Post 542: HOW MANY MUSICIANS DOES IT TAKE TO FORM A JAZZ BAND?

How many musicians does it take to form a jazz band? I suppose you could get away with two: a clarinet and a banjo playing 'Rosetta' on a street corner would be just fine.

With four (say: sousaphone, banjo, clarinet and trumpet) you certainly have a band: you produce a full sound and can tackle a huge repertoire.

But of course, when most people think of a traditional jazz band, they picture six or seven musicians, with a 'front line' of three including a trombone and a 'rhythm section' of three or four, which may include a pianist and a drummer.

So is it possible to go above seven?

In theory, I would say 'No'. With greater numbers, there is a risk that the musicians will get in each other's way. What started as lovely music could become a din, especially if several of the instruments were using amplification.

So is it possible for a traditional jazz band to function with as many as ELEVEN players? Surely not.

Of course, in the case of bands playing from printed arrangements, there is no problem: the arranger has done the thinking and the musicians need only play what is on the stand in front of them. This is more akin to old-style dance band music and it is not the kind of traditional jazz to which I am referring.

I am more interested in bands where improvisation, teamwork and creativity are highly valued and nobody plays from printed music. 

Well, I can point you to an example where we see a traditional jazz band of ELEVEN musicians playing very well indeed.

How is this possible?

For a start, they are outstanding musicians, all respectful of each other's roles and of the overall sound. They are well directed - by a leader who gives neat and discreet signals, so that they all know who is taking the breaks and who is to take the next solo and when to go back to Part A. They are seated in such a way that everybody can see the leader's signals (very important). They make sure that all instruments can be heard. Note what discipline and restraint there is among the other players during the tuba solo chorus. Listen to the clarinet and saxophone and note how they never trespass on each other's notes. Importantly, nobody in the band is using amplification, so the overall acoustic effect is fine.

It is a performance filmed in Royal Street, New Orleans. We have to be deeply grateful to that indefatigable video-maker codenamed Wild Bill for being there to film the event for us. What we have is a group made up of some members of Tuba Skinny, with star guests sitting in. They are playing Shake it and Break It.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT IS POSSIBLE, EVEN WITH ELEVEN PLAYERS.

Post 541: 'SOME KIND'A SHAKE' - A NEW GEM FROM TUBA SKINNY

On 3 March 2018, that generous video-maker James Sterling put up on YouTube a performance by Tuba Skinny of a tune called Some Kind-a-Shake. This tune, which - James informed us - was an 'original' by the band, had never been previously available on YouTube. You may watch it BY CLICKING HERE.

What you will witness is another astonishing composition and performance. Tuba Skinny must have been busy in recent weeks working up some slick arrangements. I guess they have rehearsed together quite a bit.

For what's it's worth, and in case you're interested, here's how I see this new piece.

Essentially it's a 16-bar (8 + 8) tune in the key of F; but it is played with so much variety and quite a few surprises.

After twice through the 16-bar Chorus, we find Shaye offering an obbligato on the third time. Then the fourth time through has a surprise rhythmic pattern (with silent first beats in the third and fifth bars from the whole band ). Craig is the next to play his improvisation on the theme.

Then at 1 min 52 comes the highlight of the piece - an amazing 8-bar 'Bridge' section. You have Todd, Barnabus, Shaye and Craig over a period of four bars playing just one note each in turn through two rising arpeggios (to my ear, Gb diminished and Ab diminished respectively). The band did a similar thing in Blue Chime Stomp - you may remember. Then there's a two-bar banjo tremolo, and next a couple of bars from Todd to lead us back to the 16-bar Chorus (but - unusually - the key has not changed).

Max - a stalwart of Tuba Skinny.

Now we have one Chorus for the strings and one for Barnabus (playing the tune fairly straight) and one in which Todd leads while the whole front line plays very sweet choreographed supporting notes. Finally, there's a stomping ensemble Chorus, followed by a clever and well-rehearsed Coda - it uses the first two bars of that Bridge again! and then one additional bar to put the tune to bed.

Wow! When did you last hear any other band (especially in the U.K.) do anything like that - without printed music in front of them?

The only other band I can think of that does similar tricky things (i.e. while working without printed music) is The Smoking Time Jazz Club, also based in New Orleans.
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Post 540: LOOSE MARBLES IN 2008

I have written before about the band Loose Marbles.

I argued then, and I still believe, that this group has been the most important and most influential traditional jazz band to emerge in the Twenty-First Century. To read that article, CLICK HERE.

But how on earth did I miss, during all these years, some wonderful videos of the band that appeared on YouTube as long ago as 2008? I am thrilled to tell you that I have recently discovered them.

A generous video-maker whose name is given as Wayne G. Harvey attended a concert by the band at the Delaware County Institute of Science, which is situated in the Borough of Media, Pennsylvania. The Loose Marbles played on a stage in front of glass cases exhibiting mounted birds.

Mr. Harvey uploaded videos of twelve tunes from the concert. He could not have known at the time that these videos would become precious historical documents.

Why are they so important? For the following reasons.

They show the state of evolution of the Loose Marbles at that time. Ben Polcer on first trumpet and Michael Magro on clarinet were firmly in control (and how well they played together!). The repertoire was mainly very familiar tunes, but played in a thrilling way. Tuba Skinny had not yet formed; but we get to see three musicians who were to become founder members (Shaye, Barnabus and Kiowa) honing their skills in the company of Ben and Michael.

They show how the band liked to produce music without any electronic assistance. That's the way they still like it, whenever possible, and so do I. Even vocals were clearly delivered without amplification.

It is hard to believe that Barnabus and Shaye had taken up the trombone and cornet respectively only a year or two earlier, having previously played other instruments. Barnabus, in the trombone chair, is brimful of confidence. And Shaye - here playing second trumpet to Ben - is already showing great technique and harmonic creativity. She has spoken in an interview of how important this stage of her career was: playing second trumpet to Ben taught her to keep things simple and to complement his playing harmoniously.

It is interesting to see how Ben gave the illusion of adding a percussion player to the band with his devices operated by foot and hand. I believe he still does this occasionally.

The music always sounds exciting, mainly because of the energy and talent of the players, and partly because - with a 'front line' of four and Ben's percussive additions - it sounds almost like a 'big band', especially with the assistance of the Museum's acoustics, as the sound bounces off those glass cases!

The videos are also historically interesting because they show us those great dancers - Chance Bushman and Amy Johnson - sharing the little stage and contributing hugely to the audience's enjoyment. As we now know, the migration of dancers as well as of instrumentalists to New Orleans in the years after Katrina was a very important factor in the revival of traditional jazz in the streets of that City and has remained so.

You can find and enjoy all twelve of these videos easily enough on YouTube. But if you would like me to get you started, may I offer these contrasting tunes?

For Tiger Rag, CLICK HERE. (There's fine dancing in this; and listen carefully to Shaye supporting Ben in the opening minutes of full ensemble.)

For Some Day, Sweetheart, CLICK HERE.

For Whenever You're Lonesome, CLICK HERE. (You may be surprised to hear Barnabus providing the vocal, and Shaye confidently taking a lovely and unpretentious solo chorus.)

Among the other fine videos from the concert are Over in The Gloryland, Isle of Capri, Willie the Weeper, 'Taint Nobody's Business If I Do and Ice Cream.

Post 539: THE CALIFORNIA FEETWARMERS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Frequent correspondent Phil Lynch in the USA is a fan of the Los Angeles-based band called The California Feetwarmers. He has written to me about them in the past.

Now, Phil has alerted me to a concert they gave at The Red Room, Cookstown, in Northern Ireland when they were on tour there in July 2017.

Fortunately for us, a generous video-maker called John Watson put several videos from the concert on YouTube. The sound and visual qualities of these videos are exceptionally good, so this concert is something available for us all to enjoy.

And what we find is that this band is seriously good! Not only are they fine musicians; they are also brilliant at putting together a truly entertaining programme, holding an audience spellbound throughout.

The seven musicians arrange themselves in a straight line across the stage - just the way I like - so that the audience can see all of them and they can see each other. These young men play high-energy music, underpinned by a sensitive, accurate sousaphone, guitar and banjo and minimalist unobtrusive percussion. The clarinet, trumpet and trombone players are technically brilliant and great team-workers. On top of all that, the members of the band can sing; and there are times when the whole band joins in with vocals, in fine close harmony.

They obviously prepared well. There are some first-rate head arrangements, so there is no need for signalling on the hoof.

Take Clarinet Marmalade. They leap about among the various themes and bridges. And there is even a vocal - something I've never heard with this tune before:

CLICK HERE.

The same kind of slickness is evident in their performance of That's a Plenty:
CLICK HERE.

Then, for a contrasting example of their ability to entertain - and involve an audience - try I'm Feeling Good. You can't help wanting to join in on the Chorus, which is based on one of our most familiar 16-bar [plus two-bar tag] chord sequences. The use of stop chords against the cornet solo, and the Chorus in double-time (but with rallentando ending) illustrate how well the band has prepared. 

CLICK HERE.

There is even a storming 14-minute Medley of Sing On, Down By The Riverside, I'll Fly Away, Oh Mary, Don't You Weep, and Over in the Gloryland, which showcases well how brilliant each of the musicians is, both individually and in collective improvisation:
CLICK HERE.

I hope I have whetted your appetite. Explore the rest of the concert for yourself. I am sure you will be impressed by the way these musicians have absorbed the influences of the early ragtime, string and jug bands and given them a new life in the Twenty-First Century. I rate The California Feetwarmers as one of the top bands playing anywhere in the world today and wish I could get to hear them some time.

According to their web page, the members of the band are:

Brandon Armstrong - sousaphone/Bass
Charles De Castro - cornet/Accordion/vocals
Josh Kaufman - clarinet/accordion/piano/vocals
Carlos Reynoso - washboard/Guitar/vocals
Dominique Rodriguez - snare drum/bass drum
Justin Rubenstein - trombone/vocals
Patrick Morrison - Banjo/Guitar.

Post 538: FLATTENED SIXTHS AND 'SAN' - FROM LOOSE MARBLES TO TUBA SKINNY

Imagine you are playing a standard tune in the key of F. The chords you are most likely to use are F major, B flat major and C 7th. In fact some tunes can be played using only these three chords. But there's a fair chance you will also need G minor 7th, A 7th and a few more.

But an unlikely chord is D flat 7th.  Based on the flattened 6th note in the scale of F, it has a clashing, 'depressing' effect on the melody at any point where it is played. However, it crops up briefly, for special purposes, in quite a few of our tunes.

In the Chorus of the popular tune San, composed in 1920 by Lindsay McPhail and Walter Michels, this chord occurs an exceptional number of times. In total, it occupies 18.75% of the Chorus. This gives the tune its distinctive character. I can think of no other tune in which this chord is used so much.

I recently came across an interesting video that had been put up on YouTube at the end of 2013. The generous video-maker was a person codenamed twobarbreak and the video was of Loose Marbles playing San.

By the way, my friend Bob Andersen in San Diego has emailed me to say that twobarbreak is in fact Peter Loggins, the well-known jazz trombone player, dance teacher and jazz researcher.

You can watch his video BY CLICKING HERE.

They are playing the tune in the key of F. Listen for that D flat 7th chord: you hear it forty-two times, first at 03 seconds, and then at 05 seconds. See what I mean?

This video also appeals to me because it provides a glimpse at what was going on behind the scenes in those days when Loose Marbles was still evolving and Tuba Skinny was in its early stage of development.

There is no audience. The band seems to be rehearsing in an otherwise deserted New Orleans bar. Chord books lie around on the floor; and Shaye is directing proceedings: for example, she sets up a washboard Chorus by the hugely energetic Robin. This is accompanied by stop chords - a device that was to occur very often in later Tuba Skinny performances. 

San has a 24-bar Verse in a minor key but Loose Marbles choose not to play this at all. Instead, they simply romp through the Chorus seven times in a pretty exciting manner. The distinctive clarinet sound of Michael Magro is much in evidence. There is the usual Loose Marbles emphasis on ensemble playing, and they ensure that the tune is not always led by the cornet. Note how Barnabus on trombone leads in the second and fifth Choruses. 

Already in 2013, Shaye's wonderful gift for intuitive improvisation and harmonisation during ensembles was much in evidence. The actual notes she plays in the fourth Chorus (that runs from 1 minute 45 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds) repay close attention. They are so much more inspired and original than what we hear from so many players. It is amazing to think she had taken up cornet-playing only three or four years earlier.

The musicians are all familiar faces, though a couple of them seem to have since departed from the New Orleans scene.

In more recent times, Tuba Skinny have been playing San frequently. You can easily find videos of them doing so on YouTube. Watch an example filmed by my friend James Sterling BY CLICKING HERE.

But Tuba Skinny are now including the Verse - usually playing it at the start and again later. They are also pitching the tune three semi-tones higher, having switched to the key of Ab, in which it works very well. However, I don't think these later performances are necessarily more exciting than that original Loose Marbles rehearsal!

Post 537: SHAKE 'EM UP JAZZ BAND'S FIRST ALBUM

Good news is that the all-ladies New Orleans-based band called The Shake ‘Em Up Jazz Band has released its first Digital Album. It contains ten songs. You can buy the Album (or individual songs from it) by downloading from:

https://shakeemup.bandcamp.com/releases

The first thing that strikes you about this Album is the clean quality of the recording. All the instruments can be clearly heard and the balance is fine. Molly Reeves has every right to be proud, as she was responsible for the recording and mixing.

Molly Reeves

The title of the Album – Le Donne Mangiano Succhero – which I would very freely translate as The Ladies Like Eating Sugary Things – seems to have been confirmed by their Summer 2017 visit to The Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, where I hear they enjoyed visiting the pastry and sweet shops!

What will you discover in the Album?

I think you will discover that this band has developed a very pleasant house style. Using simple but well-judged head arrangements, they aim at clarity and accuracy, with full respect to melody and harmonious decoration. You will not find the deliberate rough edges and rawness that some traditional jazz bands go for. But you will hear inspired improvisation, both in the solos and ensembles. And there's some good singing too.

There is a short and snappy version of Les Oignons – with the breaks left silent. So you can all shout ‘Onions’ in the privacy of your home!

Shake ‘Em Up, which has become the band’s unofficial signature tune, is a merry up-tempo 16-bar number, based on a familiar chord sequence. They play it cheerily.

Hearing Molly singing Make Me a Pallet on the Floor was for me one of the pleasures of 2017. She sang the song at my request one night in New Orleans and I put the performance on YouTube. You can see it BY CLICKING HERE.

I’m pleased to say Molly sings the song on this Album, with great support from the rest of the band.

In fact Molly and Julie, together with Dizzy, make a superb and metronomic rhythm team and provide perfect background colouring. Molly and Julie may be heard taking occasional 8-bar or 16-bar solos; and Washboard Wiggles – a standard F minor tune with a 32-bar aaba structure (remarkably similar in chord progression to Root, Hog, or Die or Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen) – gives Dizzy a chance to shine. But also note a lovely fluent chorus in this tune from Chloe.

The Kid Ory standard Savoy Blues is included. It is a trombonist's speciality and I know Haruka enjoys playing it. She and the band give a good solid performance.

There is the calypso number called Shame and Scandal in the Family. This seems to be a two-chorder (C and G7th). It is a fun song composed in 1943 by the Trinidadian Lancelot Pinard (who used the stage name Sir Lancelot).

Root, Hog, or Die (here played in C minor) has become a popular standard in the band’s repertoire. Marla sings it and there is some super soloing, including Chloe’s clarinet backed by washboard only.

Molly sings My Silent Love (composed in 1932) very sweetly and then Chloe plays the first of a series of lovely half-choruses taken by herself, Marla, Haruka and Molly.

In total contrast, Chloe lustily sings the many verses of Empty Bed Blues. I don’t know whether the innuendoes enjoyed by Bessie Smith’s audiences back in 1928 are still appreciated in this more sophisticated age; but the song gives great opportunities to Haruka and Marla to show how well they can provide background colouring in a 12-bar blues.

The CD ends with Chloe singing the medium-tempo There’s a New Moon Over My Shoulder, complete with Verse. It is a Jimmie Davis song from 1944.

All in all, this is a delightful Album and well worth acquiring if you have enjoyed the band’s live performances and YouTube appearances since it was formed (originally by Shaye Cohn) in the summer of 2016.

Post 536: HARUKA KIKUCHI BACK IN TOKYO

What a summer Haruka Kikuchi has been enjoying! She was in Italy with The Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band for the Umbria Jazz Festival, where they played a series of performances. Several very good videos from those have appeared on YouTube.

And then she spent some time on a trip back home to Japan, where she met up again with her old friends - that very fine band The New Orleans Jazz Hounds.

The generous video-maker codenamed ragtimecave seems to have filmed almost an entire gig. Yes, there's a whole batch of glorious videos. They play storming versions of standards such as Clarinet Marmalade, Somebody Else Is Taking My Place, Savoy Blues, and Down in Honky Tonk Town. One of my favourites is an eight-minute version of Marie, in which Haruka is joined by two other excellent trombonists, making a 'front line' entirely of trombones. Each takes a couple of solo choruses, with the other two providing a tasteful riffing backing to the second chorus. They also play an exciting 'front line only' chorus. Watch it by clicking here.

So we get to see Haruka, with the brilliant clarinet star Tamura Makiko, both in their kimonos. Wonderful! Watch them on Buddy Bolden's Blues by clicking here.

I hear that Tamura Makiko is likely to be visiting New Orleans for a holiday in October. Haruka intends to make some recordings with her.

As regular readers will know, Haruka is my unofficial adopted grand-daughter! I have so much enjoyed meeting her in New Orleans. Here we are earlier this year.

Post 535: HENRY'S FIDGETY FEETWARMERS

I have never met Henry Kiel, the banjo-playing band-leader of Hamburg, Germany. But Henry has sent me several emails over the years in response to articles in this Blog, so we have become friends.

Henry runs a band called Henry’s Fidgety Feetwarmers and I have been watching some of their videos on YouTube. These videos have been well filmed, using more than one camera, though the sound balance could be just a little better in places: there’s sometimes a predominance of drums and trumpet.

I have often complained that there are many bands in the U.K. made up of musicians in their 70s and 80s who were probably very good forty years ago but who today sound dreary and uninspired. The pleasure of listening to them is nowhere near as great as the pleasure that comes from the exciting traditional jazz being currently played by the young generation of bands working in New Orleans.

Well, Henry’s Hamburg band is also made up largely of silver-haired gentlemen but their music is not at all bad. Henry himself and his bass player Peter Dettenborn play in the best New Orleans tradition. In fact, the rhythm section, comprising Günter Lehnig on drums, Peter and Henry, is a very fine unit. John Rosolowski is on trumpet in the videos; and there is no trombonist, but rather two reed players: Burte Kimbrough on alto sax and Klaus Winkelmann on clarinet and soprano sax.

I understand from Henry that there have since been changes of personnel. They now have recruited Dieter Meyser on trombone and Joachim Gebauer on sousaphone. John Rosolowski has left, Peter has switched to piano, and occasionally a guest trumpet-player is used. I hope there will be videos soon of this current line-up.

If you haven’t yet tried this band for yourself, let me link you to their rendering of I Ain’t Got Nobody:

CLICK HERE.

There are times when you could close your eyes and imagine yourself at one of the clubs in New Orleans.

Post 534: 'COME BACK SWEET PAPA' - PAUL BARBARIN, LUIS RUSSELL AND LOUIS ARMSTRONG

'Come Back Sweet Papa', composed by Paul Barbarin and Luis Russell, was recorded by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five in Chicago on 22 February, 1926. You can hear that two-and-a-half-minute recording by clicking here.

Paul Barbarin

'Come Back Sweet Papa' has a good melody and is fairly easy to play, especially as its chord progression is simple. The 16-bar Verse makes good use of the 'Nowhere Chord'; and the Chorus is a straightforward 32-bar (16 + 16, with a 'break' on Bars 15 and 16, as in dozens of other traditional jazz classics).

I used to play this tune ten years ago but, when I needed it recently, I had to re-learn it and was reminded what a good tune it is. I keep it in one of my mini-filofaxes (see below), where I had written it out in the transposed key of C (correct for the trumpet and other Bb instruments) but of course that means Concert Bb to the band as a whole.

Armstrong chose to use six bars from the final eight of the Chorus as the basis for an Introduction; and his band played the Verse only in the middle of the recording, as a sort of Interlude. The Hot Five also added a neat little four-bar Coda of stop chords. But of course it is up to any band today to treat the total 16 bars of Verse and 32 bars of Chorus in any way and order that they like.

Isn't it amazing, by the way, that you can get all the information you need to play a great jazz classic on just 20 square inches of notepaper?

But you can find a much tidier - and probably more accurate - lead-sheet on the site of the great Lasse Collin, at:
http://cjam.lassecollin.se/songs3/comebacksweetpapa160122.html

Post 533: TITLES PUZZLE - THE SOLUTION

In Post 532, I invited you to look at this collection of twenty-two words and to make FIVE titles of jazz tunes from them.

On Alone The Plenty Porch Love It A Night Back That’s I Clarinet I’m On Blame Blues The Marmalade Because Last You

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Congratulations to the many readers who solved it.

The following were equal first. They all sent in correct answers that arrived in the first batch of emails I received.

Todd Brown of Arizona, USA,
Bob Roby of Bellevue, Seattle, USA,
David Withers, of Christchurch, New Zealand,
Henry Kiel of Hamburg, Germany,
Cleber Guimarães of Brazil,
Robert Duis of Holland,
Anders Winnberg of Ambjörnarp, Sweden,
Marinus-Jan Van Langevelde of Terneuzen, Holland.

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Answers

Blame It On The Blues
I'm Alone Because I Love You
Clarinet Marmalade
That's A Plenty
Last Night On The Back Porch