DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #23: Muskrat Ramble

For the first time Herräng Dance Camp offered a Swing Orchestra class, taught by the Carling Family (Carling Big Band). I attended this class as a rhythm guitarist and we all had a very inspiring week!

Hans Carling, father of the family and one of our teachers, mentioned different recordings, which are eminent in jazz history and which are references for all the following generations of jazz musicians.

The early jazz recordings by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five belong to this collection, they have been a revolution in jazz history: here we hear for the first time improvisation. Before that, ragtime phrasing was the most common form of playing music.

Let’s have a look at Muskrat Ramble. The jazz standard was written by Kid Ory and first recorded on February 26, 1926. It became the group’s most frequently recorded piece.

During the New Orleans/Dixieland revival in the 30s and 40s, Muskrat Ramble was very popular and recorded many times by different artists.

The tune contains a 32-bar ensemble section at the beginning, followed by 16-bar solo sections for the trombone, cornet and clarinet. After the solos, an ensemble section of 32 bars is played, followed by a two-bar trombone tag.

Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five: Louis Armstrong – cornet, Kid Ory – trombone, Johnny St. Cyr – banjo, Johnny Dodds – clarinet, Lil Hardin – piano.

Title: Muskrat Ramble
Artist: Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five
Recorded: 26.02.1926
Album: Louis Armstrong: Hot Fives & Sevens – Vol. 1
Tempo: 176 bpm
Dance: Balboa, Lindy Hop