Cutting contests

In Harlem very good piano player had the chance to compete in late-night cutting contest. Those sessions sometimes lasted four or five hours. The striders would show their most original and difficult arrangements to see who was the "top dog" of the pianists. They were given a tune and they had to create/improvise patterns and melodies, which were better, more original than the ones the players done before. The better your individual style in playing was the better chance you had to win. The pianists had to be able to play in all the keys and also to play by ear.