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        You won't hear much about the Cincinnati scene in Jazz, but filmmaker Ken Burns easily could have devoted an entire evening to the Tristate.

        Louis Armstrong's first recordings; Jelly Roll Morton's groundbreaking piano rolls; Fats Waller in residence on WLW; Bix Beiderbecke honing his cornet mastery with a lengthy local gig.

        Greater Cincinnati was where many pioneering jazz greats made music and history. Both are still being made here today.

        “Jazz has been an integral part of Cincinnati's heritage since its early stages,” the late local jazz historian Bill Lawless Jones wrote in his notes to the first two volumes of J Curve Records' contemporary compilation series, The Cincinnati Jazz Collection.

ON TV TONIGHT

The first part of Ken Burns' 10-part Jazz documentary airs at 9 p.m. on Channels 48, 54, 16. Called “Gumbo” (Beginnings-1917), it includes New Orleans roots of jazz, Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Freddie Keppard, Nick LaRocco's Original Dixieland Jass Band and James Reese Europe

ALL ABOUT 'JAZZ'

• About the series   • TV schedule   • 'Jazz' music list   • For sale: Sets of Jazz are now in stores on VHS ($149) and DVD ($199.92), or available from www.shoppbs.com.   • Web site: www.pbs.org.

        He credited the area's “music-loving population” and the city's “crossroads position in the American heartland.”

        Cincinnati's role in jazz history can be explained in terms of the four R's — riverboats, railroads, recordings and radio.

        The river traffic that moved up the Mississippi from New Orleans and Memphis brought many itinerant jazz and blues musicians here early in the 20th century. Trains crossing the United States did the same.

        “In 1920 (Cincinnati) was among the 20 most populated cities in the United States,” says Rick Kennedy, author of Jelly Roll, Bix & Hoagy, a history of Gennett Studios of Richmond, Ind. “There wasn't much west of Cincinnati. We tend to forget what a metropolis this city was.”

Early recordings

        In the '20s, Gennett Studios, originally an offshoot of the Starr Piano Co., drew jazz and blues musicians from all over the country.

        That's where Mr. Armstrong, a primary focus of the Jazz series, first recorded. Mr. Beiderbecke also recorded there, as did Mr. Morton, who waxed his famed solo recordings there.

        But if jazz musicians wanted to play live, the tiny middle-class town of Richmond wasn't the place. For that, they had to look to Cincinnati, 55 miles to the southeast.

        In the winter of 1924, Mr. Beiderbecke and his Wolverines took up lengthy residences at Doyle's Dance Academy at Court and Central in the West End, then a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, according to jazz historian/musician Frank Powers. The band also worked for long periods just north of Cincinnati at the Stockton Club and in Hamilton.

        Not all the jazz being heard around town in the '20s came from outsiders, says Mr. Powers, who cites such local African-American jazz bands as Zack Whyte's Chocolate Beau Brummels and Alex Jackson's Plantation Club Orchestra. “These were major black bands, playing what was clearly identifiable as jazz,” he says.

        But in jazz orthodoxy, musical developments outside New York, New Orleans, Kansas City and the West Coast are largely ignored. These groups are relegated to “territory band” status.

No "Cincinnati style'

        Recordings had been an important part in the American entertainment business since the start of the century. In the '20s, records began receiving serious competition from the newest technological wrinkle, radio, which in its early years, relied on live music.

        In 1933, pianist Fats Waller joined the staff of WLW, playing regularly on Fats' Rhythm Club and doing club dates with a band made up of local musicians.

        WLW also frequently did “remotes,” setting up microphones to broadcast live bands from area hotels, such as the Gibson.

        However, those looking for a distinctive “Cincinnati style” of early jazz will be disappointed. “There's nothing that's uniquely "Cincinnati' about those bands,” Mr. Powers says. “Most jazz historians would characterize them as "Middle Western,' with good musicianship and a fair degree of sophistication.”

Leading theorist

        That remained true into the '30s, when local musicians helped to shape the Swing Era. Mr. Jones has cited Sy Oliver, the famed composer and arranger for the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra and Tommy Dorsey's big band, who began his career here with Mr. Whyte. He also mentioned Walnut Hills-born composer/arranger Jimmy Mundy, who worked with Count Basie and Benny Goodman (for whom he arranged “Sing, Sing, Sing”).

        Later, there was arranger/composer/bandleader George Russell. Mr. Jones called him “jazz's leading theorist” because he was the author of The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, a bible of jazz theory.

        More recently, there was Walnut Hills High School alumnus Frank Foster, who went on to play with Count Basie and wrote the standard “Shiny Stockings.” Mr. Foster later led the band for many years after Mr. Basie's death.

National stars

        In the '50s, as jazz became the popular music for young adults, the Cincinnati club scene featured visits from such national stars as Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

        Recalls Barbara Gould, a co-founder of the local J Curve Records label: “Growing up in the '50s and early '60s in Cincinnati, I thought everybody went to jazz clubs, whether they were downtown on Walnut Street or in South Avondale. There was Babe Baker's, Herbie's Lounge, jazz in the Gibson Hotel. I thought growing up, being an adult, was hearing jazz. I thought that's what grown-ups did.”

        Local artists continued to make a national impact at that time. The Modern Jazz Disciples, a Cincinnati group whose members included drummer Ron McCurdy (still active on the local scene) and the late saxophonist Curtis Pegler, recorded for Prestige.

        King Records frequently used area jazz musicians in the studio, for jazz and R&B recordings.

        The Tristate launched such nationally recognized musicians as Cal Collins, who played with Benny Goodman in the '70s and recorded a series of excellent solo discs for Concord Jazz in the '80s. Wilbert Longmire was another well-known guitar talent. Other local players, such as bassist Michael Moore and guitarist Sandy Nassan, made national names in the '70s and '80s.

        More recently, Grammy-nominated trumpeter Tim Hagans has emerged as a leader on the New York scene. Perhaps the most prominent jazz musician with local connections is pianist Fred Hersch, who is now New York-based and has recorded a series of acclaimed, Grammy-nominated piano discs for Nonesuch Records.

Staying home

        For every local player who became nationally known, there are dozens of excellent players who have chosen to stay in the Tristate. Some of these include the late Jimmy McGary, Morgy Craig and Dee Felice; Kenny Poole, Art Gore, Steve Schmidt, Mike Wade, Jim Anderson, Bobby Scott and many others.

        Consequently, the local jazz scene remains fairly vital, as the Blue Wisp downtown, the Greenwich Tavern in Walnut Hills and Sonny's in Bond Hill continue to showcase the music.

        Xavier's jazz piano and guitar series regularly brings world-class musicians to the Cincinnati Art Museum Theatre. For the past several years, J Curve Records has been documenting the scene on recordings ranging from a guitar duo set with Mr. Collins and Kenny Poole to an exciting debut by teen-age pianist William Menefield.

        The recent sale of the city's long-running jazz radio station WNOP-AM is seen as a serious setback to the music, but members of the jazz community remain optimistic about the music's future in Cincinnati.

        “There are individuals who have a strong passion for the jazz art form,” local jazz pianist/record producer Pat Kelly says. “And even though they're faced with the frustrations of small audiences, they will continue to play jazz.”
       

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