Smoking Time Jazz Club is a Traditional Jazz band based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. Their performance of Down By the Riverside was recorded by Brad Davis right off the streets of the city in 2016.
Down By the Riverside is an American spiritual that was first published in 1918 by the Rodeheaver Company in a musical collection called "Rodeheaver's Plantation Melodies: A Collection of Modern, Popular and Old-time Negro-Songs of the Southland."
Although Down By the Riverside has been assumed to be a song
that originally emanated from the struggle of slaves for their freedom
around the Civil War, unfortunately there is no solid evidence in the
written record of this.
The phrase "down by the riverside" is a fairly common one in slave
songs. Also, the way the song was written is similar to other call out
songs where one will lead the song and others will repeat. The song has
long been included in Baptist hymnals and it has been published under
various titles such as, Ain't Gonna Study War No More, Goin' to Lay down My Burden, and Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More among others.
It was first recorded by the Fisk Jubilee Quartet as I Ain't Goin' to Study War No More.
It has long been played by Traditional jazz bands. Both Bunk Johnson
and George Lewis during the traditional jazz resurgence both recorded
the tune as well as many many others.
Here the Smoking Time Jazz Club play a spirited version of the tune
in the "traditional" or Dixieland jazz vein. They have appeared at many festivals and have released some albums on CD.
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