"Little Rock Getaway"

Here is "Little Rock Getaway" by Joe Sullivan. Written in 1938, this piece is the one that got me hooked on stride piano. In my childhood my father had a Pete Fountain Trio recording of this piece. Merle Koch played the piano in Pete's trio and his solo on this track was spectacular. I listened to this track over and over and tried to learn the technique. I was never completely successful and I practically wore out the record. But I still have that old LP and still listen to it occasionally.

"Little Rock Getaway" is a transitional piece in the evolution of Stride to Jazz. Listen to the left hand and you'll hear it playing something other than the typical ragtime and stride oom-pah bass. The left hand is now playing jazz figures in counterpoint to the right hand in several parts of the piece. Compare the first four measures of the introduction: The left hand plays the typical oom-pah in the first 2 measures then goes into a figure which harmonizes with the right hand in the third measure. You'll hear this type of figure used throughout the piece. In fact it was sort of a signature of Joe Sullivan and Bob Zurke's music. For a comparison of similar pieces, listen to Zurke's "Hobson Street Blues" and Judy Carmichael's arrangement of "Honeysuckle Rose" - all found elsewhere in this library.