“Battle of the bands” was a popular gimmick in jazz of the 1930’s, wherein two bands would compete for a night in a shared venue.  Bands that took part always brought their “A” games to see if their skills could cash the checks that the musicians’ egos wrote.

One famous battle took place on May 11, 1937 at the Savoy ballroom on Lenox Avenue, the heart of Harlem’s music scene.  The participants were two bands we have written about before – Benny Goodman and Chick Webb. Both of these bands were forces in the new sound of swing, and each had something to bring to the fight.

By the spring of 1937, Benny Goodman was fronting the hottest band in America.  Dubbed “The King of Swing”, Goodman was known for doing what Elvis Presley did a generation later, which was to bring leading edge music by black musicians to mainstream audiences.  And just as with Presley, those mainstream audiences ate it up. Goodman’s music may have been a little less edgy, but his band played with precision and had a natural and infectious swing to its beat.

One of those black bands that was less well known to middle America was led by Chick Webb.  Webb was under 5 feet tall and suffered from a spinal injury, but that didn’t stop him from leading a top band from the stool behind his drum kit.  Webb may be best remembered today as the guy who hired a green singer named Ella Fitzgerald in 1935,  but that was well after he had proved his jazz chops in the early days of the swing era.

The Savoy Ballroom was an impressive venue by any standard.  Built in 1926, its dance floor was a full city block long and boasted of a bandstand on each end so that two bands could take turns providing nonstop music from the time the doors opened until the wee hours of the morning.  Called “The place for happy feet”, it was one of the few places of its day where black and white patrons were encouraged to come out for a good time together.

There is, of course,  no recording of that memorable battle between Webb (considered the Savoy’s “house band”) and Goodman, who would have been considered the visiting challenger.  But we can come close with two records of a tune identified with both of them – and with this venue: “Stompin’ At The Savoy”.

The tune is credited to Edgar Sampson, who wrote it for Rex Stewart’s band in 1933. When Stewart disbanded, Sampson  was hired by Chick Webb and brought the song with him. Webb recorded it on May 18, 1934, and it was a natural fit for his band, which called the Savoy its home.

Although Webb recorded the song first, Goodman’s status as challenger in this bout has convinced me to lead with his version – which is undoubtedly the best known of the two. This will be a battle that matches up extremely well because not only is it the same song from the same general time frame, but also because both performances use very similar arrangements.

We are not, however, going to use the version recorded for Victor on January 24, 1936. That one is the best known, but it came out about six months after Goodman’s first version, which was recorded June 5, 1935 – and what we will use for this battle. Benny Goodman was still clawing his way out of obscurity in mid 1935 and just starting his meteoric rise. This recording for radio broadcast is not quite as polished as the later studio recording, but it is closer in time to the Webb version and makes for a more even contest. (1)

The backbone of this early Goodman band was its rhythm section, which started with drummer Gene Krupa. He was joined by the piano of Jess Stacy, George Van Eps on guitar and Goodman’s brother Harry on bass. These four provide the motive force that propels the rest of the men. The other building block of the piece is the “call and response” style which pairs the brass and reed sections off against each other.

Solo work by (probably) trumpet Bunny Berigan, trombone (either Jack Lacey or Red Ballard) and tenor sax (likely Art Rollini) are well done and keep the performance building up to Goodman’s clarinet solo near the end. This recording captures a highly uncommon flub near the end of Goodman’s solo, something that Goodman would have never, ever tolerated in a recording for retail release. But all in all, Goodman puts on a solid, swinging number that does credit to everyone in his fairly green band.

Now, on to the home team. Benny Goodman gave it everything he had, but we have to acknowledge that this contest is Webb’s to lose. Webb’s band was responsible for the arrangement (which Goodman largely used) and recorded the song first. Webb’s band of mid-1934 was also far more established as an outfit than Goodman’s was the following year. And, of course, Chick Webb was “Mr. Savoy” who was more identified with that ballroom than any other bandleader. 

First off, Webb counts off a much faster tempo for the piece. And as the drummer, he took personal charge of the band’s rhythm section and becomes really noticeable towards the end of the record. Either Taft Jordan or Sandy Williams turns in a solid trombone solo, broken up by an interlude by Elmer Williams on tenor sax. Not a lot of Webb’s musicians were big names, but his best soloist may have been Mario Bauza on trumpet, a man who was among the founders of the Afro-Cuban jazz movement in the 1940’s. (2)

Really, there is no loser in this match-up, which makes a final vote hard. Personally, I like both of these records a lot, but would probably give the overall edge to Webb. Fortunately for readers, you get a chance to weigh in and cast your own votes in the comments.

So, how did the actual battle of May 11, 1937 go? It was a genuine event, with reports of 3,000 dancers in attendance and another 5,000 standing outside who could only experience the music through the Savoy’s open windows in that era before air conditioning.  Admission was $1.00 (almost $23 today), a princely sum at the time for an evening of dancing.  And that event almost certainly included both bands performing this song.

At the end of the night, it has been reported that Webb’s band won the contest in a rout.  Maybe it was the advantage of the home crowd, or maybe not.  Goodman’s star drummer Gene Krupa is said to have bowed to the little drummer who had bested him. 

I love the exuberance of these jazz records from the mid 1930’s, when a swing rhythm was getting its foothold in the music – a foothold that remains in place even today in the more traditional styles of jazz music. And there are no better examples of the state of jazz-as-popular-music that gave people a way to forget their troubles by going out dancing.

(1) Those familiar with Goodman’s 1936 Victor record will immediately notice that this 1935 version is taken at a significantly quicker tempo. Which, it would seem, is appropriate for something called a “stomp”.

(2) Mario Bauza was the friend, brother-in-law and musical director of the band fronted by his fellow Afro-Cuban musician who was known as Machito (who was featured here about 5 years ago). Bauza’s time with Chick Webb clearly laid a foundation for Machito’s jazz cred in the 1940s and beyond.