Swing was the rock of its day. The hip-hop of its time. In other words, when it came to American music in the 1930s, Swing was IT! Nobody had heard energy like that before … or instrumental virtuosity like what’s on display in Roy Eldridge’s version of the standard “After You’ve Gone”.
Some critics, including Humphrey Littleton, believe that, in the 30s, Eldridge had exceeded Louis Armstrong to become the premier “hot jazz” trumpeter of his era. (I don’t agree.) Ella Fitzgerald noted that Roy packed “more soul in one note than a lot of people could get into the whole song.” He wasn’t just popular with dance-hall regulars and record buyers. He was one of the most respected players in all of jazz.
“After You’ve Gone” is a perfect showcase for what made Eldridge so renowned. First off, he just plays faster —faster than pretty much anyone played until Bop came along. His playing here is like riding a high-powered rocket. We hear him phasing between double-time and regular time in his solos; the song also showcases his facility with playing in the high register.
My father told me a story of going to see Eldridge long after his prime, in a bar outside of Rochester, New York. After playing the familiar intro to “After You’ve Gone”, he tried to attack the song as he had decades before. He couldn’t reach the notes, nor keep the time. No shame there. But here’s the sad part. He restarted the song several times, each time thinking he could deliver “what the people what” aka his famous three-octave range. After realizing he just couldn’t get there, he abandoned the song, dabbing away tears.
I choose to think of Roy “Little Jazz” Eldridge in his prime, maybe on the bandstand with the Gene Krupa Orchestra, setting off supernovas like he does in “After You’ve Gone.”