Jungle Jive - Bob Zurke

This is an astounding performance from one of the most virtuosic and innovative pianists from the swing era, Bob Zurke, playing his own composition, Jungle Jive, though apparently improvised on the spot. It was created as part of the soundtrack to a 1943 Walter Lantz cartoon of the same name. Unfortunately, the racial stereotypes depicted in the cartoon have aged terribly, but the brilliant piano playing is timeless.

Zurke famously had rather small hands compared to the other famous pianists of the day, even though I still hear him often play tenths on his recordings. The unique style he developed certainly compensated for any physical limitations, and he stands as one of the most virtuosic players. Jelly Roll Morton himself singled out Zurke as his favourite player of the day. Ralph Sutton often referred to Zurke as his favourite pianist, too, and would often include Zurke's solo Eye Opener in his repertoire.

Shamus Culhane, the cartoon's director mentions in his memoir "Talking Animals and Other People", that during the making of the recording, the writer complained to Zurke for all the stopping and starting in his boogie-woogie playing as obviously such moments would affect the action on-screen. In trying to address the situation it was revealed that Zurke didn't read music and couldn't remember what he'd previously played earlier in the session; an understandable situation as he'd been improvising the whole night. The writer was heard saying, "What the hell did [we] git in a dumb guy like that in?" All ended up well and the performance of Zurke's is outstanding far-out-living the cartoon it was created for.

Although Zurke had many of his compositions published, this piece never was and remains a fleeting yet exciting moment in the cartoon. There's a wonderful performance online by the Austrian boogie-woogie pianist Hannes Otahal who has done his own transcription and performs it outstandingly.

Recorded late in December 1943, it was to be Bob Zurke's final recording. As a man who had lived a hard life full of liquor, he was dead by the middle of next February, aged 32. It appears he had succumbed to a similar fate as Fats Waller's the year before, by playing in a hot LA club near an air conditioner and developing complications from pneumonia.

Of note is the impressive-sounding yet surprisingly easy-to-play ascending then descending 4-note figure at G and H.

Here is the cartoon. Zurke's solo begins at around 2:40

https://www.b98.tv/video/jungle-jive/

Here is Hannes Otahal's performance:

https://youtu.be/OMmuApm2p6Q?si=mmPfHERvVzkuxemb

Youtube.com noteman