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Life in Jazz 58: He [...] told of the great battle of music [and] that Lee Collins had won over Kid Rena. ‘Lee Collins has blown Kid Rena away!’.at blow (someone) away, v.
Life in Jazz 58: He [...] told of the great battle of music [and] that Lee Collins had won over Kid Rena. ‘Lee Collins has blown Kid Rena away!’. (con. c.1920) Life in Jazz 35: There were many spasm bands in the city. They played [...] musical saws, washboards, spoons, bells, pipes, sandpaper, xylophones, sets of bottles (each with a different amount of water), harmonicas, jews harps, one-string fiddles, guitars, small bass fiddles, tub basses, kazoos, ram horns, steer horns, bugles, tin flutes, trombones, and many others.at spasm band, n.
Life in Jazz 12: So when the slow drag commenced it was a great act of bravery and defiance if you danced with someone’s lover, and everybody watched to see who was belly-rubbing with whom.at belly rub (v.) under belly, n.
(con. c.1920) Life in Jazz 44: Youngsters [...] heard praise from other youngsters. ‘Man, I heard Mr. So-and-so tell some musician that you were a bitch on your horn’.at bitch, n.1
Life in Jazz 129: Reuben Reeves [...] who, on an occasion when Louis [Armstrong] played the Regal, attempted some intrigue and serious planning in order to blow Louis down.at blow down, v.
Life in Jazz 12: ‘Cherry Bounce’ [...] was composed of one hundred and ten proof pure alcohol [...]. He mixed the very strong alcohol with water and then tested the mixture to be sure it burned the mouth and singed the tongue. Then he would color and sweeten this mixture with a cherry-flavored syrup.at cherry-bounce (n.) under cherry, n.1
Life in Jazz 66: Most of the younger musicians would come around after work and join in the musical battles and cutting contests.at cutting contest, n.
Life in Jazz 35: I would see small boys dancing and cutting the fool for tourists, who would throw them coins.at cut the fool (v.) under cut, v.2
(con. 1925) Life in Jazz 104: ‘These ten dollar bills are dixies. That's where the word dixie comes from: ten dollars—D-I-X—you understand? [...] And man, dixies are no good. They're Confederate money.at Dixie, n.
(con. 1925) Life in Jazz 112: Having been raised in the seventh ward where all the do-wrong cats hang out, I'd heard people pay the dozens all day.at do-wrong (adj.) under do, v.1
Life in Jazz 24: On the way back the brass band wailed, with Manuel Perez, Kimball, Eddie Jackson, Trappanier doing it up.at do it up (v.) under do it, v.1
Life in Jazz 158: [B]ack of the tracks; slum, or in the gallion—where the black folks hang out.at gallion, n.
Life in Jazz 45: There was on the scene a large group of musicians [who] never seemed to improve on their instruments [...] They played limited repertories: simple songs, nothing complicated or exciting. I have watched these groups of musicians (referred to as ‘ham fats’ because they were careless and indifferent).at hamfat, n.2
(con. 1925) Life in Jazz 80: She made the sign of the cross for my safe return from the ‘hellfying state of Miss’sippi’.at hellifying, adj.
(con. 1925) Life in Jazz 117: ‘[O]n circuses, carnivals, medicine shows, all concession owners are called Rube, and when anybody connected with the show gets in trouble with [...] people from the town, he hollers, “Rube!” and the show people rush to his defense and rescue’.at hey Rube!, excl.
Life in Jazz 12: [T]hat's what started the humbugs, because the news would spread that so-and-so danced the slow, slow, slow drag with so-and-so’s property.at humbug, n.
(con. c.1920) Life in Jazz 35: Sometimes these [musical] performers were hired to keep the joint jumping.at jumping, adj.2
Life in Jazz 52: Willie Cornish [was] a very rough, nasty talking gentleman, who quit the union and invited the officials to kiss the back of his lap.at back of one’s lap (n.) under lap, n.1
(con. 1925) Life in Jazz 76: My youngest daughter Beulah got excited like a she-cat in heat, and one of them rogues went as far as to fool her and lay up with her.at lay up, v.
(con. c.1945) Life in Jazz 171: ‘[S]omebody whispered—pulled my coat— “The man's coming with something for Charlie [Parker]”. [...] But that day, until those people came there, he was sitting around looking off into space, sweating’.at man, n.
Life in Jazz 149: Ward had a headstrong Italian girl. I had seen her around Harlem. There was a gang of them who would be with jazz musicians, white and black—they were mixers.at mixer, n.
(con. 1925) Life in Jazz 94: Pappy said, ‘Take this boy to the pissery back by the barn.’ [...]. We reached an ancient lopsided outhouse and he said, ‘Here’s the pissery’.at pissery (n.) under piss, v.
Life in Jazz 109: [Bandleader Jimmie] Lunceford gave his audience their fill of beautiful music. His band played; his sidemen did not wander off [...] He popped the whip.at pop the whip (v.) under pop, v.1
(con. c.1920) Life in Jazz 37: When spoken to [by whites] individually there was these sharp crisp comments, ‘You boy/blackie/Sam/Rufus/Rastus/nigguh/monkey/coon/bozo,’ and so on.at rufus, n.
(con. 1925) Life in Jazz 75: [T]wo rogues [...] started running over everybody. ‘Every payday they won all the money, talking big, running their moufs’.at run over (v.) under run, v.
(con. c.1945) Life in Jazz 175: He said, ‘You going to quit the band?’ I said, ‘Shit, yeah. I’m going to quit the band’.at shit! (excl.) under shit, n.
Life in Jazz 31: We often went to the large French Market to get spec’s, as overripe fruits and vegetables were humorously called.at speck, n.1
Life in Jazz 145: ‘Eddie, when I split out, check on what these asses think of my playing ’.at split out (v.) under split, v.
(con. c.1945) Life in Jazz 196: I generally quieted these big mouths with this squelcher, ‘Bix was misunderstood’ [etc].at squelcher, n.
Life in Jazz 52: It is a very interesting and very clever tie-up. The doctor, undertaker, commissary of the society [...] and the brass band leader were all in cahoots.at tie-up, n.3
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