distinctive "stride bass." The style generally called for fast tempos and
the use of the piano's full range. In 1917 Johnson began making
player piano roll recordings. Duke Ellington (1899-1974) learned from
these by slowing them down to half-speed and a few years later
Johnson became Fats Waller's teacher and inspiration. Throughout the
1920s (starting in 1921), James P. Johnson recorded in the studio,
writing one of his most famous compositions, "The Charleston". That
one song seemed to define an era.
The instrumentations often consist of "sections", such as 4 trumpets, 4
trombones, and 4 "reeds" (alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones
and/or clarinet) as well as drums, guitar, piano, and bass. Techniques
or hooks were typically used such as "call and response", where one
section would play a riff and another section would repeat it. The
music uses a lot of riffs or a musical phrase played over and over. This
music was very danceable and very popular previous to and during
WWII. It nearly died in the late 1950s, due to decreasing popularity
and higher expenses (a lot of members to pay).