'Darktown Strutters' Ball'

'Darktown Strutters' Ball'

'Darktown Strutters' Ball.' One of the earliest traditional jazz songs to become a standard. The words and music, by Shelton Brooks, were inspired by a ball at the 1915 Pacific-Panama Exposition in San Francisco. The music, in arrangements for band and for orchestra, was first published 18 Jan 1917 by Will Rossiter, Chicago. The version recorded 30 Jan 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band may be the earliest commercially made jazz record. 'Darktown Strutters' Ball' was subsequently recorded by many pop and jazz artists, including the Six Brown Brothers (1917), the Brunswick Military Band (Brunswick 5170, 1918), Miff Mole's Molers (1928), Trump Davidson (1937), Jimmy Dorsey (1938), and Benny Goodman (1945). The song has also been recorded by musicians as varied as Ella Fitzgerald, the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, and the Beach Boys. It was selected in 1963 by ASCAP for its All-Time Hit Parade. It has often been featured in film soundtracks. 'Darktown Strutters' Ball' has been arranged for barbershop ensemble, piano solo, brass quintet, and choir.