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Cutting contest
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Cutting contests were a form of musical battles between various stride piano players of between the 1920s and 1940s. The contests were usually held at "rent parties" in the homes of locals of Harlem, in which entrance money was used to pay off the rent. The players would cut into the play of the other player and as such try to show who was the better performer. In this they have much in common with the later emerging rap battles.
Famous contestants include James P. Johnson and his greatest rival Willie "The Lion" Smith.
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Encyclopedia
Cutting contests were a form of musical battles between various stride piano players of between the 1920s and 1940s. The contests were usually held at "rent parties" in the homes of locals of Harlem, in which entrance money was used to pay off the rent. The players would cut into the play of the other player and as such try to show who was the better performer. In this they have much in common with the later emerging rap battles.
Famous contestants include James P. Johnson and his greatest rival Willie "The Lion" Smith. They actually had so much respect for each other that their contests usually ended in a draw and both almost never 'cut' into the others' play.
The cutting contests continued into the 1940s where stride pianist Art Tatum would usually win, beating out such notable pianists as Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Earl Hines, Albert Ammons, Harry Gibson, Pete Johnson, Marlowe, Clarence Prophet, and Claude Hopkins.
See also
Guitar battle
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