some jazzy cites

[Jonathan Lighter]

"'Gator tail" ?  Sax was your ax ?

  JL

Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: some jazzy cites
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In jazz, "chops" has applied to the embouchure of the player of any
wind instrument whatsoever, at least since the late 'Forties, when
this corespondent blew 'gator tail in his elementary-school band.

-Wilson

On 4/10/07, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC"
> Subject: some jazzy cites
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> OED on "chops":
> =20
> chop, n.2
> =20
> In pl. Jazz (orig. U.S.). a. The power of a trumpeter's embouchure.=20
> =20
> 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, a=
> nd 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.
> =20
> =20
> b. A jazz musician's skills; (in extended use) talent or skill in any fi=
> eld.=20
> =20
> 1968 in A. Chapman New Black Voices 147 Maybe you could get your chops toge=
> ther 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 t=
> he 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 ro=
> le, but one that required serious acting chops.
> =20
> 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 doctor=
> s said," Louis rasped."=20
> =20
> =20
> =20
> Sense b: Extended Use (in reference to acting skills):
> =20
> "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 sha=
> pe for the far stronger emoting required for her ABC movie role."
> =20
> =20
> 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 o=
> f Ross Bertram, pp. 24-25) will facilitate learning this routine."
> =20
> =20
> =20
> "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 hold=
> s sway, except that it has been formalized a little bit - that is, hashed o=
> ver, written, rehearsed and all that jazz - and therein lies its chief faul=
> t, at least on the opening show."
>
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>


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