Post 305: 'MICHIGANDER BLUES'

Jabbo Smith

Michigander Blues was apparently written in about 1929 by Jabbo Smith and the word 'Michigander' simply means 'a person from Michigan'.

Having enjoyed very much listening (on YouTube) to the great young New Orleans band Tuba Skinny playing this tune, I wanted to play it myself. It's good to have a few minor key tunes in your repertoire. To hear Tuba Skinny perform Michigander Blues: CLICK HERE.

I spent a couple of hours writing it out. Like Tuba Skinny, I put it in D minor. Here's what I came up with. It doesn't sound too bad to me as a basis to work on. I tried it with some friends, playing pub lunch jazz at The Dog and Gun, in Syston, Leicester, and it sounded reasonably good. The first four bars are the Introduction; the next 16 bars are the Verse; and the rest (final 32 bars) are the CHORUS, which has an a-a-b-a structure.

Post 184: CONCERT KEYS AND TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENTS

CORNET - a B Flat Instrument
(so its 'C' sounds the same note as a piano's 'B Flat')

I have had an enquiry from a reader. He says I wrote that Michigander Blues is normally played in the key of D minor. But when he tries it on his trumpet it seems to be in his key of E minor.

So let me explain that several instruments used in traditional jazz are transposing instruments, which means that music written for them appears to be in one key but when played it sounds in a different key. Most trumpets, for example, are Bb instruments, so if you play C on such a trumpet, you will produce the same note as Bb on the piano. The same is true of most clarinets.

You also come across Eb instruments, such as some tubas and saxophones. This means that if you play C on one of these instruments, it will sound the same note as Eb on the piano.

So my trumpet player - performing Michigander Blues in HIS E minor - is actually playing it in D minor (concert pitch - as sounded on the piano).

Why have instrument manufacturers made matters so complicated?  It's simply because they have found - over many decades of trial and error - that the tuning and fingering on the transposing instruments are better if they are built in such a way.

As a player of a Bb trumpet or Bb clarinet, you should in my opinion always refer to the concert key in which you are playing a piece of music with your band. Don't confuse the rest of the band by mentioning your own personal key. So, for example, if the band decides to play Michigander Blues in D minor, then D minor it is, even though you know that you personally will be playing it in your instrument's E minor.

To put it another way, you will always be one tone higher than the 'concert key' that the pianist or banjo or guitar player uses.

So for example if the band announces that it is going to play Muskrat Ramble in Ab, you know immediately that you will be playing in your Bb.

Maybe this sounds tricky, but after a short time such thinking becomes automatic.

Here's Shaye Cohn's Bb cornet. When she plays C on this, it sounds the same note as the Bb on a piano or banjo.

Here she is playing Michigander Blues. You can hear that the band is playing the tune in D minor. But if you watch Shaye's fingers, you will notice that she personally is of course having to play it in the cornet's E minor:
CLICK HERE.

Post 183: CHORUSES AGAINST OFF-BEAT STOP CHORDS

I wish there was more variety of treatments of choruses in the performances of our bands. There are many ways of making 'solo' choruses more interesting. The use of long held notes (as backing) is one. Another is the use of stop chords (for example, the rest of the band - apart from the soloist - playing just the first two beats of each bar).

One of my favourites is the use of OFFBEAT stop chords. In other words, the soloist plays fluently over all four beats of the bar, while the rest of the band plays only the second and fourth beats.

Similarly, you can have the full rhythm section playing a chorus of offbeats only while the melody instruments all continue to play normally. That is very effective.

Like all good things, the device should be used sparingly. For example, in a 32-bar chorus, one instrument could play 16 bars against offbeat stop chords, with another taking over for the remaining 16 bars accompanied by conventional rhythm section backing.

The use of offbeat stop chords impresses audiences and indeed it does not always come easily to the musicians. In particular, the soloist must not let himself or herself be thrown by the unusual rhythm. It takes practice. When taking a solo against offbeat backing, it's best to hit the first note of the bar firmly, at least at the start, to establish clearly where it actually is!

The offbeat stratagem is not at all new. It is an authentic part of the New Orleans tradition.

You can hear Louis Dumaine demonstrating it well with his Jazzola Eight in 1927. Louis himself plays a chorus of Pretty Audrey against such a rhythmic background.

CLICK HERE.

Notice what happens at 1 minute 15 seconds into the recording. Louis plays a full fast 32 bars against stop chords. It is an exciting effect.

In the same year, the great Sam Morgan Band made recordings in New Orleans. Notice what happens in the band's recording of Mobile Stomp.

CLICK HERE.

At 1 minute 28 seconds, for the third chorus, the rhythm section switches to a stop chord offbeat rhythm, against which the reeds continue to improvise prettily over the full bars.

Let us all try more of these variations. Of course, the best bands already do.

CLICK HERE

for a clever variant in which the front line (cornet, trombone and reeds) plays the stop chords while the banjo takes the solo. Note what happens at 1 minute 37 seconds. What about that as an example to us all?