. Despite his stint in New York being so brief, this was one of the key actions that began the jazz focal point from Chicago to New York.
During this same time Coleman Hawkins, a member of Fletcher's band, along with Don Redman wanted to change things up too. They had grander ideas about what sweet bands could be and their innovations paved the path to what became the modern day big band.