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- A cutting contest was a musical battle between various stride piano players from the 1920s to the 1940s, and to a lesser extent in improvisation contests on other jazz instruments during the swing era. Up to the present time, the expression cutting in jazz is sometimes used, sometimes facetiously, to claim a new musician's technical superiority over another. Cutting contests first had a more earnest meaning only among pianists, and later existed for their own sake. Originally, to "cut" another piano player meant to replace them at their job by outperforming them. This serious form of rivalry ended by the 1920s when pianists began acquiring more stable engagements, and basic ragtime and "fast shout" piano evolved into the more improvised stride style (a term that began to be used in the 1920s). "Cutting" came to mean victory at a pre-arranged contest. These contests were usually held at Harlem home "rent parties", where an entrance fee helped residents pay their rent. In the contests, often one pianist began a tune; then others took turns "cutting in", introducing increasingly more complex ideas, changing the key and/or tempo, and otherwise trying to outplay and out-style the previous musician(s). The great stride pianists James P. Johnson and his "rival", Willie "The Lion" Smith, often participated in cutting contests. However, they had so much respect for one another that their contests usually ended in draws, and they "cut in" only for humorous effect. Cutting contests continued into the 1940s. Art Tatum usually won the contests he engaged in, beating out such notable pianists as Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Earl "Fatha" Hines, Albert Ammons, Harry Gibson, Pete Johnson, Marlowe, Clarence Profit, and Claude Hopkins. Cutting contests also took place between blues musicians. An enduring form of the cutting contest is the "trading" tradition in jazz improvisation, where two or more musicians alternately play parts of solo choruses. Cutting contests are common events at Tap Dance festivals. Rap battles could also be considered a present-day form of the cutting contest. (en)
- El cutting contest fue un tipo de competición musical que tenía lugar entre pianistas de jazz del Harlem de principios de los años 1920. Los participantes interrumpían la interpretación de su oponente compitiendo por demostrar quien era el mejor pianista. En este aspecto, tienen mucho en común con las competiciones de freestyle rap que surgirán posteriormente. Los contests, o competiciones, solían realizarse en fiestas que tenían lugar en viviendas de los vecinos de Harlem. El dinero que se obtenía en concepto de entrada se empleaba para pagar el alquiler de la casa. Por eso estas fiestas también se conocían como "rent parties" (literalmente "fiestas del alquiler"). Entre los músicos célebres que participaban en estos duelos se encuentran James P. Johnson y su principal rival Willie "The Lion" Smith. Sentían tanto respeto mutuo que sus competiciones solían terminar en tablas y casi nunca uno interrumpía la interpretación del otro. Los cutting contests siguieron realizándose hasta entrados los años 1940, donde el pianista Art Tatum solía ganar, venciendo a notables intérpretes de Harlem como Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Earl Hines, Albert Ammons, , Pete Johnson, Marlowe, y (es)
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