Post 265: SIXTEEN-BAR TUNES

Just as it is a good idea to include an occasional 12-bar blues in a jazz programme and just as it is a good idea to include a tune or two in minor keys, so it adds variety to include a 16-bar tune (in some cases 16 + two-bar tag). Many 16-bar tunes also offer the advantage that they can be played using little more than three-chord tricks.

Unfortunately, we certainly can't lump 16-bar tunes together as one type, however. Just like 32-bar tunes, they come in a variety of structures.

My own favourite is the type that allows for 'breaks' in bars 9 to 12. This is how the chord progression often goes:

  I     |    I      |    II7:V7     |   I

  I     |   I       |    II7           |   V7

  I     |    I7    |    IV           |   IVm    

  I     |   I       |   II7:V7      |   I

(Examples: Don't Go Away, Nobody and If It Don't Fit, Don't Force It)

Or it can go like this:

 I:IV7 |  I:VI7  |  II7:V7  | I:V7

 I:IV7 |  I:VI7  |  II7:V7  | IIm:V7

   I      |    I7     |    IV       |  IVm

 I:IV7 |  I:VI7  |  II7:V7  |   I

(Examples: How Come You Do Me Like You Do Do Do? and If You've Got a Friend, You'd Better Treat Him Right)

In more detail, here's another example of such a tune:

That one is called You Gotta See Mamma Every Night. Similar tunes (using 'breaks') are Keep Your Fingers Off It, Droppin' Shucks, She Drives an Oldsmobile, Rolls-Royce Papa, Put it Right Here, Drop it on You, Wang Wang Blues [first theme], Get 'Em from the Peanut Man and It's So Nice and Warm.

This structural pattern was very common in the 1920s. Four more examples from that era are Oh Miss Hannah (1924) and Black Eye Blues (1928) and Red Hot Mama (1924), It's Right Here For You (1925) and I'm Watchin' The Clock (1928).

For a very good example of what I am trying to describe, watch this YouTube video of If It Don't Fit, Don't Force It. This has it all: clear structure, tag (on most choruses), and fine uses of the all the breaks in bars 9 - 12 (note the lovely one taken by the tuba at the end!):

Click here to watch it.

It's also possible to put a break in Bars 7 and 8, rather than 9 to 12. You need three lots of the Sweet Sue Progression (dominant to tonic) ending with a break on the tonic in those two bars - 7 and 8:

V7         |   V7      |      I        |     I

 V7         |   V7      |      I        |     I

 V7         |  V7       |     I         |    I

  IV:IVm  |  I:VI7  |  II7:V7   |  I

(Examples: Gatemouth - first theme; Do What Ory Say, South - main theme, Mamma's Baby Boy, Get It Right, Pearl River Stomp - second theme, Up Jumped the Devil, I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate)

But now let us look at some of the many other 16 bar progressions. Here's a very common and simple one:

  I      |    I       |    I      |   I

  I      |    I       |   V7   |  V7  

  I      |    I7     |    IV   |  IVm

  I       |   V7   |     I     |    I

(Examples: We Shall Walk Through the Gates of the City & When The Saints)


Even more simple (only two chords needed):

  I    |     I   |     I   |     I

  V7 |  V7   |    I    |     I

  I    |     I   |     I   |     I

  V7 |  V7   |    I    |     I

(Example: Walking With The King)

   I          |    I         |     I      |    V7

  V7      |   V7       |    V7    |     I

  I          |   I          |    I       |    V7

  V7      |   V7       |    V7    |    I
(Example: Rum and Coca Cola)

Now the    I  -  IV -  I - V - I  pattern:

  I    |     I   |     I   |     I7

  IV |  IV   |    I    |     I

  I    |    I    |    I    |    I

 V7 |   V7 |   I     |    I

(Example: Lord Lord Lord)

Somewhat similar:

   I    |     I    |    I    |    I7

  IV  |   IV   |    I    |    I7

  IV  |    IV  |    I    |   IVm

  I     |   V7  |    I    |    I

(Example: You Are My Sunshine)

Then there are some that do something striking with the 12th bar (for example, an unexpected diminished chord):

  I      |    I      |    I    |   V7
  V7  |    V7  |  V7   |  I  

  I     |    I7    |   IV   |  Io

  I     |   V7   |     I    |   I

(Example: Faraway Blues)

  I          |   V7    |      I      |     I

  I          |   V7    |      I      |     I

  VI7     |  VI7   |     II7     |    Io

  I          |  V7    |     I        |    I

(Example: Farewell Blues)

 IV   |   IV   |      I     |     I

 IV   |   IV   |      I     |     I

  I     |  III7  |     IV   |    Io

  I     |  V7   |    I:IV  |    I

(Example: Make Me a Pallet on the Floor)

  I        |   V7    |      I       |     V7:I

  I        |   V7    |      I       |     V7:I
 VI7    |  VI7    |    IV7    |     IVo

   I       |  V7     |     I        |    I

(Example: Weary Blues - final theme)

Or the 12th bar surprise can be a III7th:

       I       |    I        |    IV7   |   I

       I       |    I        |    II7     |   V

       I       |    I       |    IV7     |  III7

 IV:IVm  |  I:VI7  |  II7:V7  |  I

(Example: Rip 'Em Up, Joe)

Three-chorders can be not only easy to play but also make very pleasant listening:

  I        |    I    |     IV    |     I

  I        |    I    |    V7    |   V7

  I        |   I     |    IV     |    I

  I        |  V7  |     I       |    I

(Example: When I Move to the Sky)

  I          |    IV       |     I   |    I

  V7      |   V7        |    I    |    I

  I          |   IV        |    I    |    I

  V7       |   V7       |   I     |   I

(Example: Sometimes My Burden)

  I          |   V7    |      I      |     I

  V7      |   V7    |      I      |     I

  IV       |  IV      |    I        |    I

  V7      |  V7     |     I        |    I

(Example: Mary Wore a Golden Chain)

  I           |     I7    |      IV    |     I

  I           |     I      |     V7    |     I

  I           |    I7     |     IV     |     I
  I           |    V7   |      I       |     I
(Example: Precious Lord Lead Me On) 

 IV     |   IV    |    I     |    I

 V7    |   V7   |    I     |    I7

  IV    |  IV    |    I     |    I

  V7   |  V7   |    I     |    I

(Example: Redwing - chorus. Down By the Riverside, 2nd part, is the same))

  I          |    I      |     V7    |    V7

  V7      |   V7    |      I      |     I

  I          |   I       |    I 7     |    IV

  IV       |   I       |    V7     |    I

(Example: Royal Telephone)

But the permutations are endless. Here are a few more.

  I     |     I     |   VI7   |   VI7

  II7  |   V7   |     I      |    V7

  I     |     I     |   VI7   |    VI7

  II7  |   V7   |     I      |     I
(Example: That's a Plenty - final theme)

  I    |    I7    |    IV:IVm   |   I

  I    |   VI7  |    II7           |   V7

  I    |    I7    |    IV:IVm   |  I

  I    |   V7   |       I           |   I

(Example: By and By)

   I    |    II7   |     I      |    I

   I    |   II7    |   V7    |    V7

   I    |    I7    |   IV     |   IVm

   I    |   V7   |     I      |    I

(Example: Saturday Night Function)

  I          |   V7    |      I       |     I

  I          |   VI7   |      II7    |    V7

  I          |  I7       |    IV      |    IVm

  I          |  V7     |     I        |    I

(Example: Careless Love)

  I      |    I       |    V7        |   I

  I      |    I       |  VII7       |  V7  

  I      |    I       |    V7       |  I7

  IV   |   I:VI7 | II7:V7    |   I

(Example: Climax Rag - final theme) 

  I        |   V7    |      I       |     V7

   I        |   VIm |      II7    |     V7
   I        |  V7    |    II7    |     V7

   IV:IVm  |  I:VI7  |  II7:V7  |  I

(Example: Shimme Sha Wobble - final theme - note Sunshine Progression in final four bars)

  I       |    VI7    |    II7:V7    |   I

  I       |   VI7     |    II7          |   V7

  I:Io   |    V7     |    I:Io         |  V7

  I       |   VI7     |  II7:V7      |   I

(Example: Ja Da)

  I           |     I7    |      IV    |     I

  V7       |     I      |      II7    |    V7

  I           |    I7     |     IV     |    III7
  IV:IVo |  I:VI7  | II7:V7   |     I

(Example: Ol' Miss Rag - theme - Sunshine Progression again)

16-bar tunes can be very effective. Consider, for example, this one on YouTube, which is no more than the the 8-bar Four-Leaf Clover Progression played twice:

CLICK HERE.

Post 264: PRESERVATION HALL, 1998

Let me tell you about four evenings I spent in Preservation Hall, New Orleans, in 1998. Important musical history has been made there during the last 60 years and I would like to give you my own little contribution to recording that history.

As an English jazz fan, I was keen to catch as much of the Preservation Hall music as I could during my four-night stay. So I was there in the audience each evening. This meant missing some good bands playing at the Sonesta Hotel and at the Palm Court Café, but you can't do everything. (In those days, Frenchman Street was yet to emerge as the place to be at night.)

In 1998, the Preservation Hall entrance fee was only 4 dollars a night (about £2.40 at the time) – tremendously good value. The acoustics were marvellous and the bands of course played with no amplification – something the audiences appreciated very much: you heard the instruments in all their purity. Even songs were sung without a microphone. Those conventions have not changed, I'm pleased to say, in the years that followed.

On those four nights, all the bands had seven players. This should mean that we heard 28 musicians in all, but in fact two or three of them played in more than one band. 

There were a few of the very elderly musicians still turning up, but it was sad to see them playing weakly now. In particular, 'Frog' Joseph (trombone), then aged 80, was a passenger, though I know he was a great player in his time. He died not very long afterwards. 

The best surprise was that Narvin Kimball at the age of 89 was still there – playing banjo so tastefully and creatively and still singing Girl of My Dreams movingly, with a rich voice. (He lived to the good age of 97, passing away on 17th March 2006.)

Harold Dejan (saxophone) still nominally led the Sunday night band (actually The Olympia Band) but arthritis and near-blindness prevented him from playing: he merely performed a few vocals. He was 89 and looked very ill. It was a pity to see a musician still turning out in such a state, but he must have been proud of the long history of this band, which he founded many years earlier. 

On the other hand, James Prevost (string bass) at the age of 79 played vigorously on two of the nights, giving a real swing to the bands. But he too, alas, died not long afterwards. 

The best clarinettist was Dr. Michael White. He was good when I heard him in 1993 but seemed to be playing even better with the passage of years, responding skilfully to the phrasing of the trumpet. I believe Michael White is also a professor at the Xavier University of Louisiana. 

Also Jacques Gauthé (playing soprano saxophone this time) was brilliant and often put us in mind of Sidney Bechet. 

There were superb drummers (including Leroy Breaux, Joe Lastie and Nowell Glass), some good pianists and (best trombonist) Frank Demond – the only other survivor (with Narvin Kimball) of the great Preservation Hall Band that toured the U.K. in about 1980. Frank Demond played in a beautifully simple, lyrical style and it was terrific. For solos, he usually took two choruses, the first close to the melody, concentrating on tone, the second letting loose. 

The trumpet players were unbelievably brilliant. Wendell Brunious (two nights – a man with a degree in Marketing!) and Milton Batiste (one night) did things that ought not to be possible! They made me want to practise for hours and hours – or just give up and throw my trumpet away! Milton Batiste, who specialised in excitingly syncopated rhythmic improvisations and riffs, with plenty of high notes, always wore his topi to conceal the scar from a childhood baseball injury. He was the very first person I spoke to in New Orleans (apart from customs officials) on my second visit to the City. His band was playing at the aerodrome. (It is very sad that he died in March 2001 while still in his early 60s.)

The other trumpeter was Reginald Koeller, whom I had not heard before. He played with a marvellous instinct, giving the impression that he knew nothing about written music and musical theory but just played straight from the heart. (I have since read that he was in fact classically trained!) 

One of the best musicians of the four nights was Les Muscott (banjo). He achieved such variety and colouring that he was quite in the Narvin Kimball class. He was capable of doing on the banjo anything you would expect from a piano, or so it seemed. Les (who has also since died) was English, but emigrated to New Orleans in the 1970s and worked in music there until his death. He acquired an authentic New Orleans accent.

The tunes we heard everywhere in New Orleans (including Preservation Hall) were familiar. They included Tiger Rag and When the Saints (a lot) and also Royal Garden Blues, Hindustan, Bogalusa Strut, Bye and Bye, Basin Street Blues, Bugle Boy March, Down By the Riverside, Sweet Georgia Brown, Eh La Bas, How We Danced at the Mardi Gras, Butter and Egg Man, I Get the Blues When it Rains (James Prevost was the vocalist for this after a very wet day), Sister Kate, Sweet Sue, Ja Da, Just a Closer Walk, Lily of the Valley (with the last 16 bars played as introduction), Little Liza Jane, Lord, Lord, Lord, Margie, My Blue Heaven, (interestingly played very slowly), Nobody's Sweetheart Now, The Old Rugged Cross, On the Sunny Side of the Street, Savoy Blues, Second Line, Some of these Days, Sweethearts on Parade, That's a Plenty, Ting-a-ling, Walking With the King, You are My Sunshine and When You're Smiling. This last one was performed on two nights at Preservation Hall and both times turned into a hilarious community sing led by brilliant banjo player Don Vappie, with full audience participation. He insisted we should all sing it properly - as 'when you're smiling, the whole world smiles wit chew'!

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The books 'Tuba Skinny and Shaye Cohn', 'Enjoying Traditional Jazz' and 'Playing Traditional Jazz', by Pops Coffee, are available from Amazon.

Post 263: A 13-BAR BLUES, A 12½-BAR BLUES AND AN 11½-BAR BLUES??!!??

Well, here's something unique in my experience - A 12½-bar Blues and an 11½-bar Blues..

We all know dozens of 12-bar blues. The 12-bar blues form is the commonest structure in our music.

But my friend James Sterling introduced me to a blues with a 12½-bar structure when he filmed Tuba Skinny playing Blue Sky Blues. With the help of Peter Donkin, who identified it, we learned the song had been recorded in about 1930 by The Mississippi Blacksnakes (an alternative name for The Mississippi Sheiks), and that it was probably composed by Walter Vinson. You can hear the original BY CLICKING HERE.

The tune ought to feel uncomfortable, with those two 'extra' beats at the end of each Chorus. And yet The Mississippi Blacksnakes and Tuba Skinny sail through it as though it is the most natural form in the world - just as Tuba Skinny did when they added to their repertoire the unusual 'Jackson Stomp', which has an ELEVEN-bar blues structure.

Here's the link to James's video. You can hear those extra two beats for the first time at 34 seconds and then at the end of every subsequent Chorus:

CLICK HERE.

And then came a video of Tuba Skinny playing Viola Lee Blues - again filmed by my friend James Sterling. This time it's a tune learned from the recording made in 1928 by banjo blues legend Gus Cannon. The tune feels odd, with (compared with a standard 12-bar blues) two beats 'missing'. What seems to happen is that Bar 6 has only two beats, unlike the expected four. Again, Tuba Skinny make it sound easy. Listen for yourself and try counting the beats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jnbx4oHFuk

And here's a curiosity - the only 13-BAR blues I can think of. It occurs as the Interlude in Blind Boy Fuller's Untrue Blues. This is essentially an eight-bar tune, but he has two guitar links of 13 bars, which seemed to be based on the 12-bar blues, but with Bar 10 repeated. When Tuba Skinny revived this tune in 2014, they scrupulously followed the original and kept the 13-bar section.

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My books Playing Traditional Jazz and Tuba Skinny and Shaye Cohn are available from Amazon.

Post 262: CHOOSING KEYS FOR VOCALISTS

Erika Lewis

An American musician - Lou - has become a very good pen-friend after first writing to me about an article in this Blog several months ago.

Recently he sent me this message:

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

Ivan,
I have been playing the tune Six Feet Down (in G) along with Tuba Skinny from their 2010 CD.
Today I saw the video made of them playing this tune at The Louisiana Music Factory in 2015 (Click here to watch it). I thought I would again play along. But this time they were playing it in F.
Strange!

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

This message left me thinking in general about choices of keys.

In the case of Lou's example, I think there is a simple explanation. In 2010, Erika was comfortable singing her song in G (one tone higher than in 2015). But her voice matured over the following five years. By 2015 her perfect comfort zone for a tune such as Six Feet Down had become the key of F. In that key, the lowest note used in her vocal is C and the highest is A, so (unlike some of Erika's other songs, such as Crazy Blues, where she sings high Ebs) it does not require a very great range - just four and a half tones. I am sure she could still sing it in G easily enough; but in F it sounds absolutely right for her 2015 'mature' voice.

Tuba Skinny are well-known for the freedom and boldness with which they roam around the keys and often change key (sometimes more than once) within a tune. On some occasions, the band plays a tune in one key and Erika - when taking a vocal chorus - sings it in another. For example, in How Do They Do It That Way?, you find the band playing choruses in Eb and Erika singing choruses in Bb. The transitions are so skilfully managed that you hardly notice. The same sort of thing happens in Delta Bound, with Erika singing in D minor and the band choruses in G minor.

Traditional jazz musicians come to learn that there is no such thing as a correct key for any tune. You can play in a band that performs Muskrat Ramble in Ab, for example, and then deputise in another band, only to find it plays Muskrat Ramble in Bb. A tune such as Ain't She Sweet may turn up in Bb or Eb. You will hear Breeze in either Eb or F. And so on. Whenever there is a singer, the whole band may have to adapt to an unusual choice of key. For example, after years of playing I Can't Give You Anything But Love in F, you one day find yourself in a band with a lady singer who requires the tune to be played in Bb.

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

FOOTNOTE

The books Playing Traditional Jazz and Enjoying Traditional Jazz (both written by Pops Coffee) are available from Amazon.

Post 261: WHO DOES THIS REMIND YOU OF?

Which of today's singer-guitarists - who divides her time between Texas and New Orleans - do you think of when you look at this picture?

When I saw this, my reaction was: Ah! Albanie Falletta at the age of six, with her first chord book!

I was wrong. It's actually an oil painting from 1772. The artist was Nicolas Lépicié. But here - for comparison - is the great Albanie with me when I had the pleasure of meeting her in April 2015.

And for a super example of Albanie singing and playing, CLICK HERE.

One of my correspondents recently told me he has become addicted to Albanie and her music. I'm not surprised.

Post 260: LUCKY JIM - A VISIT TO NEW ORLEANS

A September Night on Frenchmen Street

I had an email from Jim Sterling, an elderly Florida resident and regular reader of my articles. Jim shares my tastes in traditional jazz and also experiences the same joy as I do when witnessing the finest performances.

In mid-September, Jim undertook the long drive to New Orleans to spend a couple of days catching what he could of the music.

As I have never been in New Orleans at such a time of year, I was happy to learn from Jim how well the music is supported even when it is not 'festival' season. There was standing room only in such places as The Spotted Cat. Jim wrote: 'The amazing thing was that it was a Monday night in September, not the height of the tourist season and not a weekend night. But the street was packed with locals and tourists.'

Although, in such a short visit, Jim inevitably missed some of the performers he would have liked to catch, he was thrilled to meet and have good conversations with the reed player Earl Bonie, who was deputising for Aurora Nealand in The Royal Roses. Jim wrote 'Earl grew up in New Orleans and played for years on the steamboats and with the Dukes of Dixieland for about ten years. He also plays on large ocean-going cruise ship bands'.

Jim also enjoyed in Frenchmen Street 'an impromptu street performance by a brass band of mostly young black musicians so I had to stop and listen to their spirited playing'.

At The Spotted Cat, Jim caught The Jazz Vipers. 'I really enjoyed their playing, as well as the Royal Roses, though their style is not the same era of traditional jazz as Tuba Skinny. Both bands did more swing numbers, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Fletcher Henderson/Benny Goodman style. I have been a fan of that style since my college days. I actually got to see and hear both Ellington and Basie shortly before they died... The highlight of the Jazz Vipers was their performance of Basie's One O'Clock Jump. And JUMP it did! It brought down the house, along with a couple doing the Lindy Hop while they played. The dance floor cleared of other dancers when they got going and it seemed to inspire the band even more'.

Just as I would have been, Jim was thrilled to meet and speak with the musicians, including some who were passing by and looked in for a while. These included Jenavieve Cooke (who sang a song with the Vipers) and Haruka Kikuchi, back from her European tour and shortly heading to Japan for a festival.

Jim managed to video some numbers, so watch out for his YouTube offerings. This one (CLICK ON HERE TO VIEW) brilliantly captures the atmosphere in Frenchmen Street on a September night.

He says: 'If you can't tell,  I am still on Cloud Nine about the experience'. I know the feeling.

Post 259: 'AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL' - SHAYE AND TS

Many musicians dislike playing At The Jazz Band Ball. When the band-leader announces it, they think, 'Oh, no. Not that. It's boringly repetitive and so simple that it presents nothing of interest - no challenges'.

It is indeed a very simple tune, consisting of just 32 bars, and it is usually played in the key of Bb. It breaks down into two 16-bar parts. All that can be said for Part A is that it is in the related key of G minor and that bars 1 to 4 and bars 9 to 12 are actually on the chord of G minor, so that at least gives it a certain flavour.

But Part B (16 bars entirely in Bb) is the section on which bands tend to stick and on which improvisations develop. Part B's chord progression uses The Circle of Fifths, which makes it so easy to create variations that it is all a bit too easy. Musicians can be tempted to play on automatic pilot.

The reason I'm making these points is that at last I have come across a YouTube video that shows how musicians playing this tune can be creative and turn it into an exciting experience.

It's our old friends Tuba Skinny under the direction of Shaye Cohn who have worked the trick, in a performance kindly filmed for us recently by James Sterling: CLICK HERE.

Establishing a sensible tempo, they play Part A (the minor key section) only twice (at the start and again at 1 minute 1 second - notice Shaye signalling this with the hand on the head); but Part B is played no fewer than 13 times.

In particular, you have to admire Shaye on the cornet for participating in at least 9 of those 13 choruses - sometimes taking the lead but often putting in decoration while Craig or Barnabus take their turn to lead. Just listen to the notes and variations she plays. Observe her fingers and admire the energy she puts into her contribution. (This is in spite of the fact that, according to a correspondent,  she was suffering from a cold at the time.)

By the way, if you have trouble sorting out those thirteen Part B choruses, it may help to look out for the 5th - Jason's banjo 'solo'. Then you will find Todd leads on the 9th and Robin on the 10th.

At The Jazz Band Ball was created by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1917 - so it's more than 100 years old. You can listen to them in 1918 playing it at break-neck speed. In just two and a half minutes, they get through Part A four times and Part B six times! CLICK HERE.

Post 258: SHAYE COHN'S MOZARTIAN QUALITIES

I have said before that Shaye Cohn's playing reminds me of Mozart. In particular, it makes me think of the viola part in Mozart's string quartets.

Here's why. Mozart's quartets are like lively interesting well-informed conversations between four intelligent and sympathetic friends. If you study the viola's rôle in a Mozart string quartet, what do you discover? 

Extract from a Mozart String Quartet
 - highlighting the Viola's rôle.

The viola sometimes takes the lead (playing the melody, you could say) but more often you find it responding, commenting cleverly and perceptively on the remarks of the others, coming up with surprising original thoughts, sparkling and witty, or sad, sympathetic and pensive as the occasion demands. It can play very quickly, producing a lot of notes rapidly when there is something exciting to say. But the viola does not show off or attempt to dominate. It both compliments and complements the contributions of the other instruments.

Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Shaye's playing in any jazz ensemble is exactly like that. She is not a showy player. Not from her will you hear those screaming, raucous, high-note 32-bar solo choruses to which so many traditional jazz trumpeters resort (though she easily plays notes such as A5 [SPN] when the melody requires - as in Variety Stomp and Dallas Rag). One of my readers emailed me to say he watches her solos 'with anticipation. What comes next? Her playing is so unpredictable'. I know exactly what he means. The rest of us can play corny cliché-ridden improvisations but Shaye seems effortlessly to come up with phrases that are magical and stunning in their originality.

She is so energetic in her playing and her thinking. One of my regular correspondents - Lou in the USA - has twice sent me emails in praise of Shaye; and they are worth quoting:

I couldn't agree with you more. I find myself more and more separating her horn from the rest of the piece. I've discovered that she has a very versatile tongue. One just knows that she doesn't have to think about what's coming next for her. She may think ahead for the arrangement, but her playing just flows naturally. I can hear the little notes she drops here and there that she just has to do because they belong. 

and:
I marvel at her stamina in numbers like 'Weary Blues'. She just blows her heart out, all in such a matter of fact way.
I think Lou is absolutely right.

Shaye produces a unique tone that perfectly encapsulates the blues feeling that is at the heart of so much of our music. Listen closely to her busy fluent phrases, often muted and in the background, interwoven brilliantly into the polyphony of her band's wonderful music. That's why I am reminded of the viola in Mozart's string quartets.

Shaye has an instinctive understanding of rhythmic possibilities, subtle and surprising harmonies and progressions, even when improvising at high speed. She can 'bend' notes to great effect and in exactly the right places.

She always works hard to encourage great teamwork from the band, not just to display her own skills. Her playing takes account of (and usually directs) all that is going on around her.

Bearing in mind that she is not only brilliant on the cornet but is also one of the very best on the piano and violin (and is an arranger and a formidable composer - just think of Pyramid Strut and Tangled Blues, for example), I have to say I have not come across a traditional jazz musician who impresses me more than Shaye. She is simply the best.