The Apollo Stompers was a jazz big band led by Jaki Byard.

Accounts vary on when the Apollo Stompers was formed. These range from the 1950s[1] to the mid-1970s.[2]

For a time, two versions of the band existed: one of New York musicians, and the other of students from the New England Conservatory of Music, where Byard taught.[1] He commented that he was "running up and down the road between Boston and New York and I said why not get a band together in New York, too?"[1]

For one concert, Byard used the two ensembles together, on either side of a stage at the New England Conservatory.[1] He referred to it as his "Stereophonic Ensemble", because of the effects that could be created by having the bands playing together but separated spatially.[1]

The band played a diverse range of material, including compositions by Stevie Wonder in 1978,[3] Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, and Charles Mingus.[1] Vocalists and tap dancers were also sometimes featured.[1] Central, however, where Byard's own compositions;[4] he also wrote all of the band's arrangements.[5]

Discography

As "Jaki Byard and the Apollo Stompers":

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stokes, W. Royal (May 27, 1979) "This Music Is Unmistakably American: Jaki Byard's Big-Band Stand". The Washington Post. p. L4.
  2. ↑ "Jaki Byard". npr.org. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  3. ↑ Bourne, Kay (December 7, 1978) "Stevie Wonder Writes New American Classics". Bay State Banner. p. 16.
  4. ↑ Joyce, Mike (May 30, 1979) "Byard at Blues Alley". The Washington Post. p. B6.
  5. ↑ Wilson, John S. (November 29, 1986) "Jazz: At the Blue Note, Basie and Byard Bands". The New York Times. p. 14.
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