Spencer Betchel - Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble (information & example)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Part II of a three part pancocojams series of examples of the early Jazz tune "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble" That tune is also known as "Shimmy She Wobble".

This post showcase a recording of this tune by Sidney Bechet.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/mckinneys-cotton-pickers-shimmy-she.html for Part I of this series. Part I of this pancocojams series.  provides information about the "shimmy" and information about the 1917 instrumental "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble". Part I also showcases a 1928 recording of "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble" by the African American Jazz band McKinney's Cotton Pickers.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/otha-turner-and-rising-star-fife-drum.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part III showcases a 1978 rendition of this tune by Otha Turner & The Rising Star Fife & Drum Band, and a contemporary performance of this tune by The Rising Star Fife & Drum Band.

The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE TUNE "SHIM ME SHA WABBLE"
"Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble" was composed in 1917 by the African American composer Spencer Williams.

http://riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu/#program/tishomingo-blues-spencer-williams indicates that "Spencer Williams (1889-1965) was one of the earliest black composers to shape jazz as popular music."

Click Part I for more information about "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble".

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INFORMATION ABOUT SPENCER BECHET
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Bechet
"Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.

He was one of the first important soloists in jazz (beating cornetist and trumpeter Louis Armstrong to the recording studio by several months[1] and later playing duets with Armstrong), and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist. Forceful delivery, well-constructed improvisations, and a distinctive, wide vibrato characterized Bechet's playing.

Bechet's erratic temperament hampered his career, however, and not until the late 1940s did he earn wide acclaim...

Legacy and honors
• In 1919, Ernest Ansermet, a Swiss classical conductor, wrote a tribute to Bechet, one of the earliest (if not the first) to a jazz musician from the classical field of music, linking Bechet's music with that of Bach.

• In 1968, Bechet was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.

• The New York Times music writer Robert Palmer wrote of Bechet: "by combining the 'cry' of the blues players and the finesse of the Creoles into his 'own way,' Sidney Bechet created a style which moved the emotions even as it dazzled the mind."[5]

• "Bechet to me was the very epitome of jazz ... everything he played in his whole life was completely original. I honestly think he was the most unique man to ever be in this music." — Duke Ellington.

• The British poet Philip Larkin wrote an ode to Bechet in The Whitsun Weddings."

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Sidney Bechet 02 Shim-Me-Sha Wabble



claudio filippi, Uploaded on Jan 15, 2012

from "Revolutionary Blues - Giants of Jazz Disc 106" (1941-1951)
-snip-
I'm not sure about the date of that recording. Information on this date is requested.

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My thanks to Spencer Bechet for his musical legacy. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube. My thanks to the all those who are quoted in this post.

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