Making Strides

As World War I ends, an African American cultural revolution is taking place in Harlem. Donald Macleod is joined by jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, as he discovers how Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith pioneered a new way to play piano.

The northern Manhattan neighbourhood of Harlem was meant to be an upper-class white neighbourhood, but rapid overdevelopment led to empty buildings and desperate landlords seeking to fill them. In the early 1900s, in what became known as the Great Migration, African Americans from the south moved north to New York in droves, searching for work after the war, and hoping to escape the racial violence tearing through America. Harlem became a centre for Black culture in the city, drawing in poets like Langston Hughes, thinkers like W. E. B. Du Bois and musicians. These musicians pioneered new forms of jazz and blues, subverted the expectations of Black performers and broke through into the mainstream. This week, Donald Macleod is joined by jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, as he traces the rise and fall of the Harlem Renaissance, transporting us from rent parties to nightclubs to Broadway, as we hear a joyful, soulful explosion of sound.

In Monday’s episode, Donald explores the music of Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, who learned to play on a rotting organ in his mother’s basement, but would later help develop a new, more sophisticated way to play piano, called ‘stride’, which defined the music of the Harlem Renaissance. He got his start performing at a gangster’s club, then made a name for himself at the highly competitive ‘rent parties’, raucous affairs which took place in people’s tiny New York flats. A flamboyant performer, ‘The Lion’ was never seen without his bowler, with a cigar between his lips, and was known for dancing as he played.

Take The ‘A’ Train
Billy Strayhorn, Composer
Duke Ellington, Piano
Ella Fitzgerald, Vocals
Stuff Smith, Violin
Ben Webster, Saxophone
Alvin Stoller, Drums
Barney Kessel, Guitar
Joe Mondragon, Double Bass

Harlem Joys
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, , Composer and Piano
Jo ‘The Tiger’ Jones, Drums

Carolina Shout
James P. Johnson, Composer
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, Piano
Jo ‘The Tiger’ Jones, Drums

Rippling Waters
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, Composer and Piano

Echoes of Spring
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, Composer and Piano

Lion’s Boogie Woogie
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, Composer and Piano

Willie’s Blues
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, Composer and Piano

The Harlem Strut
James P. Johnson, Composer and Piano

Contrary Motion
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, Composer and Piano

Finger Buster
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, Composer and Piano
Puss Johnson, Drums

Pork and Beans
Lucky Roberts, Composer
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, Piano

Here Comes the Band
Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith, Composer and Piano
Puss Johnson, Drums

Produced in Cardiff by Alice McKee

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