Post 194: 'CLIMAX RAG' PLAYED BY SHOTGUN

Have you seen this video of Marla Dixon's Shotgun Jazz Band? They are playing Climax Rag, written by James Scott 100 years ago. We are all indebted to the videomaker codenamed bljl1223 for making this available to us on YouTube.

Haruka Kikuchi

It has so much to offer:

1. sensational playing and teamwork;

2. super breaks;

3. a stomping and precise rhythm section (John, Tyler and Justin);

4. James Evans and Haruka (having recently settled in with this band) really enjoying themselves and playing some amazing unrestrained stuff;

5. a 'quiet' chorus;

6. a front-line-only chorus;

7. a super raw final chorus;

8. a fun coda;

9. twelve variations on the final Chorus with a range of entertaining and interesting treatments;

10. Marla's dynamic leadership throughout.

The whole performance is driven along by the pulsating poom-poom-poom-poom rhythmic pattern (rather than um-chook-um-chook) that I personally find thrilling and entirely appropriate to this type of tune.

Try for yourself. Set your feet tapping by

CLICKING ON HERE.

Post 193: 'BUGLE BOY MARCH'

Several tunes played by traditional jazz bands started life as Marches, composed for brass bands or military bands or light orchestras.

Bugle Boy March is one of those tunes with an introduction and three sections (including a key change for the third). Many bands have it in their repertoire. This is not surprising because it has good melodies, an easy chord structure and a final theme on which it is easy to improvise.

Here's how it sounds to me. But if you want a really tidy version, go to the one prepared by the great and generous Lasse Collin:
CLICK HERE.
As you can see, I have entered mine in one of my mini-filofaxes. This is how I hear and play it:

For my convenience (being a Bb instrument player), I have put it in the key of G, modulating to C at Section C.

So in fact its Concert Key is F, modulating in to Bb.

The final theme (C) is a straightforward 32 bars (16 + 16) and easy to present in various ways, with multifarious decorations.

The march was composed in 1907 by Francis A. Myers (1875 - 1960). Myers played clarinet for four years in the band of John Philip Sousa before going on to become a formidable band-leader, composer and music tutor.

Band-leaders like to tell their audiences the story (probably true) of how this tune got its name - Bugle Boy March.

Myers himself entitled it The American Soldier. But in the early days of rival jazz bands - particularly in New Orleans - when musicians discovered a good new tune such as this, they would play and learn it from the sheet music and then cut the title off the top of the music with scissors and give the tune another name. This was intended to make it hard for other bands to get hold of it!

So the name Bugle Boy March stuck; and is still preferred by jazzers.