GOIN’ PLACES & DOIN’ THINGS
Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang in the Jazz Age
by Mike Peters
The Syncopated Times, August 2024
The kind people at The Syncopated Times generously published an overview of Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang in the Jazz Age as we approach the anniversaries of their births. This reprint includes supporting music for the text.
Special thanks to Andy Senior, Publisher and Editor, The Syncopated Times and Mosaic Records.
The Syncopated Times is the only monthly newspaper focused on hot jazz, ragtime, and swing. Each issue includes original feature stories, interviews with the current artists you should know about, and some interesting history lessons. Their reviews of newly released books and music will keep you in tune, and their festival and event listings will help you plan ahead.
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This Jazz Age tale takes you from the streets of South Philly and the Boardwalk of Atlantic City to the nightclubs, vaudeville palaces, pool halls, and recording and broadcast studios dotting Gotham. Our protagonists are two pioneers of jazz who brought something entirely novel and extraordinary to the centuries-long tradition of violin and guitar playing. Their work modernized this tradition, heralded chamber jazz, and helped shape the soundtrack of the dizzy decade.
Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang (born Salvatore Massaro) both hail from South Philadelphia's Italian neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century. They became friends in their early teens despite living several blocks away from each other. Growing up in the tough environment of "The City of Brotherly Love," they remained focused on classical training in solfege and violin. When the first jazz records started circulating in Philadelphia after the Great War, Venuti (b. 1903) and Massaro (b. 1902) were captivated by the new sounds and rhythms. Individually, they were on the same path of music discovery, and together, they ingeniously applied their knowledge of opera, classical music, and Italian music to popular music. The pair soon produced groundbreaking recordings in various settings, both intimate and orchestral, between 1926 and 1933.
The bond between Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang was a unique yin-yang dynamic built on their musical compatibility, shared culture, and mutual interests in sports, gambling, and fishing. This connection seamlessly complemented their on-stage and off-stage rapport. Despite Venuti's rowdy reputation and Lang's quiet demeanor, both were formidable and not to be underestimated. The tough characters they encountered at the nightclubs they performed in and the pool halls they frequented between rehearsals, recording sessions, and club dates influenced the two. During the summer, the duo spent the season in Atlantic City, where they fished in the Atlantic Ocean and played (and gambled on) billiards and card games when not performing on stage at night.
In 1924, the violinist and guitarist were part of an elite group of musicians who were at the forefront of bringing 'swing' to jazz improvisation. "The Class of 24" members include Armstrong (MANDA-Fletcher Henderson Orchestra), Beiderbecke & Mole (Flock O' Blues-Sioux City Six), Bechet & Armstrong (TEXAS MOANER BLUES-Clarence Williams' Blue Five), Lang (DEEP SECOND STREET BLUES-Mound City Blue Blowers), Rollini (PRINCE OF WAILS-The Little Ramblers), and Venuti (IT’S THE BLUES (NO. 14 BLUES)-Jean Goldkette Orchestra).
JOE VENUTI
Joe Venuti was a highly respected artist among peers and friends, radiating a colossal presence for a stout guy who barely topped 5'10". A born leader and seemingly always the center of attention, his gruff voice could be disarming when raised in displeasure; in laughter, though, he would have a room howling. Hidden beneath this posture, though, which few were witness to, was a generous, caring, gentle soul and a man of faith (his crucifix and bible visible on his hotel room night table). At his peak (1926-34), he kept everyone on needles and pins, attaining storybook status by granting himself free license to go wild and let a wicked sense of humor and a wont for stretching the truth go haywire. Razor sharp, he seemed to be on the prowl for fools (which he suffered gladly).
In his initial ten years of recording and performing, the violinist showcased a remarkable set of skills, which he utilized to develop a style of playing the fiddle that was all his own. His virtuosic technique delivered an unrestrained flow of original ideas, often featuring trumpet-like phrasing, and was propelled by a powerful, swinging style of expression on the violin. This work reflects the artistry of a world-class performer of monumental talent.
Venuti made his first records in 1924 with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra when he was twenty years old. At that young age, he had already fully developed as an improviser, presenting a new and distinct instrumental voice in music. In his solo on IT’S THE BLUES (NO. 14 BLUES), Venuti showcases his talent with a two-bar, double-time, double-stop break featuring hot licks and funky slurs, marking a new era for the violin.
EDDIE LANG
Eddie Lang was the first jazz and blues guitar virtuoso. He was the first musician to use the guitar in jazz both as an accompanist and a soloist, showcasing advanced technical, harmonic, and rhythmic abilities. Lang essentially created the modern guitar method in the 1920s, a method which is still in use today. Throughout his short life, he gave the guitar a unique voice in jazz, blues, and popular music, elevating its prominence in films, records, radio, and stage performances. He was instrumental in transitioning the guitar to the forefront of music while displacing the banjo. Lang was widely recognized as the leading pop and jazz guitarist of his time, and he was highly sought after as a studio and broadcast session musician. He has an extensive catalog of over 400 jazz, pop, and blues sessions, many of which are considered among the most essential recordings of the Jazz Age. Some notable recordings include collaborations with Bix Beiderbecke (SINGIN’ THE BLUES-1927), Bessie Smith (I’M WILD ABOUT THAT THING-1929), Bing Crosby (PLEASE-1932), Louis Armstrong (KNOCKIN’ A JUG-1929), the Boswell Sisters (IT’S THE GIRL-1931), Red Nichols (HURRICANE-1927), Lonnie Johnson (HAVE TO CHANGE KEYS TO PLAY THESE BLUES-1928), Paul Whiteman (HAPPY FEET-1930), and Joe Venuti (WILD CAT-1927).
In March 1925, with the Mound City Blue Blowers, Eddie Lang became known as a distinctive guitar soloist. He showcased advanced harmonies and rhythms and a spectacular technique that blended jazz and blues. His performance in BLUES IN F revealed him as a pioneer in jazz guitar as well as a genuine blues player. In this slow 12-bar blues piece, Lang's single-string guitar chorus, filled with bent notes, is a direct precursor to the modern-day electric blues guitarist. BLUES IN F is not only one of the earliest, but potentially the earliest, recorded blues guitar solo. Lang, a twenty-two-year-old Italian from South Philly, became the first urban blues guitar player to record, demonstrating an impressive level of talent and creativity. This is a significant milestone in the history of blues guitar playing, of which few are aware.
Another session that is a defining moment for the guitarist as a jazz improviser and accompanist is the first of nine titles he recorded with Ross Gorman. Lang, while not a regular member of the Gorman band, was called in to play a feature role on several Gorman's charts, particularly I’M SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD (October 1925). This is the first orchestra recording scored to feature a jazz guitar solo, along with jazz guitar accompaniment, the first SOLO FLIGHT!
VENUTI & LANG
Upon their arrival in the epicenter of the entertainment business in the fall of 1926, Venuti & Lang quickly became the go-to musicians in New York City. The two were not just session players but were considered "specialists" called in to elevate a recording session. Today, nearly a century later, the listener is stopped in his tracks when the duo burst out of the grooves on dozens upon dozens of competent dance band records, made remarkable after having been touched by the Venuti/Lang magic. A few thrilling Venuti/Lang moments can be heard on STOCKHOLM STOMP (Jack Pettis & His Band-1926), LOOK AT THE WORLD AND SMILE (Jean Goldkette & His Orchestra-1927), SHE’S A GREAT, GREAT GIRL (Roger Wolfe Kahn & His Orchestra-1928), AFTER YOU’VE GONE (Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra-1929), and CHEERFUL LITTLE EARFUL (Fred Rich & His Orchestra-1930).
Here are a few indispensable examples of chamber jazz, Venuti/Lang style.
Venuti and Lang's influence in the music industry was apparent. From 1925 to 1928, they collaborated with the "millionaire maestro" Roger Wolfe Kahn and secured long-term lucrative contracts. In the spring of 1929, Paul Whiteman recruited them for a tour and the "King of Jazz" film. When Bing Crosby's career took off in 1931, Venuti and Lang were by his side as he honed his craft.
After Eddie Lang tragically died in March 1933 (from complications following a tonsillectomy), Venuti achieved some initial success in the mid-1930s. He led an orchestra, had a brief overseas tour of England and Sweden, secured a radio deal with NBC, and had good box office receipts for his dance band. However, his days in the "killing fields" of the big band business were numbered, as his lack of discipline and inability to create a distinct identity for his large group hindered his chances of succeeding against swing machines like Goodman, Dorsey, and Miller. Ultimately, it led to his undoing. In 1946, the violinist concluded his big band experiment. By the decade's end, he had paid the high price of two failed marriages and lost all his dough. On his own, Venuti ended up on the West Coast, playing on film scores and record dates and making guest appearances on Bing Crosby's radio shows.
Joe Venuti always emphasized that his performances and recordings with guitarist Eddie Lang were his favorite and most significant. Their recording journey started in September 1926 with BLACK AND BLUE BOTTOM and ended in February 1933 at their final recording session. The 1933 session, possibly their best small group session and a pivotal moment for chamber jazz, saw them perfecting their unique concept of interpreting jazz with a wind and string ensemble. The four three-minute sides: RAGGIN’ THE SCALE, HEY! YOUNG FELLA!, JIG SAW PUZZLE BLUES, PINK ELEPHANTS, from this session are a testament to their impeccable small group arranging, interpretation, and collective and individual performance.
Mike Peters, a student of Eddie Lang and a chaperon for Joe Venuti during his visits to the northeast coast from 1974-1978, has researched at the Library of Congress and The Institute of Jazz Studies and produced for Mosaic Records.