"Panama" (sometimes incorrectly called "Panama Rag") is a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

. It is by William Henry Tyers, originally entitled "Panama, a Characteristic Novelty", published in 1912. Jazz legends who have played and recorded the song include the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, Luis Russell,

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, Trombone, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of Music of New Orle ...

, the Eureka Brass Band, and Humphrey Lyttelton. The famous trumpet variation commonly played by New Orleans bands and those influenced by the New Orleans style was reportedly devised by Manuel Manetta, who first taught it to his star trumpet pupils Emmett Hardy and Red Allen. The original tango or maxixe rhythm is usually discarded in favor of 4/4 time, but can still be detected in some versions, such as the early recording by Johnny DeDroit's Band. Some later generations have sometimes confused it with a totally different piece of a similar name, a

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

number composed by Charles Seymour in 1904 called "Panama Rag". This lesser known number has been recorded by the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra and was reportedly played by Buddy Bolden when the tune was new, but is rather obscure and far from a standard.

Recordings

* Friar's Society Orchestra (New Orleans Rhythm Kings w Leon Roppolo) (1922) * Luis Russell And His Orchestra. New York, September 5, 1930. * Bunk Johnson and his New Orleans Band. Recorded in New Orleans on June 11, 1942. *

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

and the All Stars. Recorded in New York City on April 26–27, 1950. Released on the

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

LP Vol. 2 - Jazz Concert. * Basin Street Six.

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

78 rpm side (cat. no. 70219) released in 1953. * The Big Chief Jazz Band. Recorded in Oslo, Norway, on June 7, 1955. Released on the 78 rpm record

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

P 53033 H. * Al Hirt released a version on his 1963 album, '' Our Man in New Orleans''.Al Hirt, ''Our Man in New Orleans''
Retrieved April 10, 2013.

References

External links

''Panama''
sheet music at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

1912 compositions Al Hirt songs Jazz compositions {{1910s-jazz-composition-stub