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Stompin' At the Savoy ( 1934 )

More on This Tune Listen and Compare Audio samples are below the video player. Ella Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald Benny Goodman Max Roach Karrin Allyson Sarah Vaughan Kenny Kersey, Charlie Ch. More on This Tune Video Playlist Origin and Chart Information Rank 48 Music Benny Goodman Edgar Sampson Chick Webb Lyrics Andy Razaf

B y the time twenty-five-year-old Edgar Sampson joined Chick Webb and His Orchestra, he had been playing professionally for seven years, including with the soon-to-be greats Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson. But it was while performing as an alto saxophonist with Webb that Sampson came into his own as a composer and arranger. Success arrived in the form of “Blue Lou” (1933) and an arrangement of an instrumental he had previously written, “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” which became Webb’s second major hit after “I Can’t Dance (I Got Ants in My Pants),” a song with little endurance.

Benny Goodman is nearly always given credit for popularizing the song, but Goodman’s was not the first or second but the third recording to make the pop charts.

Chick Webb was first in 1934, and Ozzie Nelson was second, six weeks ahead of Benny Goodman.

Chick Webb and His Orchestra (1934, #10)
Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra (1936, #12)
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (1936, #11)
Chick Webb and His Orchestra (1936, reissue of his 1934 hit, #18)
Benny Goodman Quartet (1937, #4)

All of the recordings were instrumentals.

The title “Stompin’ at the Savoy” refers to the Savoy Ballroom in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. It was originally located at 596 Lenox Avenue, between West 140 th and 141st Streets. The Savoy opened in 1926 and featured a large 10,000 square foot dance floor which began to attract the best dancers in New York. In 1927 the Savoy began sponsoring jazz band competitions. Chick Webb’s Harlem Stompers participated in the first of these cutting sessions which was called the “Battle of Jazz.” Over the next several years, Chick Webb and His Orchestra would become the Savoy house band and with his triumphs over the likes of the Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, and Benny Goodman bands, he would be crowned “The King of the Savoy.”

A number of dance crazes began or at least were initially popularized at the Savoy, most notably the Lindy Hop, a partnered jazz dance that evolved into the “jitterbug” and subsequently East Coast Swing.

The Savoy Ballroom was torn down in 1958 to make way for a housing project. In its place today is a commemorative plaque with the text,

Here once stood the legendary Savoy Ballroom, a hothouse for the development of jazz in the Swing era. Visually dazzling and spacious, the Savoy nightly featured the finest jazz bands in the nation, and its house bands included such famous orchestras as those of Fess Williams, Chick Webb, and Teddy Hill. The great jazz dancers who appeared on its block-long floor ranged from professionals like Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers to everyday Harlemites. During a time of racial segregation and strife, the Savoy was one of the most culturally and racially integrated of institutions, and its fame was international. It was the heartbeat of Harlem’s community and a testament to the indomitable spirit and creative impulse of African-Americans. It was a catalyst for innovation where dancers and musicians blended influences to forge new, wide-spread, and long-lasting traditions in music and dance. Whether they attended or not, all Americans knew the meaning of ”Stompin’ at the Savoy.”

More information on this tune. See the Reading and Research page for this tune for additional references.

- Jeremy Wilson

Getting Started This section suggests definitive or otherwise significant recordings that will help jazz students get acquainted with “Stompin' At the Savoy.” These recordings have been selected from the Jazz History and CD Recommendations sections.

The original 1934 Chick Webb recording of “Stompin’ At the Savoy” (Stompin' at the Savoy) is still the jumping-off point for anyone learning the tune. Many swing-era players recorded great solos on the tune in the 1930s and 1940s, but the standout may well be a bootleg recording that captured the brilliant guitarist Charlie Christian in a 1941 jam session in Harlem (Selected Broadcasts & Jam Sessions). Among the numerous swinging vocal versions, none can top the infectious 1957 recording by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong (Ella & Louis Again (Dig)).

Music and Lyrics Analysis

“Stompin’ at the Savoy” is usually recorded as an instrumental although Ella Fitzgerald’s scat versions are legendary. Nonetheless, Andy Razaf’s lyrics are interesting: his approach switches the subject as the song progresses through its A-A-B-A form.

In the first A section the subject addressed is the Savoy Ballroom. Each of the three lines begins with “Savoy,” and ends with a complimentary description such as “the home of sweet romance.”

The second A section changes the subject, beginning each line with “Your.” Again the lines are completed with compliments, as “lips so warm and sweet as wine.”

The bridge switches to first person, “How my heart is singing…,” and the final A section combines all three ending with, “Savoy, let me stomp away with you.” -JW

Musical analysis of “Stompin’ At the Savoy”

Jazz History Notes

In some respects this number could be considered the anthem of the swing era, recorded by big and small groups. Although the Chick Webb Orchestra’s 1934 recording is the first, it is Art Tatum’s small band recording from 1941 that has a special quality.

Tatum rarely recorded with bands, quite possibly because his playing was so full that he was better off on his own or with just a rhythm section. But he was a marvelous band pianist, as he demonstrates on “Stompin’ at the Savoy.” Also featured on Tatum’s record are the pitifully under-recorded trumpeter Joe Thomas and the superb New Orleans clarinetist Edmond Hall (whom Benny Goodman regarded as his favorite jazz clarinetist).

Reading and Research Additional information for "Stompin' At the Savoy" may be found in: Soundtrack Information

The Benny Goodman Story(1955, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra) biopic
Save the Tiger(1973)
In the Mood aka The Woo Woo Kid(1987)
When Harry Met Sally(1989, Harry Connick, Jr. Trio)
The Grass Harp(1995, Benny Goodman)

Bubbling Brown Sugar(1976, instrumental) Broadway musical
Blues in the Night(1987, Debbie Bishop) London revue
Black and Blue(1989, Jimmy Slyde) Broadway musical
Swing!(1999, Ann Hampton Calloway) Broadway musical

I Love Lucy(1953) Season 3, Episode 77 "Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined"

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Recommendations for This Tune Click on any CD for more details at Amazon.com Chick Webb Stompin' at the Savoy Asv Living Era Original recording 1934 The original recording of this tune shows a high level of sophistication for this early juncture in the history of the swing era. The band, which features a young Mario Bauza on trumpet, swings assuredly. Ella Fitzgerald At the Opera House 1990 Polygram 31629 Original recording 1957 No vocal versions of “Stompin’ At the Savoy” can beat those performed by Chick Webb’s most famous protege, Ella Fitzgerald. This album boasts two contrasting versions of the tune, and Ella’s voice, scatting and sense of swing are in peak form. Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong Ella & Louis Again (Dig) Umvd Labels Original Recording 1956 The irrepressible joy that Fitzgerald brought to singing was only augmented by her collaborations with the comparably joyous Louis Armstrong. Their ebullient performance here draws particular attention to the warmth and brightness of the song. Art Farmer To Sweden With Love/Live at the Half Note 2004 Collectibles 7654 Original recording 1963 Art Farmer, heard here on flugelhorn, possessed a cool tone, a wonderful sense of swing and a soloing style that was at once lyrical and complex. The same things could be said of guitarist Jim Hall, and this performance is one of the crowning moments in their brief but fruitful collaboration. Hall in particular lets loose with a truly stunning guitar solo. Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert Sony 65143 Original recording 1938 This is a wonderful live recording of Benny Goodman and an orchestra of the who's who of jazz including Count Basie, Gene Krupa, Lester Young, and Johnny Hodges. The group delivers a crisp, swinging version of the song with a superb solo from vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. Two-CD set. Charlie Christian Selected Broadcasts and Jam Sessions 2002 JSP 909 Original recording 1941 Charlie Christian was one of the trailblazers of the advanced soloing techniques that would form the foundation of bebop, though he tragically died before that style fully came to fruition. This wonderful performance, featuring Christian in a New York jam session with future bop pioneers Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke, is a great example of Christian’s trailblazing improvisations. Clifford Brown/Max Roach Brown and Roach Inc 1990 Emarcy 814644 Original recording 1954 This recording documents the early days of the quintet co-led by Clifford Brown and Max Roach. Both Brown and Roach shine here, as does tenor saxophonist Harold Land. Sarah Vaughan Viva! Vaughan 2001, Polygram Original recording, 1964 Vocalist Vaughan delivers a dynamic performance on this Quincy Jones-produced album. With Frank Foster conducting the orchestra and laying down a spicy cha-cha, the singer raises the temperature with a wailing scat.

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