Post 217: A CHALLENGING PUZZLE FOR SERIOUS JAZZERS

When played in the key of D minor, which Irving Berlin song, composed for a film, has a Middle Eight beginning with six bars that can all be played on the chord of D major?

Send me your answer if you can.

I shall publish the correct answer in Post No. 219.

Post 216: A VERY SPECIAL PERFORMANCE - 'ALMOST AFRAID TO LOVE'

Tuba Skinny has given us a mind-boggling performance that serves as a lesson to us all. We have to thank the generous and prolific film-maker codenamed digitalalexa for making it available to us on YouTube. (I will give you the Link to it shortly.)

I am speaking about Almost Afraid to Love. This is a song I had never heard of. But banjo-player Stan Cummings of Sacramento kindly informed me it was composed by Ann Turner in 1938 and made famous at that time by the great blues singer Georgia White.

Georgia White

On the face of it, no performance could be simpler. It's just seven choruses of a 12-bar blues in C - 84 bars of music in all.

But the way it is interpreted is exemplary - demonstrating all that is great about traditional jazz at its best. Just listen.

Chorus 1: Against a solid foundation provided by the tuba, washboard, guitar and bass drum, the cornet introduces us to the tune; but the music is like a conversation between three old friends. Using her cup mute, Shaye makes the sad statements and Barnabus (trombone) and Ewan (clarinet) respond sympathetically to everything the cornet says.

Chorus 2: Erika begins to sing, telling the story with an uncluttered accompaniment. What a solid foundation Todd gives (as usual) on the tuba!

Chorus 3: Erika completes the story - with Shaye providing tasteful background colouring, using the cup mute.

Chorus 4: Ensemble. Both the cornet and trombone are muted now. This is another chorus sounding like a conversation between three old friends. It reminds me of the string quartets of Haydn and Mozart. Some of the phrases are exquisite - such as Shaye's phrase responding to the trombone at 1 min. 49secs.

[I think this must be one of Shaye's favourite phrases - you hear it frequently in her playing.]

Chorus 5: The 'conversation' continues; with Evan making assertive statements on his clarinet, while the cornet and trombone reply 'Yes, we know. It's a shame. You're so right!'

Chorus 6: Erika resumes the song.

Chorus 7: Erika completes the song, but with the others performing like the Greek Chorus from Oedipus Rex - commenting sympathetically on the events of the story. It is outstandingly good four-part interplay with the singer. And as the performance comes to an end, there's one more surprise in store. Shaye picks up her 'jam funnel' mute for a strong conclusive effect in the final two bars, descending a C minor arpeggio.

There is nothing strenuous or over-loud or showy or raucous about this performance. There are no screaming high notes. The playing gives the illusion of being totally relaxed, simple and effortless. But the apparent simplicity conceals art of the highest order.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT.

Post 215: THE FRENCH QUARTER IN NEW ORLEANS

For the benefit of readers who have never been to the French Quarter of New Orleans, here are a few pictures I took during my visit in April 2015.

George Lewis's House
- in which some legendary recordings were made.

Such famous roads as Decatur, Chartres, Royal, Burgundy and Dauphine run south-east to north-west and are criss-crossed by Iberville, Bienville, Conti, St. Louis, Toulouse, St. Peter's, Ursuline, and so on. The whole area is compact (well under a square mile) and very easy and pleasant to explore on foot. I guess that in total The French Quarter represents only about 2% of the entire City of New Orleans; but what a special area it is!

It is believed that about 4000 people actually live within the French Quarter.

Strolling round the quieter streets (no need to mention the noisy, brash Bourbon Street, which you can't avoid once in a while), you can admire the historic and very pretty colourful domestic architecture, including shotgun houses, classic nineteenth-century creole cottages and double-gallery houses. In case you are puzzled by the expression 'shotgun houses', I can tell you these are very simple homes, narrow and rectangular, with no hallway. The rooms are one behind the other. If all the doors of the house were open, it would be possible to fire a shotgun straight through the house - in at one end and out at the other - passing through all the rooms. Hence the name. There are also 'double shotgun houses', with two entrance doors and a central wall dividing the two homes, as in the first picture below.

Characteristic local transport
- passing Preservation Hall.

This next one is a bonus photo - sent to me by my friend Barrie Marshall. He took it when visiting the French Quarter in 1996.

When you are ready to hear some outdoor jazz in the French Quarter, you can head for Jackson Square:

or Royal Street:

At the north-eastern edge of the French Quarter, close to the Mississippi, is the wonderful and extensive French Market, where you can buy your souvenirs and take a break for refreshments.

Here's the French Market as it was in 1920:

Finally, you could head right out of the French Quarter and look back along the Mississippi at the City - including the more modern business district with its taller buildings. The French Quarter is the low-level area to the right of them:

Post 214: A TUBA SKINNY STREET PERFORMANCE

One morning in April 2015, Tuba Skinny had agreed to play some street music ('busk', as we say in England) on Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. But when Shaye Cohn showed up, nobody else had arrived. Undeterred, she took out her violin and started to play all alone.

A few minutes later, Jonathan Doyle, the great clarinet player, arrived and joined her. So the two of them played as a duet, improvising a fast 12-bar blues in the key of D.

But it wasn't long before five other members of Tuba Skinny arrived. Shaye switched to her cornet, and away they went, giving a concert that witnesses told me was absolutely brilliant.

Here is one of the tunes filmed by the great video-maker digitalalexa at the time:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW.
When I heard about this concert, I was bitterly disappointed to have missed the performance. I was in New Orleans but happened to be in a different part of the City at the time.

But my friends David Wiseman and Bill Stock, both from England, were there and told me about it. Bill took the pictures above and kindly let me have them. He gave me this additional background to the story:

The busk was on Friday, the first main day of the French Quarter Festival. At his hotel in North Rampart Street, Alan Bates bumped into Todd, complete with tuba. Todd was visiting his Mum who was staying at the same hotel. He confirmed TS would be out in Royal Street from 11am.  Alan phoned me and we rallied the troops. We set off in search but were disappointed that there was no sign of the band at their usual spots. I then saw Jon Doyle on his bike, pedalling fast along Royal. We  flagged him down and he said that Shaye had called the band to the corner of Royal and Bienville Street. And that is where the story started. Their usual spots had been taken by other buskers but Shaye had obviously carried out an early recce to  find this location.

Things got better for me. A few hours later I saw Tuba Skinny playing in a Frenchmen Street bar. I also attended two more of their concerts.

Post 213: THE ORIGINS OF TRADITIONAL JAZZ

John McCusker

A most interesting experience while I was in New Orleans in April 2015 was being taken on a conducted tour of the immediate neighbourhood, with John McCusker as guide.

A graduate of Loyola University, New Orleans, John was for thirty years a regional photo-journalist with the Times-Picayune newspaper. He achieved distinction in that work - especially through his coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

John is a knowledgeable, lively and well-prepared speaker. He has spent years researching the origins of jazz in New Orleans. The fruits of much of John's research are to be found in his book Creole Trombone: Kid Ory and the Early Years of Jazz (University of Mississippi Press, 2012).

His findings are convincing because he supports them so well with evidence - such as reports from contemporary newspapers. He is also very proud of being a New Orleans citizen and he loves the early jazz music.

John reminded us of the usual 'myths' and said there may be grains of truth in them, but that essentially they were misleading and should be dispelled.

For example, he had found that all these myths were only partially true:

1. Musicians acquired instruments 'left over' by bands after the Civil War and somehow taught themselves to play. McCusker asks: Why should they do that? There were plenty of new and second-hand musical instruments available cheaply in shops; and there was a strong tradition of young people - black and white - having music lessons in those days. Music shops were a Big Thing in the days when people made their own entertainment, long before television and computers and iPhones. Here's an example, from Canal Street, New Orleans.

2. Lots of the early jazz players used to play in the bordellos of Storyville until it was closed down in 1917. (McCusker asks: Why would you want to waste time with musicians in a bordello? Only a few of the more fancy establishments booked musicians. There were plenty of other places - such as Lakeside - for musicians to find employment.)

3. After the closure of Storyville, the musicians went 'up the river' to Chicago. (McCusker says: Only a tiny proportion of the New Orleans musicians moved north. Most stayed in New Orleans and continued to work there. In any case, if you go 'up river', it doesn't lead to Chicago!)

What Mr. McCusker wanted to impress upon us was that there was a very strong musical tradition in New Orleans. We have to remember there was no TV, no radio and no cinema. At the time, a musical instrument was a 'must have' in most households, just as a computer is today. It was very common to find a mandolin or violin in the home (an interview with the early New Orleans musician Johnny Wiggs confirmed this). And there could well be a concertina, a piano or a harmonium.

Plenty of people made a living teaching youngsters to play musical instruments - piano, string, brass, reeds and so on. Music-making in the home and in public places was commonplace. In some homes, a family band would develop.

John especially impressed upon us the importance of opera in the lives of the citizens. People loved it. There were three well-attended opera houses, so everyone knew the tunes from Verdi, Offenbach, Bizet, Reyer, Von Flotow, Massenet, Meyerbeer and Gounod.  What an inspiration to early jazz musicians and composers they must have been!

Here is the Eagle Saloon, where Buddy Bolden and the other early jazz pioneers played. It has languished for years in a state of disrepair, though there is now strong local pressure to have it restored and used again as a venue for music.

John McCusker told us the Minstrel Shows and Vaudeville - both well attended in the theatres of New Orleans - were of huge importance (usually underestimated) in the early development of jazz. Likewise the 'society orchestras' (made up of trained sight-reading musicians) influenced the approach of such early New Orleans jazz musicians as Kid Ory.

A sad sight: the tumbledown building
behind the scaffolding used to be a theatre
in which at one time you could watch a vaudeville show
or hear Buddy Bolden play.

Of special significance was the craze for syncopated piano music (ragtime), brass band marches and especially the Blues with its genesis in the depths of African culture. The early jazz musicians also worked at a golden time in popular music, when so many of the hit songs were easy to adapt to a 'jazzy' presentation. 

Of course, he told us about Buddy Bolden and took us to some of the places where he used to play. We saw his house and the houses (or sites) where other early jazz stars lived - Nick La Rocca's house, for example. He told us about the early life of Louis Armstrong and he impressed upon us the importance of Edward 'Kid' Ory both as a developer of jazz in the early days and as the man who first recognised the talent of the teenager Louis and then set him on his way by booking him for gigs. Ory - who ran his own band in New Orleans from 1907 - also employed such musicians as Johhny Dodds, King Oliver and Sidney Bechet.

John McCusker also emphasised the importance of brass bands. Such bands became possible only in the mid-Nineteenth Century, after the invention of valved brass instruments (which made all notes of the scales obtainable). In the USA, as in England, there was a massive development of the brass band movement from about 1850 onwards. In England, it eventually became formalised, with national contests, and rules about the numbers of each type of instrument. But in Louisiana matters were more free-style. There were some small and medium-sized bands (undoubtedly forerunners of later jazz bands.

In such small, informal groupings, it would be easy for a player or two to set a fashion for 'jazzing up' a tune.) 

Statues on the edge of 'Congo Square',
in Louis Armstrong Park.

Right from the early days, when the famous benevolent societies operated around New Orleans (they provided mutual help at times of hardship), these social clubs had their own bands; and the bands played at members' funerals.

We tend to think of 'jazz funerals' as a twentieth-century invention. But they are really just a continuation of brass band funerals from long before. John McCusker quoted from a newspaper report of 1857 in which mention was made of the brass band accompanying the coffin.

John took us to various sites including 'Congo Square'. This area had been allocated to the black slaves as a place where on Sundays they were allowed to congregate, play their music and dance. The exciting African dances and the rhythms of their music appealed to all kinds of visitors and onlookers. In these, too, we find a huge influence in the early development of jazz. These Sunday events died out but the Square was used for brass band concerts at the end of the Nineteenth Century.

Congo Square in 2015 -
preserved as a historic landmark.

Frieze in Congo Square:
An attempt to imagine the scene about 180 years ago.

My regular blog-reading friend Phil in the USA told me there is a super video made by John McCusker which enables YOU too to go on his conducted tour. May I strongly recommend that you have a look? Watch it by clicking here.

John McCusker still feels deeply hurt about the lack of support New Orleans received during Hurricane Katrina and the floods, which killed 1000 people in the immediate vicinity. I could sense that his emotions were still raw on this subject ten years after it happened. He took us to a point from which we could see over many square miles of parishes north-east of the City, all of which (he told us) had been flooded to a depth of 15 feet.

With better engineering, it need never have happened. With quicker response from administrators and politicians, the consequent suffering could have been alleviated.

But please may I also recommend that you listen to a talk by John McCusker? If you're interested in the earliest days of New Orleans jazz, I think you will find this truly informative:
CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT.

Post 212: TODD BURDICK AND BARNABUS JONES

Lou, an elderly American reader of this blog, has corresponded with me from time to time and recently sent this message, which I think ought to be shared.

Hi Ivan,

It certainly sounds as though you enjoy life and the pleasure that the music brings. I have commented on a few members of Tuba Skinny, but I have to mention Barnabus. Of course I listened to the traditional recorded dixieland growing up. But we spent every weekend during my college days at a local jazz place. We listened to the "Dixiecrats", a great band consisting of piano, tenor sax, trumpet, clarinet, string bass and drums. The tenor and sax played with Cab Calloway and the clarinet played with Louis Armstrong in the early days in NOLA. So I was pretty used to a band without a trombone, and never gave the instrument much thought. As a matter of fact, we thought of our taste in dixieland as rather elite....no tuba, no banjo, strictly "Chicago Style".

Tuba Skinny has totally changed my thinking on the subject, which is a lengthy lead-in to Barnabus.

I suspect that he, Shaye and Todd go back to their earliest days together and that they have not only a strong personal relationship, but are attuned to one another musically. Barnabus is such a strong player. He's always where he should be, whether it's lead or support. I still find it hard to believe that he just picked up a horn and taught himself. He certainly plays like he has a deep musical background. The same thing seems true of Todd. He's so gentle that at times he sounds like a string bass, and he's so important as part of TS's rhythm section.

Have I pontificated enough?
Regards,

Lou

I am so pleased Lou pays this tribute to Barnabus and Todd.

Todd Burdick

Tuba Skinny fans (including myself) are so seduced by the amazing talents of the ladies - Shaye and Erika - that we don't give sufficient credit to the other players - especially Todd, who goes unnoticed by most people while never putting a foot wrong in the 'engine room' of the band.

Shaye and Barnabus

Sometimes, when listening to a tune played by Tuba Skinny, I deliberately focus my attention on ONE instrument. It is a great way to appreciate the magic of this band. I am invariably amazed at how that one instrument contributes to the overall structure. In the case of Barnabus, Lou is so right about his strengths, whether leading on the melody or supporting other players. And Todd has an uncanny ability to find the perfect bass line, no matter how complicated the piece. Maybe the fact that both these men are also banjo players - and therefore understand chord sequences - helps a little. What great musicians they both are!
-------------------------
Canadian correspondent Wally, who not long ago attended a Tuba Skinny performance, added this:

Hi Ivan,

Thank you for sharing this.

I would like to add a thought to something your correspondent mentioned: "but are attuned to one another musically". This is something that I can echo wholeheartedly, especially after my trip to Maine. In fact, it is more than just this three, it is the entire ensemble. Easy enough to focus upon the band all at once or on each individual, but the secret is to look for the interactions as well, something that does not always seem apparent when viewing a video, unless one knows exactly what to look for.

A note on Todd: In a couple of the songs he took on the most amazing solos, something unexpected from a Tuba on the back line. How often do we see the front line getting the nods while the rhythm section keeps on steadfastly pounding out the rhythm?

Regards,

Wally

Post 211: TELEPHONE BANDS

Maybe you have heard the expression 'telephone band'. Even if you haven't, you can probably guess what it is. There are plenty of telephone bands operating in the field of traditional jazz.

What happens is that a bandleader builds up a list of traditional jazz musicians in his region (several for each instrument) but does not decide on the personnel for a particular gig until after he accepts the booking.

He then phones round among the musician contacts, taking into account the need to have a balanced band, with the appropriate range of instruments, and also considering which musicians live nearest to the venue, thereby avoiding long-distance travel. The chances are that all the musicians on his list are already players in other bands, so he can book them only if they do not already have a gig on the date in question.

Such bandleaders and agents are in a sense 'fixers'.

Even some well-known bands are in effect 'telephone bands'. You may notice frequent changes of personnel. This is because the leader has a pool of musicians from whom to choose.

Usually it is musicians who have gained wide experience and met many players over several years who decide to run one or more telephone bands. One - or more? Yes, we have a famous fixer in England who sometimes puts out two or three telephone bands to play in different places on the same date - for example on New Year's Eve, when there is great demand.

Obviously a telephone band is a strange animal, because musicians can find themselves playing a gig with others they have never met before.

Such bands will not have had a rehearsal and the tunes they play will probably all come from the straightforward core repertoire. It is unlikely that any of the musical arrangements will be very complex. But audiences tend not to notice these things.

However, the standard of a telephone band can be high. This is because such musicians are usually very experienced and competent. With a few brief words, they can agree the way a tune is to be treated. (For example, the leader might whisper: 'Play A - B - C - then back to B and stick on B').

They can even look like a regular band, especially if the leader requests them all to turn up in shirts of the same colour.

The musicians themselves derive pleasure from meeting, listening to and working with each other. They can learn much and also with good teamwork produce some high-quality music.

There are dozens of telephone band performances in England every week; and I guess the same must be true of most other countries where traditional jazz is played.

If you are thinking of setting yourself up as a bandleader, this is one way of going about it.

By the way, a telephone band is in some ways similar to a 'pick-up band', though not quite the same. Pick-up bands are put together for special projects, such as a providing a backing group for a recording, or accompanying a singer on a tour. They are likely to be technically highly-skilled; and they are also likely to rehearse seriously together before undertaking the work.

Post 210: PLAYING BOOGIE WOOGIE

I am publishing this article which has been e-mailed to me by Chris Reilley. Chris is a traditional jazz pianist and boogie-woogie enthusiast from the English Midlands. Please note: Chris later sent a supplementary article on Jimmy Yancey, so this has been added at the end.

------------------------------------

Playing Boogie Woogie

Before I start with the main work on this subject I would like to pay tribute to a very sadly-missed, long-standing and great friend of mine, Don Case, who died on the 25th August, 2013.

Don and I knew each other as school friends and from about 1950 played jazz together, firstly on the piano playing boogie-woogie and after that traditional jazz in a small band with Don playing trumpet whilst I played clarinet (and later still trombone).

He continued playing piano up until his death, composing most of his own tunes, continually advancing his style, but still maintaining a link to blues and boogie-woogie.

Although a fairly shy musician, Don did make the occasional public performance which was usually very well received. However I am the only person that I know of who recorded his playing which at some point in the future I hope to publish.

His work in this music has to be heard to be appreciated, but I personally rate him as one of the best English boogie-woogie musicians who have lived in the UK.

Among the most interesting things that Don did was to compose some tunes in non-standard keys. For example he would compose some boogie-woogie tunes in the keys of A, E and D Major and Minor as well as the more common keys of C, F and G. I think he decided to do this for the common reason that he found it easier to sing in those keys.

I, personally, found it difficult enough to play in the more common keys with some of the repetitive left-hand boogie patterns being required to be played throughout any tune, never mind playing in those other keys.

Don and I had many a long hour playing duets and playing each other's solo pieces, bouncing ideas off each other. One major benefit for me was to hone my ability to listen to what was being played at the same time as adding to it to get a great combined sound.

I miss Don very much.

Boogie-woogie has a long history dating back to the 1870's and the days when African Americans used to entertain themselves making basic instruments, playing and singing music. Derived from the standard 8 or 12-Bar Blues Pattern, it has been suggested that it started with piano playing in the lumber and turpentine camps where there was usually a piano available. However, as can be heard from many a well-known guitar blues player, a similar style was being used on that instrument at the same time. Who influenced who, is open to debate.

To play boogie-woogie well has the same demands as for playing any instrument – practice, practice and more practice! It is also very useful to learn all the correct fingering positions, the scales, arpeggios (as taught by piano teachers) and boogie patterns. Added to this it is absolutely imperative to maintain a steady rhythm, unless there is an intended change made which can be heard as being 'intended'.

One common error in my view is for the pianist to play too quickly. The early boogie-woogie piano players would make the tune 'swing' even at a 'walking pace'.

In my quest to aid and try and improve my performance, many years ago I purchased both books shown below. 

I do not know if these are still available. If they are, the reader would no doubt benefit from obtaining a copy of each.

The book on Chord Charts illustrates the notes used for many different chord shapes in each of the 3 inversions. This can be helpful in working out riffs, leading notes and phrases for the right-hand improvisation.

Reading music for me was a bane so I had to get help. In the book on boogie-woogie there are 25 different bass patterns shown. However, I learned more listening to recorded music and copying the bits I liked. For example some the tunes of the Greats of recorded Boogie Woogie, like Clarence 'Pine Top' Smith, Mead Lux Lewis, Albert Ammonds, Pete Johnson, Jimmy Yancey, Mary Lou Williams, James P. Johnson and many more are worth studying (see the YouTube link examples below).

Once a steady bass rhythm is mastered, the player can then develop the right hand using the 12-bar Blues as a basis for tune, then improvisation on the chords. This can be a variety of Blues patterns ranging from 8 to 12 Bars or even 11 or 13 Bars. There are also many recordings of standard boogie-woogie accompaniment given to pop tunes of the day.

Using sheet music as an aid for playing most forms of jazz, but boogie-woogie in particular, shows up the deficiencies of the scored music, which is usually accepted to be only a 'guide' and is open to the performer's interpretation. This is (in my view) a very serious drawback for the novice who has to rely on the recordings which nowadays can be accessed from the internet as there are very few teachers around for this genre.

I was lucky enough in my early years of learning to play boogie-woogie to come across the books shown above and also sheet music for the Mead Lux Lewis's 'Honky Tonk Train Blues' and Clarence 'Pine Top' Smith's 'Jump Steady Blues' as shown below:-

Whilst the sheet music might be helpful for those that are experienced in reading music, I believe it cannot accurately represent the performance in at least one respect and that is rhythmically. For example, the way the bass is played not only at a constant tempo but also with a 'lilt' (a very slight deviance from the beat) and at the same time as syncopating both left and right hands.

Another problem is that in some cases (I think) the music transcriber has not interpreted the recording correctly. For example in 'Honky Tonk Train Blues' on Page 2, (shown above) the first two bar triplets are not the same as the notes played in the recording! There is no doubt in my mind that in some cases in order to represent a recording accurately, it would be necessary to score it with so many very small notes that it would be too difficult to read, but without the score written in this manner, it is impossible to show very minor deviations in both rhythm and note lengths.

Except for when the bass rhythm is used to play along with a pop tune, 'learning the tune' as performed by one of the Greats becomes a matter of playing the recorded piece 'note for note', which for most Jazz musicians defeats the object of improvisation.

To resolve this dilemma, many boogie-woogie players use common 'phrases' (or 'licks') copied from recorded versions of a tune around which the performers build their own improvisation. So that although each performance may be slightly different, there are parts which are recognisable as a known tune.

In the case of musicians such as Don Case he composed virtually all the tunes he played with each unique and skilfully worked out in practice.

One of the most common errors with playing boogie-woogie for the first time is that both left hand and right hand end up playing the same notes. To overcome this common error, it is important to experiment with rhythm and 'cross rhythm' in order to syncopate the right hand with the left.

To achieve this, I suggest that the performer needs to practise playing the left-hand bass passage on its own without looking at the keyboard and hum or whistle the improvisation you would like to play with the right hand.

Hopefully, eventually. the player should be able to add his improvisation using the right hand without referring to his left-hand bass.

In composing a tune, the player should also take into account several other features:-

1. The Introduction
2. The Ending
3. Choice of Key
4. Change of Key (not common in this style of Jazz)
5. Breaks
6. Vocal (if valued)

Again listening to the well-known recordings will help the player to hear how these features have been used in the past.

I suggest the following to listen to from the wide selection on YouTube:-

Among these of particular note is the very famous Honky Tonk Train Blues by Mead Lux Lewis, Boogie Woogie Dream duet with Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson as well as Yancey Stomp by Jimmy Yancey.

This is My Boogie-Woogie –- Don Case

https://youtu.be/EPGSAohykOA

Albert Ammonds – Boogie-Woogie Stomp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNbc0YO5hKg

Boogie-Woogie - Pete Johnson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIY4liCstOE

Boogie Woogie Dream - Albert Ammons with Pete Johnson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIVJw8yX6GY

Meade "Lux" Lewis - Honky Tonk Train Blues

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iabfLNKjNQY

Jimmy Yancey - Yancey Stomp – 1939

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4eQbeuX2Y0

Jump Steady Blues – Clarence 'Pinetop' Smith 1930 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoP-zZqF3CM

Mary's Boogie Woogie – Mary Lou Williams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4t4ckLDR6g

Boogie Woogie Stride – James P. Johnson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQF2d9CA3gs
I offer this information based on my experience only and if others choose to differ from this, I quite understand. I am open to any suggestions which could improve this article which can be addressed to me (care of this Blog).

Chris. Reilley

======================================================================

SUPPLEMENT : JIMMY YANCEY

Playing Boogie-Woogie – supplemental

This article is a supplement to my original information givien in the Blog by Pops Coffee called “Playing Traditional Jazz” http://playing-traditional-jazz.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Boogie+woogie

Jimmy Yancey, in my view one of the most interesting of all Pianist, composers and Blues Singers of the era of this form of music.

My reasons are:-

1. Composing and playing totally original tunes in his own distinctive style.

2. Making use of both Latin Rhythms and standard 4, 8 or even 16 in the Bar patterns.

3. Playing and Singing the Blues with exceptional feeling, including with his wife, Estelle (nee Harris).

4. His “trademark” ending by changing into another Key.

5. Some tunes having original “Breaks” and changes from the standard “Boogie-Woogie pattern base into a Latin Base and back again part way through.

For those who are interested in the history of Jimmy Yancey and more in depth information about Boogie-Woogie in general, I would recommend the book “A Left Hand Like God” by Peter Silvester.

I do not believe that “pigeon holing descriptions” with regard to any particular musical style helps to describe the way that any musician plays is necessary or for that matter helpful and in the case of Jimmy Yancey although he has been labelled as a “Boogie-Woogie Player”, he is much more than that.

To illustrate my point I have given links to various tunes available on YouTube, starting with faster Boogie base numbers:-

“Rolling Stone”:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3BSIckiKyM&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn&index=3 ,

“Yancey Stomp “:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4eQbeuX2Y0&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn&index=1 and

“White Sox Stomp” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUz54Y1XFNA&index=57&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn

These all show a fair turn of speed and are based on his well-known base patterns to the much slower Blues numbers:-

“How Long Blues” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAwM70e18s4&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn&index=2 ,

“Mournful Blues” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRKPhKhuJsY&index=19&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn

and

“BEAR TRAP BLUES” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRQRqmdQCbQ&index=58&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn

Including the recordings he made with his Wife, Estelle, “Mama” Yancey:-

“Monkey Woman Blues“ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF4qD_LHEy0&index=166&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn

or

Labelled as “Make me a Pallet” but this is incorrect. It should be “Four O'clock Blues“. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5xqbt03m1s&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn&index=20

and Jimmy with his own vocal on:-

“I Love To Hear My Baby Call My Name“ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpDIZNBehZo&index=37&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn

The tunes which use a broken base pattern which changes part the way through:-

“Rolling The Stone”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3BSIckiKyM&list=RDc4eQbeuX2Y0&index=2

Then onto the tunes influenced by the Tango and Habanera (Spanish or Latin Tinge) timing:-

“Five O'clock Blues“ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGK773dRczo&index=77&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn

or

“Slow And Easy Blues“

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNhtAdLorHA&index=91&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn

and

“35th And Dearborn“ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVRD0_Zbeic&index=120&list=PLYHbESUElafqy9M5n0cLI4_nvvTntYdKn

He even recorded Ragtime with “Yanceys Everybody's Rag“ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np_OZDQxqVg or try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1biP-XTg-A

Needless to say that there are several different tunes from those that I have mentioned from the many he recorded which could be of interest. I, personally, do not think there was a another man like him. What a Piano Man!

At this point I would like to concentrate on the tunes with a “Latin Tinge” flavour, as I think this is the most interesting part of his output.

Yancey was by no means the first to use this timing in his music.

One of the first tunes to use a “Latin” strain was the Saint Louis Blues by W.C. Handy, published in 1914 and recorded by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1921. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBgYrW83fVA&list=RDjBgYrW83fVA#t=6

Following that, a recording of “New Orleans Blues“ by “Jelly Roll” Morton, recorded in 1925:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CtyQXFtu2U.

A very interesting article appears on the Pan American Jazz Web Page under the title of “The Father of Jazz: Jelly Roll Morton which gives further information on this subject:-

https://panamericanjazz.wordpress.com/the-father-of-jazz-jelly-roll-morton/ Likewise another article which appears on the “narrativesculptures“ website under the title “The Spanish tinge: a hidden treasure of blues, jazz and dance History“

is well worth a read for those interested in this subject:- https://narrativesculptures.wordpress.com/2017/03/07/the-spanish-tinge-a-hidden-treasure-of-blues-jazz-music-and-dance-history/

At a later date James P. Johnson also recorded:-

“The Dream “ recorded in 1938 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v1GxVJp7QM&feature=youtu.be

Later still “Tipitina “ by Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland Byrd) composed in 1957. See The Wikipedia entry:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_Longhair

In the recording he follows some spoken introduction with the now familiar Latin Base Pattern as used by Yancey. https://youtu.be/AMGewmEa0cA.

Lastly, I would like to include a Track from a CD which I produced of recordings made by my very close friend Don Case:- Don Case Track02 010195 https://youtu.be/qzyzoEBYfGA

I have recently had a discussion about the use of sheet music as a guide to playing Jazz in general and as this is a subject that might come into play when trying to learn to play Boogie Woogie, I propose to try and add my four pennith worth here. I understand most of the terms that are used in written music, but I own up I cannot read music and have to rely on listening to the recorded version of any tune. My reason (some would day excuse) for not learning to play music from sheet music is because I do not think it is accurate enough to show all the

nuances of the performed musical piece. This is particularly evident in recordings (as I explained previously about “Playing Boogie Woogie”) of Pianists playing this type of music.

My friend, Don Case asked me one day if I could show him what his playing looked like in notated form. Fortunately I had recorded part of his practice as a .midi file. As it happens this allowed me to print out the notation in the exact form as played which I then presented to him as a printed copy.

Below is part of the tune shown as 2 Pages of Score which can also be listened to in full from the YouTube:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4cLptq22fY

Don thanked me and commented that it looked like a spider had crawled over it and it was unusable. Basically he was correct. The main problem being that to show a totally accurate
score representation can only result in a mass of notes and rests unless, one follows the maxim that “Written Music should only be followed as a guide”.
I hope the reader might find this information useful, but should anyone have other ideas regarding this subject, please do not hesitate to contact either me (care of this Blog).

Chris. Reilley
The information given here and previously in this Blog is referred to on the Boogie Woogie Facebook Page:- https://www.facebook.com/groups/218161208197534/