some jazzy cites

Wed Apr 11 01:50:37 UTC 2007

OED on "chops":

chop, n.2

In pl. Jazz (orig. U.S.).    a. The power of a trumpeter's embouchure. 

1947 in R. S. Gold Jazz Talk (1975) 48 He might not have the chops he used to have, but his ideas are always fine. 1966 L. ARMSTRONG Self-Portrait 40 I'd go wild in those solos -- up there in the high register all the time, and if I had some more chops left, just use 'em some more. 1993 Newsweek 18 Jan. 39 Others would've killed to have his [sc. Dizzy Gillespie's] chops.

   b. A jazz musician's skills; (in extended use) talent or skill in any field. 

1968 in A. Chapman New Black Voices 147 Maybe you could get your chops together on this horn. 1973 'D. ELLINGTON' Music is my Mistress 247 Musicians..who like to get together once or twice a week to try out their chops. 1990 Boston Phoenix 27 Apr.-3 May PLS9/2 Most academic writers just don't have the chops to make riveting reading out of the quiltwork of 19th-century farm wives. 2003 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 29 June (Review) 4/1 It was a comic role, but one that required serious acting chops.

Sense a:
"Satchmo Will Keep Blowing Till 'I Can't Blow No Mo' " by John Hoerr
_Dallas Morning News_ 1959-07-31 > Sec: 1 Page 12  col 2.
" "And there wasn't nothing wrong with my chops or my voice like the doctors said," Louis rasped." 

Sense b: Extended Use (in reference to acting skills):

"Harriet Nelson in Dramatic Role," Oakland (CA) _Tribune_, 8/29/1976, p. 3 col 4.
"She was asked whether it had been hard to get her acting chops back in shape for  the far stronger emoting required for her ABC movie role."

Extended Use (in reference to sleight of hand skills):
"Fist Full O' Washers" by Michael Close, _Genii_  July 1984, p. 522 col 1. [note: the writer, Michael Close, is a jazz pianist as well as a magician]
"This trick is not for the faint of "chops" however, and a familiarity with Vernon's "Spellbound" and Ross Bertram's "Ten to One" (Magic and Methods of Ross Bertram, pp. 24-25) will facilitate learning this routine."

"All that jazz"  OED has 1959.
"Steve Fails To Top Ed In First Try; Will Improve"
JOHN CROSBY
The Hartford Courant (1923-1984); Jun 27, 1956; pg. 9 col 5.
""The Steve Allen Show" is pretty much like "Tonight" where Allen also holds sway, except that it has been formalized a little bit - that is, hashed over, written, rehearsed and all that jazz - and therein lies its chief fault, at least on the opening show."

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