Jimmie Noone
Jimmie Noone's clarinet moved with a liquid, vocal-like grace that made his Apex Club Orchestra one of the defining small-group sounds of late-1920s Chicago jazz. His tone was warm where his contemporaries were brassy, and his sense of melodic ornamentation influenced clarinetists and pianists alike who passed through his orbit. The Apex Club sound was jazz learning how to whisper as well as shout.
the sound in question
1928
Apex BluesJimmie Noone
we haven’t charted Jimmie Noone yet
this stretch of the river isn’t mapped. we trace the watershed one artist at a time — and we’re always heading further upstream.