Post 61: NEW ORLEANS SINCE HURRICANE KATRINA

I live about 5000 miles from New Orleans and have managed to visit the great City only four times in my life. The most recent visit was for ten days in April 2015, to coincide with The French Quarter Festival. Before that, my previous visit had been in the 1990s, when Preservation Hall was the obvious place to go for top-quality traditional jazz. At that time, there was some good jazz to be heard in several bars and restaurants; and there were quite a few decent busking groups on the streets. The musicians were mainly black and many of them were elderly (and alas have since died: think of Narvin Kimball, Percy and Willie Humphrey, Milton Batiste, Lionel Ferbos, Pud Brown, Danny Barker, Harold Dejan and James Prevost - all of whom I had the pleasure of hearing). But in the 1990s nobody would have thought of Frenchmen Street (at the eastern edge of the French Quarter) as the best place to look for outstanding traditional jazz. 

In 2015, I found the situation had changed dramatically. For example, Frenchmen Street had now become the place to base yourself in the evenings if you wanted the choice of a wide range of top-quality bands playing in various bars and clubs.

The Spotted Cat, Frenchmen Street
April 2015

Big developments had occurred since Hurricane Katrina. Maybe the hurricane was the catalyst for change.

You will recall that the hurricane struck in August 2005. A huge area was flooded by up to fifteen feet of water. 80% of New Orleans and large tracts of neighbouring parishes were covered; and the flood waters lingered for weeks. About 2000 people lost their lives, half of them in and around New Orleans.

It could have marked the end of jazz in New Orleans; and indeed the homes of many musicians were destroyed and they had to leave.

But from 2006, as the City started to rebuild, a new young generation began to migrate to New Orleans. They came from all parts of America, as well as a few from Canada and Europe. They were mostly young white musicians - some of them straight out of music colleges - and they started to settle in New Orleans in the hope of making a career in music. Surprisingly, many of them wanted to play the old tunes (of 1910 - 1940) in the old styles. Learning from 78 rpm records, and CD reissues and increasingly from the internet (especially YouTube) they mastered music that had rarely been played in the previous 70 years.

Todd Burdick is best known as the tuba player and founder member of Tuba Skinny. He told me he came to New Orleans from Chicago and at the time you could find a pal and jointly rent a shotgun house near the French Quarter for just 400 dollars a month. (The price by 2015 had risen to 900 dollars a month.)

It was a hard life and I guess some of them soon gave up. But many settled. They made just enough money to survive by playing for tips on the streets. They started to find like-minded musicians who became their friends and formed themselves into bands. A good example was The Loose Marbles - a band in which founder members were Ben Polcer (a graduate of the Univeristy of Michigan) and Michael Magro. They encouraged promising newcomers to pass through the band's ranks and hone their skills. Many of the musicians who developed their talents in Loose Marbles have gone on to form bands of their own: think of Tom Saunders and the Tom Cats, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns, Tuba Skinny, and The Orleans Six, for example.

Shaye Cohn of Tuba Skinny has said: 'One thing really important to The Loose Marbles was ensemble playing. When I first started with them, I was playing second trumpet. So I had to work to find a voice where I could fit in. It taught me to play very simply, and to listen'.

The Loose Marbles still exists and is attracting plenty of gigs. As the sixty or so musicians who have played in Loose Marbles all still feel part of the family, it is easy enough for Ben and Michael to put together half a dozen of them to play at a gig.

To see a video of great historical interest - The Loose Marbles playing in the street in 2007, CLICK HERE. And to see them playing indoors in those early post-Katrina days, CLICK HERE.

The great banjo player John Dixon told me that with the musicians came some great dancers - people such as Amy Johnson and Chance Bushman; and they in turn attracted more dancers..... and so more musicians.

In the hottest months, it became customary to decamp to the cooler regions in the north, so you might find some of these bands in August busking in New York's Washington Square, for example. Some of the musicians head north in August to work as tutors in residential Jazz Camps. More recently, some of the bands have even been able to tour overseas during the summer.

As part of their learning and development, some players, after arriving in New Orleans, decided to take up a second or even a third instrument. They taught themselves and - in just a few years - reached the highest levels on these instruments. Think of Barnabus Jones. He arrived in New Orleans as a violinist. He then mastered the banjo. And finally he bought an old trombone and mastered that. Now he is regarded as one of the finest traditional jazz trombonists in the history of jazz. Then there is Shaye Cohn. She arrived as an outstanding pianist and accomplished violinist. She obtained a very old cornet (which she still plays - she told me it is the only horn she possesses), taught herself the fingering, and just a few years later has surely become the most creative traditional jazz cornet player in the world.

Shaye kindly allowed me to take
a photo of her world-famous cornet.

Todd Burdick arrived in New Orleans as a banjo and guitar player. He is now one of the best jazz tuba players. And that isn't enough. He told me he is now trying to learn the string bass to add to his armoury. Todd said with some regret he hardly ever gets invited to play a gig on banjo these days because 'people seem to have forgotten that I play the instrument'!

It was an enormous pleasure
for me to meet Todd Burdick.

Todd on guitar -
a few years ago.

As the years have gone by, bands have emerged and developed - all with distinctive styles. Hundreds of hours spent making music on the streets and later playing at gigs in bars and clubs have brought the standard of traditional jazz performance in New Orleans to a musical level at least equal to that of the 1920s.

The boom in tourism and the world-wide appreciation of their music (fostered by YouTube, internet-streamed performances and CDs) has meant that the best bands no longer need to play on the streets to make a living. They can survive on the income from gigs mainly in the bars and clubs on Frenchmen Street. Indeed, Frenchmen Street is the place to be - though the great tradition still continues at Preservation Hall: every night, while I was in town, there was a long queue in St. Peter's Street waiting for the Hall to open.

A performance in Preservation Hall
April 2015

Some of the best bands to emerge since Katrina have practically given up busking in the streets, because it is such hard work and it has become so difficult to secure a prime spot. But others (such as Tuba Skinny) still choose to play in the streets at least once a week because they see this as a chance to try out new ideas and to spread the music to the people. They say it is good to play what you like when you like, without any pressures from a promoter. 

Meanwhile, more young musicians have arrived in New Orleans to try their luck. The most outstanding (such as James Evans from Wales and Haruka Kikuchi from Japan) have rapidly been recruited into established bands.

On the streets the musicians playing for tips have continued to multiply. In my view, there are now too many for their own good, because competition has made it hard to earn a living. Even so, I have to report the standards of the music to be heard on Royal Street are so high that those bands are much better and more exciting than the typical band that we find in pubs and jazz clubs here in England.

This Facebook entry by guitarist Shine Delphi shows just how hard they work - even on a birthday:
Thank y'all for the birthday love. If you're in New Orleans come give me a hug. I'll be busking with Yes Ma'am  11 - 2, then Goorin Bros hat shop 3 - 5 and I'll finish the evening over at Buffa's 11 - 1.

While I was in New Orleans I had the privilege of conversations with several of the musicians I had previously seen and admired only on YouTube. It was a special thrill to meet them. I learned a great deal about their approach to the music, and how they practise, rehearse and manage their lives. But that will be a subject to write about later.smile emoticon

Meeting the great Japanese trombonist
Haruka Kikuchi was a special thrill.
See her in full flight
BY CLICKING HERE.

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

Footnote

The Book Enjoying Traditional Jazz, written  by Pops Coffee, is available from Amazon.

Post 60: 'DILL PICKLES'

A super little tune called Dill Pickles was composed by Charles Johnson as a piano rag in about 1906 and re-issued as a song (with words by Alfred Bryan) in 1910.

The composer, Charles L. Johnson, lived from 1875 until 1950, spending practically all his life in Kansas. As a composer of light music, he produced many songs, rags, waltzes and marches.

Charles Johnson in about 1902

What I specially like about Dill Pickles is that it is a very pleasant example of the quintessential popular syncopated music of the time. Somewhat mechanical, repetitive and based on a simple chord structure, it succeeds in being pretty too.

All these qualities make it a good number for traditional jazz bands to play. But I don't know of any bands with it in their current repertoire as a full band number rather than as a pianist's party-piece.

I entered it into my filofax collection of tunes, making my own leadsheet. You will note that it has two parts (let's call them Verse and Chorus), each with 32 bars that are essentially 16 repeated. As you can see, improvisation on this tune would be very simple. I hope I may this year hear a band somewhere playing it.

Post 59: 'FROSTY MORNING BLUES'

Here's my attempt to pick out the song Frosty Morning Blues. I have enjoyed listening to Tuba Skinny's performance of it.

The song dates from 1924, was recorded by the great Bessie Smith  and is believed to have been written for her by a gentleman called Eddie Brown.

I can't guess how accurate Mr. Brown would consider my attempt, but I hope it's not too far out.

The words of this blues - which requires a good lady blues singer - are easily available on the Internet.

As you can see, there is a 16-bar verse and then a conventional 12-bar blues.

You can enjoy a street performance of the song by Erika Lewis and Tuba Skinny by clicking here.

Post 58: 'FIDGETY FEET'

Yes, it seems crazy, but I carry the whole of Fidgety Feet around on just 21 square inches of paper.

I keep it, together with hundreds of other tunes written out in this way, in a set of easily portable mini-filofaxes. I am very keen on filofaxes both as little works of art and as effective methods of storage and record-keeping.

Fidgety Feet (with its alternative title War Cloud) was recorded at a romping speed by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1918. Composer credits were given to the band's members Nick LaRocca and Larry Shields.

I like to take a filofax full of tunes with me on bus and train journeys, so that I can browse through them and brush away some of the rust that develops in the brain if you go several months without playing a particular number.

Post 57: THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE TRENT - AND SPOT THE DIFFERENCE!

Here's a really tough challenge for you. One of these two pictures shows me standing beside the mighty River Mississippi in New Orleans. The other shows me standing beside the mighty River Trent near my home here in Nottingham, England. Can you figure out which is which?

And while we're on the subject of spotting differences, can you detect any difference between the melodies of 'If You Don't Want Me, Please Don't Dog Me Around' and 'Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor'? You can hear them in these two videos.

1. CLICK HERE TO VIEW

2. CLICK HERE TO VIEW

Post 56: THE EARLY DAYS; AND THE ABUNDANCE OF GOOD SONGS

Historians have given many reasons why jazz developed in New Orleans when it did. There were so many influences and so many sources of inspiration.

But one reason that is often overlooked is that there were so many tunes available at the time that lent themselves conveniently to interpretation in a 'jazzy' way. I sometimes wonder whether early jazz would have developed without the abundance of good suitable popular music at the time.

It was the age when you made your own musical entertainment in the home or you went to the music halls to find it. The early jazz bands had hundreds of tunes to choose from. Most have been long forgotten but just think about this: you could still today make up a good traditional jazz programme entirely from well-known tunes written more than 100 years ago.

Already by the early 1900s, such songs as these were available to the bands:

Beautiful Dreamer
After the Ball
You've Been a Good Old Wagon But You Done Broke Down
A Hot Time in Old Town
Way Down Upon the Swannee River
Ciribiribin
Smoky Mokes
Whistling Rufus
At a Georgia Camp Meeting
Maple Leaf Rag
My Wild Irish Rose
You Tell Me Your Dream
Creole Belle
Hiawatha
High Society
Indiana
Bill Bailey
The Entertainer
In the Sweet Bye and Bye
Oh Didn't He Ramble
Under the Bamboo Tree
Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider
Meet Me In St. Louis

And in the next ten years these were among the hundreds composed:

My Gal Sal

In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree

Redwing

Down in Jungle Town

Dusty Rag

Shine on Harvest Moon

Ace in the Hole

Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland

Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet

That's a Plenty

I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now

Chinatown

Down By the Old Mill Stream

Some of these days

Silver Bell

Washington and Lee Swing

I Want a Girl Just like the Girl

Alexander's Ragtime Band

Oh You Beautiful Doll

Ballin' The Jack

Curse of an Aching Heart

You Made Me Love You

Down Among The Sheltering Palms

If I Had You

St Louis Blues

Twelfth Street Rag

When You Wore a Tulip

Yellow Dog Blues

Blame it on the Blues

Georgia Grind

Hesitating Blues

Memories

Paper Doll

When I Leave the World Behind

No wonder those early players - Buddy Bolden, Kid Ory and the like - could put on an entertaining programme for dancers. Such a thing would not be possible today. It's hard to think of much pop music of the last thirty years that lends itself readily to traditional jazz treatment.

Post 55: A VIDEO TO CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS

Here are ten assumptions.

1. A traditional jazz band can not function properly if it has more than eight musicians. WRONG.

2. You won't find a traditional jazz band with three young ladies among its musicians. WRONG.

3. You should never have a saxophone in a traditional jazz band. WRONG.

4. The violin is NOT an instrument to be played in a traditional jazz band. WRONG.

5. The only places for a traditional jazz band to be enjoyed are a club and a concert hall - NOT the street. WRONG.

6. The world of traditional jazz is full of very old people, so traditional jazz is dying out. WRONG.

7. Young players of traditional jazz? It would be hard to find many. WRONG.

8. All members of a band should wear a matching, smart uniform.  WRONG.

9. Traditional jazz should be taken very seriously. WRONG.

10. You should never have a clarinet AND a saxophone together in a band. WRONG.

That indefatigable video-maker codenamed RaoulDuke504 - for whom we should all be eternally grateful - has put up another video on YouTube. It illustrates all the above. I hope you will share my enjoyment. By the way, the lady singer - I am told (thanks, John Whitehorn!) - was Tamar Korn from New York. You can find her elsewhere on YouTube. I guess she happened to be passing by. She joined in with the band just for this one song:

Click here to view it.

Post 54: A NEW AUDIENCE FOR OUR MUSIC?

Regular readers will know I frequently bemoan the fact that - where I live in England (and I believe in many other parts of the world) - most of the audiences for traditional jazz concerts consist of people aged 75 and above. 

The musicians, too, are mostly in that same age category.

It is no surprise that we see the audiences gradually dwindling; and the bands struggling to survive as the musicians retire or die. Venues and festivals are not as numerous as they once were.

However, one of my optimistic musician friends recently made an interesting point in a discussion with me. I think it is worth passing on.

He claims to have noticed that quite a few people, after retiring from their jobs, look for ways of keeping themselves amused and entertained in their retirement. Some of them discover - to their surprise - that traditional jazz bands are playing lunchtime concerts in pubs near where they live. After giving the music a try, they find they very much enjoy going out for a pub lunch with such musical entertainment. Still aged in their 60s, they become 'regulars', replacing the older disappearing members of the audience.

I hope my friend is right. I go to four or five pub lunchtime sessions every month and I must say I too have met just a few people in this 'new audience' category.

Of course, there is still the problem that we also need to maintain the supply of musicians, but perhaps there are also some promising amateurs who will soon retire from their day jobs and think about taking up traditional jazz playing as a hobby.

Post 53: SCREAMING TRUMPETS OR GOOD TASTE?

Which of these two types of trumpet (or cornet) player do you prefer?

PLAYER A: He produces screaming 32-bar solos or even 64-bar solos [32 x 2], sometimes raucous, using lots of notes, especially high ones, often pulsating, but with not much feeling apart from sheer energy, and with little attention to the subtleties of the music.

Norman Thatcher

PLAYER B : He concentrates on the effects of the ensemble, contributing subtly, imaginatively and with soul to the harmonic progressions and - if taking a solo at all - he keeps it short and achieves effects through harmony, tone, surprising phrasing - without any exhibitionism. Have a listen to the late Norman Thatcher playing in this manner. And of course Ken Colyer was famous for setting the standard in this type of playing. That's what I would call soulful and musical trumpet playing:

Click here.

When I was beginning to study traditional jazz trumpet playing 27 years ago, I attended a tasteful concert given in Norwich by the band run by the late great clarinetist Chris Blount (who incidentally may also be heard playing beautifully with Norman in the video above). Throughout the first half, I closely watched the trumpeter (Bill Dickens) who played the perfect lead in this band where good melodies and neat teamwork were always principal features.

I noticed that, although he produced some very pleasing solo choruses, he never played a note above the F at the top of the stave. I mentioned this to Bill during the interval. 'No need to,' he said.

And since 2010 we have been able to enjoy on YouTube the playing of young Shaye Cohn, who sets an example to the whole trad jazz world of how to play a brass instrument tastefully. I have watched her in more than 150 videos and never caught her attempting the screaming, raucous pointless high-note flashy type of solo.

What Shaye offers is soul. Her tone, her bluesy phrasing, her bending of notes, her emphasis on teamwork and ensemble are second to none. Some of her best and cleverest playing occurs where you hardly notice it - in the background while accompanying the singer or decorating the lead or solo being taken by another member of the band. She's particularly clever at incorporating the sixth, the flattened third and seventh and the ninths of chords into her subtle runs.

Take for example, a video of Memphis Shake - a routine performance by Tuba Skinny standards. Just concentrate on every note Shaye plays. Notice how she works hard throughout, with amazing variations on the melody, but always as part of a team - bringing out the best in colleagues and in the band as a whole.
Click here to view it.
Or look at a more recent performance of Dallas Rag. Energetic, and including a few high A flats and As, but never mere exhibitionism. Isn't that so much more musical than those screaming solos?
Click here to view it.

----------------------
Reader Sam Wood has sent me this comment:

Hello Ivan,
 
There is a way to deal with screaming trumpeters.  Near the end of their second screaming 32-bar chorus, just shout "Great, do another!"  Usually their lip can't manage another 32 screaming bars and the third chorus falls somewhere between anti-climax and disaster.  Sometimes they take a hint from this experience.
 
Works best with over-enthusiastic sitters-in.  Doesn't work so well when the trumpet player is the band leader.
 
If this problem occurs with a modern-style tenor sax player (it is always a tenor player) the only solution is to retire to the bar.  You will have time for a pint. 
 
Regards,
 
Sam

Post 52: JAZZ IN A MINI FILOFAX

My project to collect hundreds of tunes played by traditional jazz bands and to store them in mini filofaxes never ends. I enjoy making my own lead sheets in miniature and being able to carry so many tunes around conveniently. Likewise, every newly-added tune slots easily into its place in alphabetical order.

Generally, I can get a complete tune on to one page of mini filofax, though the more complicated multi-part pieces, such as rags, sometimes run to three pages.

Open up one of these delightful little books and this is the sort of thing to be found.

Most musicians play from large sheets of printed music on a music stand, so my system would not work for them. But for my purposes, as an aide-mémoire, the mini filofax is ideal.

I attempt to play the keyboard and the cornet, and my repertoire is limited to popular music, mostly from the period 1850 to 1965. More than half the tunes have choruses in a 32-bar structure, and it is easy to get 32 bars on to one mini filofax page – even easier if there is some repetition that can be indicated as such  (usually in the first and second ‘eights’).

Is it really possible to get the whole of Climax Rag on to a lead sheet that is just two sides of one mini filofax page? Yes.

I use only the MINI size because I want portability, simplicity and minimalism. I start with a blank page. I rule stave lines and leave sufficient space between the staves to enter further information, such as chord names and repeat signs.

All I need are the notes of the tune and the letters representing the chord changes. When I’m playing the keyboard, I improvise the chords in the left hand.

Sometimes, if I need the lyrics too, I also write out the words.

By the way, you can watch a beautifully-judged performance of Tuba Skinny playing Climax Rag in January 2016 BY CLICKING HERE.

Where do I find my tunes? I have a sack full of buskers’ books and old printed music. If I need a tune that is not in a book or available on the Internet, I try to pick it out by ear and – using my keyboard – work out the harmonies for myself.

When my friends and I get together to play, we do not use sheet music. We allow for plenty of improvisation. So we do not need music stands, either. However, we all do our homework first; and that means learning the tunes before we get together.

So I take a mini filofax with me whenever I’m travelling. While on the bus or train or having my mid-morning coffee in one of our excellent cafeterias here in Nottingham, I learn a tune or two.

When playing with my friends, I sometimes keep tunes handy, just in case I need to check something.

Post 51: THE REPERTOIRE OF TUBA SKINNY

Introductory Note

The book - 'Tuba Skinny and Shaye Cohn' by Pops Coffee - is available from Amazon:

_____________________________________________________________________

Tuba Skinny, as far as I know, is the best traditional jazz band playing anywhere in the world today. And the great thing about it is that its members are YOUNG!

Although the band has been in existence for only nine years, it has built up an extraordinary repertoire so different from that of hundreds of other trad bands who go on playing the same old Bill Bailey, All of Me and Muskrat Ramble month in, month out.

Tuba Skinny's programmes mostly comprise exciting unfamiliar gems they have unearthed from the 1920s and 1930s (e.g. New Orleans Bump, You Can Have My Husband, Cold Morning Shout, Echo in the Dark, Forget Me Not Blues, Jackson Stomp, The Cotton Pickers' Rag, Deep Henderson, Banjoreno, Treasures Untold, Russian Rag, Oriental Strut, Minor Drag, Michigander Blues, In Harlem's Araby, Me and My Chauffeur, A Jazz Battle, Droppin' Shucks, Fourth Street Mess Around, Carpet Alley Breakdown). The almost-forgotten artists whose music they have revived include Lucille Bogan, Bo Carter, Big Bill Broonzy, Sara Martin, Victoria Spivey, Memphis Minnie, Jabbo Smith, Skip James, Merline Johnson, Blind Boy Fuller, Hattie Hart, The Memphis Jug Band, The Tennessee Chocolate Drops, Clara Smith, The Original St. Louis Crackerjacks, The Dixieland Jug Blowers, The South Street Trio and The Mississippi Mud Steppers; and of course they also play tunes associated with the better-known, such as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. And they will surprise you by going to some unconventional sources for tunes they turn into exciting traditional jazz - sources such as Ray Charles and the 21st-century Australian original C. W. Stoneking.

Also in their use of structures, rhythmic variations, key changes, introductions, codas and the sharing and backing of 'solo' choruses or half-choruses, Tuba Skinny have much to teach the rest of us.

Tuba Skinny must have spent a great deal of time researching tunes from the 1920s and 1930s that risked falling into obscurity. Their own Twenty-First Century versions manage both to show respect for the originals and yet at the same time present the tunes in a fresh and exciting manner.

Thanks to the immense generosity of this band and of those who make videos of their performances, it is possible (particularly on YouTube) for the whole world to see and hear them.

With considerable effort, I struggled to maintain a list of the tunes played by Tuba Skinny that constantly appear on YouTube. Sometimes I have difficulty in identifying them or find it impossible. 

However, I did my best and the following list contains almost 400 tunes you can already hear Tuba Skinny playing, via the Internet, mainly on YouTube. I have obviously had to omit a dozen or so whose titles I don't know. (They have also made nine albums.)

I think you will agree that to have mastered such a repertoire in such a short time is a remarkable achievement. And you will notice how many of these wonderful tunes are missing from the repertoire of most trad bands.

When I finally got to meet the band (on 10 April 2015, while visiting New Orleans), Erika Lewis told me she was aware of my efforts in maintaining this list and that the band sometimes looked at it when planning a concert. They found it helpful in reminding themselves of tunes they hadn't played for some time. So I considered myself to be an honorary assistant librarian!

After You’ve Gone (on their CD Tuba Skinny. Composed by Creamer and Layton, 1927)

Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll (on their CD Six Feet Down)

Ain't Nobody's Business (Correct title - 'Nobody's Business' - see below)

Ain't That a Shame (Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew, 1955)
Alexander's Ragtime Band (Irving Berlin, 1913)

All By Myself (Big Bill Broonzy, 1941. Up-tempo 12-bar blues)

Alligator Crawl (on their CD Pyramid Strut) (Fats Waller 1927)

All Night Long Blues aka Richmond Blues (Recorded 1927 by Dick Burnett and Leonard Rutherford. Similar to 'The Girls Go Crazy'.)
All I Want is a Spoonful On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (Papa Charlie Jackson: an 8-bar theme from 1925)

Almost Afraid to Love (On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Composed by Ann Turner for Georgia White 1938)

Any Kinda Man (would be better than you) On their CD Garbage Man and on their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (Written & recorded by Hattie McDaniel, 1929. Recorded by Victoria Spivey, 1936)

Any Old Time (Jimmie Rodgers, 1929; on their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream)
At The Jazz Band Ball (on their CD Six Feet Down)

Avalon (on their CD Tuba Skinny) (Da Sylva, Vincent Rose and Al Jolson, 1920)

Baby, How Can It Be? (Played as a 32-bar a-a-b-a. On their CD Rag Band) (Armenter Bo Chatmon [stage name Bo Carter] recorded it in 1931 as a 24-bar in his first three choruses)

Baby, I'd Love to Steal You On their 2020 Album Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (Recorded in 1943 by Bunk Johnson, who said Tony Jackson composed it circa 1900)

Baby, Please Don't Go (Joseph Lee 'Big Joe' Williams, 1935)

Ballin' The Jack (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. J. Burris and Chris Smith & possibly James Reese Europe, 1923)

Banjoreno (on their CD Rag Band) (H. Clifford, 1926, for the Dixieland Jug Blowers)

Beau-Koo Jack (Alex Hill & Louis Armstrong, 1928)

Beautiful Dreamer (Stephen Foster, 1862)

Beer Garden Blues (Lewis Raymond and Clarence Williams, 1933, with words by Walter Bishop)

Bellamina On their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream. (1925. Anon. Bahamian folk song)

Berlin Rags (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Ewan Bleach, 2016)

Be Your Natural Self (Frankie Jaxon, 1938; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

Big Chief Battleaxe (on their CD Pyramid Strut. Composed by T. Allen in 1907)

Big City Blues (Con Conrad [m] & Archie Gottler and Sydney Mitchell [wds], 1929; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

Bill Bailey (Hughie Cannon, 1902)

Billie’s Blues (on their CD Tuba Skinny) (Billie Holiday, 1936)

Billy Goat Stomp (Jelly Roll Morton, 1927)

Biscuit Roller (on their CD Rag Band) (1937, Richard M. Jones and Georgia White)
Black Hand Blues (Hattie Hudson, 1927)

Black Mountain Blues (J.C. Johnson, 1930. Recorded by Bessie Smith)
Black Rag (William Ridgley, 1925. Very similar to 'Down Home Rag'. Recorded by Celestin's Tuxedo Orchestra.)

Blood Thirsty Blues (on their CD Pyramid Strut. Written and recorded by Victoria Spivey, 1927)

Blue (Bill Mack, 1958)

Blue Chime Stomp (On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Shaye Cohn, 2015)

Blue Devil Blues (possibly Sara Martin and her Jug Band 1925)

Blue Moon of Kentucky Keep on Shining (Bill Monroe, 1946)

Blue Sky Blues (12-bar 'Woke up this morning' blues. Mississippi Blacksnakes, c. 1930; probably composed by Walter Vinson.)

Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me (Arthur Swanstone, Chas McCarron & Carey Morgan, 1919)

Boodle Am Shake (Spencer Williams & Jack Palmer, 1926. Recorded that year by Clarence Williams' Washboard Beaters)

Bouncing Around (Armand J. Piron & Peter Bocage, 1923; on their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream)

Bourbon Street Parade (Paul Barbarin, 1950)

Broken-Hearted Blues (composed by Erika Lewis, 2009; on their CD Tuba Skinny; and on their CD Blue Chime Stomp)

Broken-Hearted Blues (a second tune with this name - the one written and recorded by Lil Johnson in 1937 -  is on their CD Garbage Man)

Bugle Boy March (Francis Myers, 1907; though he called it 'The American Soldier')

Bumblebee (recorded by Memphis Minnie in 1930)

Burgundy Street Blues (George Lewis, 1944. Shaye plays it on the cornet!)

Call of the Freaks (see also Garbage Man Blues.; on their CD Tupelo Pine) 

Cannon Ball Blues (on their CD Owl Call Blues. How brilliantly they tackle even a 12-bar blues - with three key changes in two and a half minutes!)

Careless Love (on their CD Tuba Skinny. W. C. Handy)

Carpet Alley Breakdown (Cal Smith and Henry Clifford. Recorded by Johnny Dodds, 1926)

C.C. (See See) Rider  (Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey, 1925)

Cemetery Blues (Sid Laney, 1923. Recorded by Bessie Smith)
Chalmette Sunset (Barnabus Jones, 2020. 24-bar reverie in Ab. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Chloe (C. N. Daniels and Kahn, 1927. On their CD Tuba Skinny; and on their CD Blue Chime Stomp.)

Chocolate Avenue (on their CD Tupelo Pine; Clarence Williams - though prob purloined from Herman Blount [aka Sun Ra], 1933)
Climax Rag (on their CD Rag Band) (James Scott, 1914)

Cold Mornin' Shout (on their CD Pyramid Strut) (Bobby Leecan for The South Street Trio, 1926)

Come Along Little Children (recorded 1932 by Will Shade and The Picaninny Jug Band)

Come On and Stomp Stomp Stomp (on their CD Tupelo Pine; Thomas Waller, Chris Smith and Irving Mills, 1927)

Come On Boys Let's Do That Messin' Around (Blind Blake, 1926)

Come On In (Ain't Nobody Here But Me) (Basic 16-bar, recorded by Harum Scarums, inc. Big Bill Broonzy, 1931)
Cotton Pickers' Drag (Ben Tinnon, 1930, for the Grinnell Giggers)
Coquette (Guy Lombardo tune from 1928)

Corrine, Corrina (12-bar blues. J Mayo Williams & Bo Chatmon, 1929)

Corrine, What Makes You Treat Me So? (16-bar. On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Blind Boy Fuller, 1937)
Crazy Blues (written by Perry Bradford, 1927)

Crazy 'Bout You (on their CD Owl Call Blues. Big Bill Broonzy and the State Street Boys, 1935)

Crazy Chords (Jelly Roll Morton, 1930. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Crowing Rooster Blues (simple 12-bar, recorded by Lonnie Johnson in 1928.)

Crow Jane (on their CD Rag Band) (Skip James, 1931)

Crumpled Paper (Michael Magro, 2012. 12-bar in a minor key, played previously by Loose Marbles in the TV series 'Treme')

Cushion Foot Stomp (Clarence Williams, 1927. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Daddy Let Me Lay It On You (Walter Coleman,  1934. Recorded by Georgia White, 1936.)

Dallas Blues (Hart A. Wand, 1912; words added by Lloyd Garrett, 1918)

Dallas Rag (on their CD Owl Call Blues; Dallas String Band, 1927)

Dangerous Blues (on their CD Tupelo Pine; ODJB 1921. Composed the the young girl Billie Brown, who died aged 18 of smallpox)

Dear Almanzoer (On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Oscar 'Papa' Celestin, 1927)

Deep Bayou Moan (on their CD Tupelo Pine and on their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll; Shaye Cohn 2017)

Deep Henderson (on their CD Pyramid Strut) (Fred Rose, 1926)

Deep Minor Rhythm Stomp (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Eddie Lang, 1929)

Delta Bound (Alex Hill, 1931; on their CD Rag Band; and separately recorded on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)
Diamond Dove (See 'The Diamond Dove Song' below)

Dirty TB Blues (Composed and recorded by Victoria Spivey, 1929)

Dodo Blues (C. W. Stoneking, 2006)

Doing a Stretch (Recorded by Blind Blake, 1929)

Do It Right (12-bar song. Recorded in 1929 by Coot Grant and her husband Wesley 'Kid' Wilson; and in 1929 by Pigmeat Pete (Wesley Wilson) and Catjuice Charlie (Harry McDaniel). Composed (words and music) by Willie Jones.

Dónde Están Corazón (Luis Martinez Serrano, 1924)

Don't Ease Me In (A very basic two-chord 16-bar [8 + 8]. Henry Thomas; 1928)
Don't Jive Me (Better known as 'I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water', q.v.)

Don't You Feel My Leg (Danny Barker, Blu Lu Barker and J. Mayo Williams, 1938)

Do Your Duty (on their CD Six Feet Down) (Wesley Wilson for Bessie Smith, 1933. See also Keyhole Blues)

Down in the Valley (Folk song. Recorded [though in 3/4 time] by Jimmie Tarlton and Tom Darby, 1927)

Dreaming The Hours Away (Will E. Dulmage, 1927. Recorded 1928 by Clarence Williams' Jazz Kings)

Dream Shadows (On their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream. Recorded by The East Texas Serenaders, 1929)

Droppin’ Shucks (Lil Hardin, 1926)

Dusting The Frets (Carl Davis [and the Dallas Jamboree Jug Band] 1935; on their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream)

Dusty Rag (composed by May Aufderheide of Indianapolis in 1908!)

Dyin’ Blues (Blind Blake, 1926)

Eagle Riding Papa (on their CD Tupelo Pine; Thomas A. Dorsey, 1929)
Echo in the Dark (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Recorded 1937 by The Original St. Louis Crackerjacks; composed in 1936 by their leader and pianist Chick Finney)

Egyptian Ella (composed by Walter Doyle in 1931)

El Deber de Los Dos (composed by Lorenzo Caballero; recorded date unknown by Lydia Mendoza. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

El Rado Scuffle (composed by Fred Rose; recorded 1930 by Jimmy Noone)

Elysian Fields (Shaye Cohn, 2018. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Everybody Loves My Baby (1922; by Jack Palmer and Spencer Williams)

Exactly Like You (Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, 1930)

Faraway Blues (composed by Fletcher Henderson in 1920)

Farewell Blues (Schoelbel, Rappollo, Mares, 1922)

Farewell to Storyville (Spencer Williams, 1924. But he called it 'Good Time Flat Blues')

Fingering With Your Fingers (Created by The Mississippi Sheiks in 1935)

Fireworks (1928. Clarence Williams and Spencer Williams. Recorded by The Original Memphis Five and by Louis Armstrong's Hot Five; on their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream)

Forever I'll Be Yours (Waltz-tempo. Allen Bunn [aka Tarheel Slim] 1960. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Forget Me Not Blues On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (A familiar pattern: 16-bar chorus with breaks on bars 9 - 12; recorded - and perhaps composed - by Sara Martin in 1925)

Fourth Street Mess Around (composed by Will Shade for The Memphis Jug Band, 1930)

Freight Train Blues (on their CD Pyramid Strut; Recorded 1924

by Clara Smith. Composers: Thomas A Dorsey & Everett Murphy)
Frisco Bound (a 10-bar blues! Composed by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe in 1929)

Frog Hop (on their CD Tupelo Pine; Composer : Clifford Hayes, 1928. Recorded by Clifford Hayes' Louisville Stompers that year)

Frog-i-More Rag (Jelly Roll Morton, 1918)

Frosty Morning Blues (on their CD Garbage Man) (Composed by Eddie Brown; recorded 1924 by Bessie Smith)

Garbage Man (on their CD Garbage Man)

Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You (composed by Razaf and Redman in 1929)
Georgia Grind (12-bar blues; composed by Spencer Williams in 1921)

Give It Up or Let Me Go (Bonnie Raitt, 1972)

Gladiolus Rag (Scott Joplin, 1907)

Going to Germany (probably a corrupted title - it is believed the original words were 'I'm Goin' to Germantown' - a short distance east of Memphis. On their CD Tupelo Pine; Noah Lewis for Cannon's Jug Stompers, 1929)

Golden Leaf Strut (Theme from 'Milenberg Joys': Walter Melrose, Leon Roppollo, Joe Mares, Jelly Roll Morton: 1925)

Good Liquor Gonna Carry Me Down (Written and recorded by Big Bill Broonzy, 1935)

Good Time Flat Blues (Also known as Farewell to Storyville. By Spencer Williams, 1924)

Got a Mind to Ramble (on their CD Owl Call Blues; recorded by Merline Johnson in the 1930s)

Got No Blues (Lil Hardin, 1927, for Louis Armstrong's Hot Five)

(You) Gotta Give Me Some (12-bar blues. On their CD Tuba Skinny; and on their CD Pyramid Strut. Composed by Clarence Williams. Recorded by Margaret Webster 1929; and also by Bessie Smith)

Got the South in my Soul (Victor Young & Lee Wiley [m] and Ned Washington [wds], 1932; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

Grandpa's Spells (Jelly Roll Morton, 1923.)

Hard Drivin' Papa (George Brooks. Recorded by Bessie Smith 1926)
Hard Pushin' Papa (Blind Blake, 1930)

Harlem Joys (Smith, Williams, Bishop, 1935. Recoded by Willie 'The Lion' Smith and His Cubs. 32-bar [16+16]. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Harlem's Araby (Fats Waller, Porter Grainger, Jo Trent, 1924)

He Ain't Got Rhythm (Irving Berlin, 1937; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya (recorded by Ma Rainey)

He Calls That Religion (12-bar blues created and recorded by The Mississippi Sheiks, 1932)

He Likes It Slow (on their CD Six Feet Down. W. Benton Overstreet for Butterbeans and Susie, 1926)

Hesitation Blues (Billy Smythe, J. Scott Middleton and Art Gillham, 1915) (on their CD Pyramid Strut)

Hey Hey, Daddy Blues (Your Mama's Feeling Blue) (1927, Blind Blake - 16-bar song)

High Society (By Porter, Steele and Melrose, 1901)

High Steppin' Mamma (Cliff Carlisle & Wilbur Ball. Recorded by Cliff Carlisle in 1931)

Hilarity Rag (James Scott, 1910)

Hindustan (Oliver Wallace and Harold Weeks, 1918)

History of Man (Trinidad calypso. T.A. Codallo, 1938; recorded 1938 by Codallo's Top Hatters Orchestra)

Hold Your Hand, Madam Khan (Trinidad calypso. Recorded 1938 by Codallo's Top Hatters Orchestra)

Home (When Shadows Fall) (Harry Clarkson, Geoffrey Clarkson & Peter Van Steeden, 1931)

Honey (32-bar, a-a-b-a) (Armenter Bo Chatmon [stage name Bo Carter] recorded it in 1930s) 

Honey Babe, Let The Deal Go Down (1930, Mississippi Sheiks – a 12-bar similar to ‘Dallas Blues’)

Hot Town (Fess Williams, 1929. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

How Can It Be? (on their CD Rag Band) (Armenter Bo Chatmon [stage name Bo Carter] recorded it in 1931)

How Come You Do Me Like You Do Do Do? (Gene Austin & Roy Bergere, 1924)

How Do They Do It That Way? (on their CD Garbage Man and on their CD Owl Call Blues) (Composed by Victoria Spivey and Reuben Floyd, Recorded by Victoria Spivey, 1929)
Humming To Myself (Sammy Fain [m] and Herbert Magidson with Monty Siegel [words], 1932)

Ice Cream (Composed by Howard Johnson, Billy Moll and Robert King, 1927)

Ice Man (written and recorded by Memphis Minnie 1936)

(The) Ida Wobble (catchy piece ending with a 12-bar blues theme; Robin Rapuzzi, 2021. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water (12-bar blues. On their CD Rag Band; Created and recorded by Eddie Miller, 1935)

If It Don't Fit, Don't Force It (By Barrel House Annie, 1937)

If You Don't, I Know Who Will (on their CD Tuba Skinny. By Clarence Williams. Recorded by Bessie Smith 1923)

If You Don't Want Me, Please Don't Dog Me Around (Chatmon brothers, 1935. Very similar to 'Make Me a Pallet on the Floor')

If You Take Me Back (recorded by Kansas Joe McCoy, c. 1934)

I Get The Blues On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. ('I'm So Blue': Bo Carter, 1935)

I Get The Blues When It Rains (Klauber and Stoddart, 1928)

I Go For That (Recorded by Dorothy Lamour in 1939; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

I Got a Man in the 'Bama Mines (Merline Johnson, 1937)

I Got a Woman (Ray Charles, 1954)

I Got The Cryin' Blues (on their CD Pyramid Strut. Composed by Sara Martin & Tom Johnson. Recorded by Sara Martin and her Jug Band 1924)

I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music (Dave Franklin, 1935)

I Like You Best of All (George A. Little, Arthur Sizemore & Larry Shay, 1928; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

I'll See You in the Spring On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (From the Memphis Jug Band, 1927)

I'm Alone Because I Love You (Joe Young, music; and Ira Schuster, words, 1930)

I'm a Winin' Boy (Jelly Roll Morton introduced this in the 1939 documentary)
I'm Blue and Lonesome (Nobody Cares for Me. On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Georgia White and Richard M. Jones, 1938)
I’m Goin’ Back Home (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Recorded by Memphis Minnie with Kansas Joe McCoy, c. 1930)

I'm Gonna Be a Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul (Sara Martin and her Jug Band, 1925)

I Need You By My Side (Hudson Whittaker 'Tampa Red', 1936)

In the Gloaming (Annie F Harrison & Meta Orred, 1877)

It Gets Easier (Max Bien-Kahn, 2022. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

It Hurts Me Too (8-bar trad.; origins in 'How Long Blues', 1928. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

It Is So Good (Charlie McCoy, 1930)

It’s Carnival Time (On their 2021 Album Mardi Gras EP. Mardi Gras tune, written and recorded by Al Johnson, 1960)

It's Nobody's Fault But Mine (probably Blind Willie Johnson, 1927)

I've Been Blue Ever Since You Went Away (32-bar a-a-b-a, Papa Charlie McCoy, 1930. Sometimes given the title 'Please Come Back To Me')

I've Got Blood in My Eyes for You (16-bar blues created and recorded by The Mississippi Sheiks, 1932)

Jackass Blues (Kassel and Stitzel, 1926)

Jackson Stomp (on their CD Rag Band. Charlie McCoy and Walter Vincson, 1930, for the Mississippi Mud Steppers)

Jailbird (Dave Bartholomew 1955: a 16-bar tune [12-bar blues plus 4-bar tag] played in G)

Jailhouse Blues (C.W. Stoneking)

Jazz Battle (On their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream; Jabbo Smith, 1929)
Jelly Bean Blues (on their CD Six Feet Down) ('Ma' Rainey with Louis Armstrong; also Bessie Smith, 1924)

Jet Black Blues (Lonnie Johnson, 1929)

Jones Law Blues (Bennie Moten and Count Basie, 1929. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Jubilee Stomp (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Duke Ellington, 1928)

Juliana, a.k.a. Julianne On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides.(Lionel Belasco; ?1937. Caribbean-style  ¾)

Junco Partner (Bob Shad, 1951. 16-bar tune. Recorded by Louis Jordan, Dr. John and others)

Just a Closer Walk With Thee (first recorded by a jazz band - 1941)

Just Like Two Drops of Water (Joe Greene, 1951. 32-bar a-a-b-a, reminiscent of spirituals. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Kansas City Stomps (Jelly Roll Morton, 1923. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Keyhole Blues (Wesley 'Kid'. Wilson, 1927. Made famous by the Armstrong Hot Seven 1927 recording)

Kicking the Rocks (Robin Rapuzzi, 2020. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Kissing in the Dark (Memphis Minnie, 1953. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Kiss Me Sweet (Steve J. Lewis & Armand J. Piron, 1923)

Kitchen Man (on their CD Six Feet Down) (Andy Razaf and Alex Belledna, 1928. Recorded by Bessie Smith. Belledna was a pseudonym of Maceo Pinkard)

Last Minute Waltz (Max Bien-Kahn, 2020. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Last Night on the Back Porch (1922, Lew Brown & Carl Schraubstader)
Late Hour Blues On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (Composed by Richard M. Jones in 1926 for Sara Martin as 'Late Last Night'; but recorded as 'Late Hour Blues' by Georgia White, 1939)

Leaving Home (Frankie and Johnny) (traditional)

Let's Get Happy Together (Lil Hardin, 1938; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

Let the Four Winds Blow (16-bar [8+8]. Dave Bartholomew and Fats Domino, 1955)

Levee Waltz (Robin Rapuzzi. On their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream)

Lily of the Valley (traditional; made famous by Paul Barbarin in 1951)
Limehouse Blues (Philip Braham & Douglas Furber, 1922)

Little Dog on the Levee (Sophisticated 12-bar Blues, with Interlude. Max Bien-Kahn, 2020. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Little Liza Jane (Countess Ada de Lachau, 1916. Popular 3-chorder, probably originating in the plantations)

Lonesome Drag (on their CD Pyramid Strut) (Erika Lewis composed the lyrics but the tune is Vine Street Drag from 1930 - see below)

Lonesome Road (on their CD Six Feet Down) (Gene Austin & Nathaniel Shilkret, 1927)

Loose Like That (on the CD Tupelo Pine; simple 8-bar tune, created by The Mississippi Sheiks in 1930)

Love in Vain (Blues) (Robert Johnson, 1937)

Love Me or Leave Me (on their CD Tuba Skinny. Donaldson and Kahn, 1928)

Lovesick Blues ('I Got a Feeling Called the Blues'. Irving Mills and Cliff Friend, 1922)

Love Songs of the Nile (1933; Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed)
Magnolia Stroll (Max Bien-Kahn; 2019. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor (Atlanta Blues. W.C. Handy 1923)
Maple Leaf Rag (On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Scott Joplin and Russell, 1899)

Mardi Gras Mambo (On their 2021 Album Mardi Gras EP. Mardi Gras speciality, composed in 1953 by Frankie Adams and Lou Welsch)

Mary Ann (a.k.a. 'Marianne': Rafael de Leon, 1933)

Mean Blue Spirits (Spencer Williams; on their CD Pyramid Strut; aka Blue Spirit Blues - recorded by Bessie Smith in 1929)

Me and My Chauffeur (Strangely, a 19-bar tune. On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Written by Ernest Lawler and recorded 1941 by his wife Memphis Minnie)

Memphis Blues (W.C. Handy, 1910)

Memphis Shake (On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. The Dixieland Jug Blowers, 1928. Composer Henry Clifford)

Memphis Shakedown (The Memphis Jug Band, 1930. Composer Will Shade?)

Messing Around (Composed by Charles L. 'Doc' Cooke, with words by Johnny St. Cyr, 1926. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Michigander Blues (Jabbo Smith, 1929)

Mickey Strut (Max Bien-Kahn, 2021. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Midnight Blues (On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Babe Thompson and Spencer Williams, 1923. Tuba Skinny follow closely, in spirit and detail, the recording made by Rosa Henderson in 1923)

Midnight Stomp (Clarence Williams and Fats Waller, 1926)

Mighty Anchor (Robin Rapuzzi, 2020. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Milneberg Joys (Walter Melrose, Leon Roppollo, Joe Mares, Jelly Roll Morton; 1925)

Minor Drag (Fats Waller, 1929; on their CD Garbage Man)

Minor Fret (Craig Flory; 2019. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Mississippi River Blues (Big Bill Broonzy, 1934. Tuba Skinny sometimes announce this as 'Big Boat' - the title under which the identical song was later recorded by Washboard Sam).

Miss the Mississippi and You (composed by William H. Heagney, 1932. Tune in 3/4 time. Made famous by Jimmie Rodgers).
Moanin’ The Blues(Hank Williams; 1950)

Mother’s Son-in-Law (on their CD Garbage Man) (Alberta Nichols, mus., and Mann Holiner, wds., 1933)

Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan) (Harry Richman & Peter de Rose; with words by Jo Trent. 1926. Recorded by Bessie Smith. On Tuba Skinny's album Garbage Man)
My Walking Stick (Irving Berlin, 1938. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl (on their CD Tuba Skinny. By Clarence Williams, D. Small, Tim Brian. Recorded by Bessie Smith, 1931)

New Dirty Dozens (Recorded by Memphis Minnie 1930; also by others, e.g. Lonnie Johnson 1930)

New Orleans Bump (Jelly Roll Morton, 1929. On their CD Rag Band)

New Orleans Stomp (Lil Hardin, 1923)

Nigel's Dream (on their CD Tupelo Pine; also on their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream; Shaye Cohn, 2015)

Nobody’s Blues But Mine (on their CD Garbage Man) (Recorded by Margaret Johnson, 1925, probable composer Clarence Williams)

Nobody’s Business (Bo Carter, 1934. Similar to 'Fingering With Your Fingers'. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Nothin' [aka Dodo Blues] (C. W. Stoneking, 2006)

Number 9 Train W. (12-bar, by Alden Bunn [Tarheel Slim], 1958)

Oh Ambulance Man (on their CD Owl Call Blues. Jennie Mae Clayton for Hattie Hart and The Memphis Jug Band, 1930)

Oh Daddy Blues (See below under 'Oh Papa Blues')

Oh Papa Blues (12-bar Verse; 28-bar Chorus. Composed by Ed Herbert and William Russell as 'Oh Daddy Blues' for Ethel Waters in 1921. But famously recorded as 'Oh Papa Blues' by Ma Rainey in 1927. On Tuba Skinny's CD Blue Chime Stomp.)

Oh Red  (Curious 11½- bar tune [Bar 10 has only two beats]! On their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream; recorded 1936 by The Harlem Hamfats & later by Blind Boy Fuller as 'New Oh Red')

Ol' Miss Rag (1915, W C Handy)

Once in a While (W.H. Butler, 1927)

One More Thing (See Tellin' You 'Bout It  below)

Organ Grinder Blues (Clarence Williams. Recorded by Ethel Waters 1928 and later by Bessie Smith)

Oriental Jazz (a.k.a. 'Oriental Rag' and 'Soudan'. On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Composer: Gabriel Šebek. Recorded 1917 by the ODJB)

Oriental Strut (on their CD Owl Call Blues) (Johnny St. Cyr, 1926)

Over in the Gloryland (James W. Acuff [mus] and Emmett S.Dean [words], 1906)

Over the Waves (Juventino Rosas, 1885)

Owl Call Blues (on their CD Owl Call Blues. Hauntingly beautiful Shaye Cohn and Erika Lewis composition)

Papa’s Got Your Bath Water On (on their CD Rag Band) (Recorded by Hattie Hart and The Memphis Jug Band, 1930)

Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour (William H. Doane (m) & Francis J. Crosby (w), 1870)

Patience and Fortitude (Composer unknown; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

Peace in the Valley (Thomas A. Dorsey, 1937. On their CD Six Feet Down)

Pearl River Stomp (on their CD Tupelo Pine; Shaye Cohn, 2016)
Perdido Street Blues (Lil Hardin Armstrong, 1926)

Please Baby Won't You Come Back to Your Daddy One More Time?  (The Mississippi Sheiks, 1931. An unusual 28-bar a-a-b-a structure)

Please Please Please (James Brown, 1955)

Plow Boy Hop (Ben Tinnon. recorded by The Grinnell Giggers in 1930.)
Postage Stomp (Sam Goble and Vic Johnston, 1930)
Proximity Effect (Craig Flory, 2020. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Pyramid Strut (Shaye Cohn, 2013. On their Album also entitled Pyramid Strut and on their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Rainy Nights On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (W. Donaldson, V. Lopez, J. Trent; 1924)

Red Hot Band (Duke Ellington, 1926. 32-bar structures, with two key changes)

Redwing (Kerry Mills & Thurland Chattaway, 1907)

Right or Wrong (on their CD Tupelo Pine. Arthur Sizemore and Paul Biese [m] and  Haven Gillespie [w] 1921)

Road of Stone (Composer unknown; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

Rock Me (Thomas A. Dorsey, 1936. On their Album Tuba Skinny)

Roses of Caracas (Lionel Belasco; 1928. Trinidad-style waltz)

Rosa Lee Blues (Walter Vinson, 1941. Eight-to-the-Bar 12-bar blues. On their CD Owl Call Blues)

Running Down My Man (12-bar blues in F, played eight-to-the-bar. On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Merline Johnson, 1936)

Russian Rag (George L. Cobb, 1918. On their CD Rag Band) 

Salamanca Blues (on their CD Rag Band; Shaye Cohn, 2011)

San (Composed in 1920 by Lindsay McPhail and Walter Hirsch [aka Walter Michels]. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down (traditional; composer unknown)

Saturday Night Function (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. 1929 Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard)

Save it, Pretty Mama (16-bar song, Joe Davis, Don Redman, Paul Denniker, 1928)

Savoy Blues (Kid Ory and Sid Robin, 1925)

Say Si Si On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (Stillman & Lecuona & Luhan, 1936)

Security (12- bar blues at 8-to-the-bar. Allen Bunn [aka Tarheel Slim] 1959. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Seems Like Old Times On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (Carmen Lombardo & J. Loeb, 1945)

Seven Skeletons Found in the Yard (Philip Garcia ['Lord Executor'] C. 1935. Trinidad calypso.)

See See Rider (Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey, 1925)

Shake It and Break It (On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. H. Qualli Clark & Frisco Lou Chiha, 1920)

Shine On, Harvest Moon (Jack Norworth & Nora Bayes, 1908)

Short Dress Gal (on their CD Owl Call Blues) (Sam Morgan, 1925)
Sidewalk Blues On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (Jelly Roll Morton & Walter Melrose, 1926)

Silver Bell (Percy Wenrich & Edward Madden, 1910)

Six Feet Down (on their CD Six Feet Down and on their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll. Erika Lewis composition 2009)

Six Or Seven Times (Fats Waller & Irving Mills, 1929)

Skid-Dat-De-Dat (on their CD Pyramid Strut. Lil Hardin, 1926)

Sleepy Time Blues (Jabbo Smith, 1929. Recorded by Jabbo Smith's Rhythm Aces, 1929)

Sluefoot (1927. Joe Sanders. Recorded 1927 by The Coon-Sanders Nighthawks)

Slow Driving Moan (on their CD Pyramid Strut. Closely modelled on the recording by Ma Rainey, 1927)

Slowpoke (on their CD Tuba Skinny; composed by Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart and Chilton Price, 1951)

Sobbin' Blues (Vic Berton and Arthur Kassel, 1922)

So Long (?Bo Carter 1930)

Sold My Soul, Sold it to the Devil (Merline Johnson, 1937)

Somebody Else is Taking My Place (Russ Morgan, Dick Howard, Bob Elsworth, 1937)

Somebody's Been Loving My Baby (on their CD Owl Call Blues. Recorded by Mandy Lee in 1920s)

Some Cold Rainy Day (On their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream; recorded by Bertha 'Chippie' Hill in 1928; probably composed by Richard M. Jones)

Some Day I’ll Be Gone Away (Recorded by Merline Johnson in 1938. A very basic 12-bar blues, performed by both Merline and Tuba Skinny in C)

Some Day, Sweetheart (John Spikes and Benjamin Spikes, 1919)
Some Kind-a-Shake (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Shaye Cohn, 2018)

Some of These Days (Shelton Brooks, 1920. On their CD Garbage Man)

Some Sweet Day (Edward Rose, Tony Jackson and Abe Olman, 1917. On their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

Song of the Islands (Charles E. King, 1930)

Soudan (See 'Oriental Jazz' above)

South (Benny Moten, Thomas Hayes, Ray Charles, 1924)

Springfield Stomp (Cecil Scott and Don Frye, 1929. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Springtime Strut (Thomas Majcherski. On their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream)

Squeeze Me (On their CD Rag Band. Also on their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Fats Waller and Clarence Williams, 1925)

Staròwka (On their 2021 Album Mardi Gras EP. Robin Rapuzzi, 2018. Reminiscent of Klezmer or Circus Music)

Stavin' Chain (Lil Johnson 12-bar song from 1937)

St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy, 1914)

Stealing Love (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Dave Nelson, 1930)

Still I'm Travelling On (Mississippi Sheiks, 1930)

Stop and Listen (Recorded by Merline Johnson in Chicago, 1940. Minor-key song with similarities to 'St. James Infirmary' and 'Summertime')

Storyville Blues (Maceo Pinkard, 1918. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Sugar Foot Strut (Billy Pierce, Henry Myers & Charles M. Schwab, 1927. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Sugar House Stomp (Buddy Christian, 1926.)

Sun Brimmer's Blues (Will Shade and Will Weldon, 1927. Recorded by The Memphis Jug Band. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Sunset Waltz (Charlie McCoy, 1929, for The Mississippi Mud Steppers. Ben Tinnon also claimed as composer.)

Sweet Like This (King Oliver and Dave Nelson, 1929)

Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul (Sara Martin and her Jug Band, 1925. On their CD Pyramid Strut)

Sweet Mama Hurry Home (On their CD Garbage Man; Jimmie Rodgers and Jack Neville, 1932)

Sweet Olive (Pretty, through-composed piece in F. Written originally for string quartet by Robin Rapuzzi, 2019. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

Sweet Potato Blues On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. (Recorded by King David's Jug Band, New York, 1930)

Swing You Sinners (W. Franke Harling & Sam Coslow, 1930; on their 2021 CD Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny.)

Tag Along Blues (Tomas Majcherski, 2017)

Take it Easy (Duke Ellington, 1928)

Tangled Blues  (On their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream; Shaye Cohn, 2015)
Tellin' You 'Bout It (Bo Carter, 1931. Often wrongly announced as 'One More Thing'. A simple 12-bar blues with a break on bars 7 and 8)

Tell It Like It Is (Bill Allen & Delores Johnson, 1960. Recorded by Edwin Joseph Bocage [aka Eddie Bo])

Tell Me To Do Right  (Mississippi Sheiks, 1932)

Temptation Rag (Thomas Henry Lodge, 1909)

Ten or Twelve Times, Maybe More (Bill Carlisle, 1936)

Thanks a Million (Arthur Johnston [m] and Gus Kahn [w], 1935)

That's It (Mississippi Sheiks, 1930)

The Creeper (1926, Duke Ellington. 16-bar themes in Eb and Bb, with plenty of breaks on Bars 7-8; and a Tiger Rag-ish 32-bar theme in Ab to finish)
The Diamond Dove Song (Octave-descending theme in Eb. Shaye Cohn, 2020. On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

The Girls Go Crazy (1916, attr. to Kid Ory)

The Glow Worm Wobble (Robin Rapuzzi, 2022)

Them Has Been Blues (by Will. E. Skidmore & Marshall Walker; recorded by Bessie Smith in 1926)

Them Things Got Me (by Clarence Williams and Mike Jackson. Recorded by the Clarence Williams Jazz Kings, 1929. On their CD Live at D.B.A., 2024.)

Thoughts (on their CD Tupelo Pine; Robin Rapuzzi, 2015)

Thriller Rag (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. May Aufderheide, 1909)

Throw Your Black Hand Down (See 'Black Hand Blues')

Tiger Rag (La Rocca and De Costa, 1917)

Tight Like This (Langston Curl, 1928; on their CD Tuba Skinny)

Till We Meet Again (Richard Whiting (w) & Raymond Egan (m), 1918)

Times Ain't What They Used To Be (a very basic 12-bar blues; Charlie McCoy 1928)

Tin Roof Blues (Paul Mares, Ben Pollack, Mel Stitzel, George Brunies, Leon Roppollo, 1922)

Tishomingo Blues (Spencer Williams, 1917)

Tom Cat Blues (Jelly Roll Morton, 1924)

Tomorrow Night (Sam Coslow [m] and Will Grosz [w], 1939. 32-bar a-a-b-a)

Tonight I Smile With You (Memphis Minnie, 1949. 32-bar a-a-b-a structure)

Too Late (Joe 'King' Oliver and Dave Nelson, 1929)

Too Long (recorded by The Mississippi Sheiks, 1930)

Too Much Competition (Up-tempo standard 12-bar blues. Alden Bunn, 1952)

Too Tight Blues (on their CD Owl Call Blues; Blind Blake, 1927)

Traveling Mood (12-bar blues by Malcolm John Rebennack ['Dr. John'])
Travellin' Blues (on their CD Owl Call Blues) (composed and recorded by Shelly Lee Alley and Jimmie Rodgers in 1931)

Treasures Untold (Waltz. On their CD Rag Band; Ellsworth T. Cozzens and Jimmie Rodgers, 1928)

Tricks Ain’t Walkin’ No More (on their CD Rag Band) (Lucille Bogan song from 1930)

Trickster's Rag (Shaye Cohn, 2021 - in the key of G.  On their 2022 Album Magnolia Stroll)

Trouble in Mind (Richard M. Jones, 1926)

True Love (12-bar blues, learned from the Merline Johnson recording of 1938)

Tupelo Pine (Barnabus Jones, 2017. On their CD Tupelo Pine)

Turtle Blues (on their CD Six Feet Down)

Untrue Blues (8-bar tune, but with a curious 13-bar interlude. On their CD Owl Call Blues. Recorded 1936 by Blind Boy Fuller)

Unfortunate Rag (Tomas Majcherski, 2016. Classically-structured gentle rag going from B flat to E flat. On their 2018 CD Nigel's Dream)

Up a Lazy River (Hoagy Carmichael and Sidney Arodin, 1931)

Variety Stomp (On their CD Blue Chime Stomp. Joe Trent, Ray Henderson, Bud Green, 1927)

Vine Street Blues (on their CD Six Feet Down) (possibly Benny Moten and his Kansas City Orchestra, 1924)

Vine Street Drag (Tennessee Chocolate Drops, 1930. Possible composer: J. Brown)

Viola Lee Blues (Gus Cannon, 1928; unusual in being an 11 and a half bar blues)

Viper Mad (Sidney Bechet and Rousseau Simmons, 1924)

Wabash Blues (1921 composition by Dave Ringle and Fred Meinken)
Wa Wa Wa (1926 composition by Mort Schaeffer for King Oliver's Band)

Waltz Across Texas With You (written 1965 by Quanah Talmadge Tubb and made famous by his uncle Ernest Tubb)

Weary Blues (Based on a 1906 Rag by Artie Matthews.

Weary-Eyed Blues (on their CD Garbage Man)

Weather Bird Rag (Louis Armstrong [or possibly King Oliver], 1923)

Wee Midnight Hours (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Following the recording by Blind Willie McTell, 1950, though the original 'Midnight Hour Blues' was recorded by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell in 1932, and composed by Scrapper Blackwell, probably with help from his sister Mae Malone.)

Weeping  Willow Blues (P. Carter, 1924. On their CD Six Feet Down)

West End Blues (Joe 'King' Oliver and Clarence Williams, 1928)

What If We Do? (James P. Johnson and Clarence Williams 1929)

What’s the Matter With the Mill? (Memphis Minnie and Joe McCoy, 1930)
What’s the Reason I'm Not Pleasing You? (Truman 'Pinky' Tomlin & Earl Hatch [mus]; Coy Poe & Jimmy Grier [wds], 1934)

When I Grow Too Old To Dream (Oscar Hammerstein and Sigmund Romberg, 1934)

When My Dreamboat Comes Home (Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin, 1936)

When My Love Comes Down  (Richard Jones, 1937; recorded by Georgia White. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

When The Red Sun Turns to Gray (12-bar blues. Recorded by Georgia White in 1939)

When The Saints Go Marching In (Virgil Stamps & Luther G.Presley, 1936)

When They Ring the Golden Bells (Daniel de Marbelle, 1887. Included in the band's 2023 Album 'Hot Town'.)

When You and I Were Young, Maggie (Composed in 1866 by J A Butterfield and G W Johnson)

Why Do You Do That To Me? (Almost identical to 'Make Me a Pallet on the Floor'. 16-bar a-a-b-a recorded by Washboard Sam in 1940)

Wild Man Blues (The Morton and Armstrong classic from 1927)

Willie the Weeper (on their CD Owl Call Blues) (Melrose, Bloom and Rymal, 1920)

Winin' Boy Blues  (J.R. Morton, 1939)

Won’t You Be Kind to Me? On their 2020 Album  Quarantine Album: Unreleased B Sides. A 12-bar played in F. (Hattie Hart and the Memphis Jug Band, 1928)

Work Ox Blues (Alger 'Texas' Alexander, 1938)

Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula (Ray Goetz & Joe Young [m] & Pete Wendling [w] 1916)

Yearning (The 1925 song by Joe Burke and Benny Davis)

Yellow Dog Blues  (W. C. Handy, 1914)

Yes Sir That’s My Baby (Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson, 1925)

You Can Have My Husband (on their CD Six Feet Down; Dorothy Labostrie, 1960)

You Got Me Rollin' (Mama) (Composer ?Will Shade. Recorded by the Memphis Jug Band, 1930)

You Let Me Down (on their CD Tuba Skinny) (Harry Warren and Al Dubin, 1935)

You're Gonna Quit Me, Baby  (On their 2019 CD Some Kind-a-Shake. Blind Blake, 1927)

Your Cheatin' Heart (Hank Williams, 1952)

You’ve Been a Good Ol’ Waggon (on their CD Tuba Skinny) (Smith and Balcam. Recorded by Bessie Smith, 1925. The composition of the same title by Ben Harney and John Biller, 1895, is a quite different song.)