Post 458: MUSICAL TUNE 'GOING DOWN THE LADDER'

I'm going to be a bit technical today, so you will have to excuse me. I want to point out something about a particular chord sequence I find interesting. It's the sort of thing that for me makes our music a constantly fascinating study.

I have written before about the JaDa Chord Progression. You find it at the start of such tunes as these:

It Had To Be You

Ja Da

I'm Alone Because I Love You

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Nobody's Sweetheart Now

The JaDa Progression goes from the tonic to the 6th and then follows the Circle of Fifths. So, in the key of G, for example, the first few bars could be:

G

G

E7

E7

A7

A7

D7

Etc.

Now consider that 1931 classic song entitled Need a Little Sugar in my Bowl, composed by Dally Small, J. Tim Brymn, and Clarence Williams, and made famous by Bessie Smith.

Its Chorus consists of 18 bars (basically 16 bars plus a tag); and it could be said to use the JaDa Progression from Bars 1 to 8, and then again from Bar 9.

But there is a subtle difference from the standard JaDa Progression. Using the key of G again for my example, you will see that - to get from the opening tonic G chord down to the second chord of the progression (E7), it 'goes down the ladder' - passing in half-bars through the chords of F#7 and F7.

G:F#7

F7:E7

A7

A7

D7

D7

G

Etc.

That's what helps to give this song its special flavour. Can you think of any other similar tunes? I can offer Blue Turning Grey; but then I'm stumped.

By the way, if you listen to Bessie Smith performing the song by clicking on here, remember that the chord sequence does not occur immediately at the start (which is the Verse). It comes where the Chorus begins (with the words 'I need a little sugar....').

One other point I can add about this business of 'going down the ladder' concerns the tune I'm Beginning To See The Light. The Middle Eight begins on the chord of III7 and works its way through to the chord of V7. That is normal enough. But it gets there in a most unusual way, which also involves going down a ladder.

The sequence of chords in the eight bars is:
III7 - III7 - IIIb7 - IIIb7 -  II7  -  II7 -  VIb7 - V7.

It produces a very interesting and unusual effect. I think the technique going on here is what is known as Tritone Substitution - but now I am becoming so technical that I'm out of my depth!

Post 206: 'BLUE TURNING GREY'

Blue Turning Grey Over You is a tune written in 1929 by the great Fats Waller. It achieves a memorable, haunting effect and yet in theory its structure could hardly be simpler.

In common with many popular songs of the time, it has a 32-bar chorus, with the structure:

A  A  B  A

- each letter representing eight bars.

The 'middle eight' (B) uses a fairly common chord sequence, but with a sad, descending melody spread over each chord.

Each of the three A sections begins like this:-

I have just noticed that Blue Turning Grey and Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl both begin with the same very unusual but effective chord sequence. But do we know any other tune in which the chords start on the tonic and then descend the stairs, a semitone at time, like this? In the Key of C, I mean:

C for one whole bar

B7 for one whole bar

Bb7 for one whole bar

A7 for one whole bar.

I can't think of others (though I believe the chorus of Jelly Roll Morton's Sweet Substitute comes very close). That is the trick that gives Blue Turning Grey its magic. That and the way the melody note in the second and fourth bars of this phrase are (unusually) the seventh of the chord being played. 

By the way, the alternative chord in red above doesn't make much difference: the notes are pretty much the same.

The chord changes bar by bar.

In the Chorus of Need a Little Sugar, the chord changes in half-bar intervals:

Since I wrote the above, Barrie Quilliam has e-mailed me to say he can suggest five more tunes that begin by going down exactly the same ladder.

The tunes are I Thought About You, Tain't No Sin To Take Off Your Skin and Dance Around in your Bones, Hard-Hearted Hannah, I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling and Rosetta.

Thanks, Barrie. I'll imagine all tunes in the key of C.

It certainly works well in I Thought About You, though the descent is over the first TWO bars rather than the first four:

C : B7 | Bb7 : A7 |   D7   |  Am7 : D7  |

In the case of Rosetta, I can't quite get the ladder to work for me. I would play:

C   |     B7    |   E7  |   A7

or as a possible alternative:

C  |   B7   |     C  : B7.Bb7 |   A7

(which gets closer to the ladder).

As for Tain't No Sin, I personally play:

C   |  B   |  E7   |  A7

and I can't get Bb7 to sound right in the third bar where I have the E7.

Hard-Hearted Hannah and I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling I find to be very close to Blue Turning Grey, though not exactly the same chords over the first four bars. 

I suppose it all goes to prove this: there are plenty of harmonic variations for so many songs.

Post 62: SHAKE 'EM UP'S ALBUM 'THE BOY IN THE BOAT'

The latest album by The Shake ’Em Up Jazz Band is called ‘The Boy in the Boat’. It was released in July 2019. It is a delight and shows how this wonderful band comprising six top lady musicians based in New Orleans is continuing to develop a distinctive house-style and to set the highest standards in tasteful, elegant traditional jazz. The tunes are played with restraint, grace and good taste, and generally at tempos that give space for creative fluent solos, notably from Chloe. There is little of the ‘raw’ jazz we associate with certain other bands – even including some in which these ladies play.

The Album also shows how, in its off-road repertoire, the band is increasingly building on the singing talents of its members. No fewer than ten of the twelve tracks include vocals. The ladies sing beautifully, both as individuals or in three-part harmony. In the course of this album, all six ladies may be heard singing, with Julie and Dizzy taking long solos for the first time.

The recording was made, we are told, at the Bunny Friend Studio. I have no idea where or what that is, but I can assure you the acoustic results are first-class. Molly Reeves, the band’s guitarist, is one of those named among the recording engineers and it seems she is a perfectionist in such matters.

The dominance of vocals is best illustrated by Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues (made famous by Ida Cox’s 1924 recording), in which Marla sings the 12-bar blues for virtually the entire track, with skilful accompaniment from the others.

Nuts To You, which they appear to have learned from the 1930s recording by the Chicago strings-and-vocals quartet called Cats and The Fiddle, is briskly sung in close harmony by Molly, Marla and Chloe. Molly has a fine extended guitar solo and the piece is cleverly arranged to accommodate brief instrumental breaks by Dizzy and the others between the lines of the lyrics.

Another novel close-harmony performance (successfully emulating the recording by The Andrews Sisters) is given on Nevertheless, which is sung without instrumental solo choruses. They take it at a gentle tempo in the key of F. (The Andrews Sisters sang it very slightly higher, using G before going through it again in A flat.)

Marla sings Say Si Si, which makes a great opener to the Album, with its brisk approach, well-balanced sound, super busy teamwork and Marla’s bright trumpet solo chorus.

Haruka sings Salty Dog so sweetly and includes her Japanese lyrics. Although she hardly counts herself as a singer, this number has become a popular party-piece from the band in 2019. It is such fun. Between Haruka’s vocals, improvisations on this famous circle-of-fifths tune are provided notably by Molly and Haruka herself.

I Double Dare You (the 1937 composition by Terry Shand and Jimmy Eaton) features Molly, singing and playing fine guitar. This is an up-tempo number, taken in E flat, with the rhythm players given a chance to shine, and some tasteful solos - including a gem from Chloe.

The vocalist on My Sin (composed in 1929 by Lew Brown, Buddy de Sylva and Ray Henderson) is Marla. Here again we have an unusual choice and treatment for a traditional jazz band, but it is typical of the way Shake ’Em Up is indeed shaking things up in the way we think of our music. Marla sings this song in E flat. My first thought was that she might have been more comfortable in F; but E flat somehow sounds right for the sad nature of the lyrics.

Need A Little Sugar is sung by Chloe. This popular tune composed in 1931 by Clarence Williams,Tim Bryan and W.A.D. Small has a 12-bar Verse and 18-bar Chorus, both of which are splendidly expressive melodies. There is perfect support from Molly on guitar, and some fine clarinet soloing from Chloe herself.

You Always Hurt The One You Love is sung by Dizzy - the first time I have heard her sing a full vocal on record! A lovely, gentle, complete vocal with guitar accompaniment is followed by the band joining in, with stepped-up tempo.

Eh La Bas is played briskly in the key of C (higher than most bands choose). It is a cheery performance, with much use of vocals led by Julie(!), and is complete with the full Creole patois lyrics.

Johnny St. Cyr’s famous 1926 composition, Oriental Strut, is played in a restrained gently-paced way, unlike its treatment by many other bands. After the minor-key start, Haruka leads on the ‘C’ theme, and is followed by other fluent solos. At this pace, Chloe has the room to create one that is so pretty, mobile and fluid; and Marla takes a good chorus against stop chords.

The only other purely instrumental number is the eponymous The Boy in the Boat. It was a new tune to me but I have discovered the band must have picked it up from the 1928 recording by pianist Charlie Johnson and His Paradise Band. Shake ’Em Up, though with different instrumentation, closely follow Johnson’s Introduction and melody line – and the phrase-trading between trumpet and clarinet, with Marla (muted and sounding very much like Sidney de Paris on the original Charlie Johnson recording) alternating phrases with Chloe. The tune is not quite as sophisticated as it sounds: listen carefully and you notice it is very largely using just one chord – G minor.

Finally, I must mention Julie. I had the pleasure of meeting her in New Orleans very briefly in 2015, when she told me she had taken up the double bass not many months before. But she has become one of my favourite players on this instrument. Always accurate, she (in combination with Dizzy’s tireless, inventive washboard) provides a constantly-felt pulse that is just right for the light-touch style of this band. With the virtuosic Molly on guitar, we have one of the best rhythm sections in the business.
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Post 22: 'NEED A LTTLE SUGAR IN MY BOWL'; AND THE RESEARCHER DICK BAKER

Click on THIS VIDEO. It is concise (only 30 bars in total) and therefore simple for musicians to learn and memorise. It has a good, strong, easily-singable melody and a very pleasant down-the-ladder harmonic progression (plus The Sunshine Chord Sequence at the end). Bars 7 and 8 of the Chorus can be played as a 'Break' - to be taken either by a singer or by a member of the band; and Bars 17 and 18 of the Chorus are an appealing 'Tag'. For all these reasons, I Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl is a very good tune for jazz bands to have in their repertoire.

I have written before about the amazing Dick Baker who has spent decades researching the origins and histories of tunes played by traditional jazz bands. He now has information about nearly 4000 tunes on his website, which runs to over 400 pages of closely-typed information: CLICK HERE; and then go to Stomp Off Records Project.

Dick has been tracing the origins of I Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl, the song made famous by Bessie Smith and - more recently - brilliantly revived by Tuba Skinny and their fine singer Erika Lewis.

Dick sent me an email:

Ivan, In my quest to update and improve the Stomp Off index, I went hunting for this on a trip to the Library of Congress in January. The composers were actually Dally Small, Clarence Williams and J. Tim Brymn, and the filed copyright was "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl." The original lead sheet, possibly in Clarence Williams's handwriting, is attached. The copyright as printed in the book reads I need a little sugar in my bowl words and melody by C. Williams, Dally Small and J. T. Brymn. © 1 c. Jan. 14, 1932; E unp. 50141; Clarence Williams music pub. co., inc., New York. The record label, alas, screwed things up a bit. The initial "I" was dropped (but it's common for record companies to shorten, streamline, or otherwise change titles for their labels), but the composer credit on the Columbia 14634-D label is Williams, Byrne [or poss. Byrns] and Small. There WAS a composer named W. A. D. "Danny" Small, but this evidently isn't that guy.

Here is the leadsheet Dick discovered. What is interesting about it? It is dated (rubber stamp) '1932'. The composers are given as stated by Dick. The tune is set in the key of Ab, with a melody line and no chords for the Chorus and a melody line and a few hints at chords for the Verse. The Verse has 16 bars. The Chorus has 18 bars (really 16 bars plus a two-bar tag).

The 16-bar Verse is typical of its time - not specially interesting melodically, simple and with a repeated phrase, and ending with a dominant 7th to lead into the Chorus.

What I find strange is that Bessie Smith recorded it (in a musically very good version) in 1931; and yet the copyright manuscript (not such good music - especially the Verse) is dated 1932. I would have expected it to be the other way round.

Bessie Smith sang a shorter (12-bar) verse which is better than the 16-bar Verse in the manuscript.

Turning to the Chorus, Bessie's version is very close to the manuscript version of the melody.

Bessie, by the way, sang the song in the key of F, though the manuscript is in Ab.

When Tuba Skinny recorded the song (on their first CD, in May 2009), they based their performance on the Bessie Smith version, including the 12-bar Verse and using the key of F.

Here are the lyrics Dick Baker discovered. Bessie Smith kept close to the first three lines of the Verse, but scrapped the remaining three, replacing them with one line (thereby reducing the Verse to 12 bars). With regard to the Chorus, Bessie pretty well kept the words as in the manuscript, though she slightly amended a couple of phrases.

Bessie then went on to sing a second Chorus (not typed into the manuscript above). This second Chorus was based on the first, but with cruder metaphors.

I'm pleased Tuba Skinny's version omits Bessie's second Chorus altogether. Erika Lewis sings the Verse and first Chorus only, following Bessie Smith but with a little toning down of the language, conveying a mood rather than archness. And Tuba Skinny abbreviates the title even further to Need a Little Sugar.

Writers of jazz history books in the past used to snigger like schoolboys at the 'innuendos' in the lyrics of songs performed by the likes of Bessie Smith, Victoria Spivey and Lucille Bogan.  (In England, we had the songs of George Formby: their 'cheekiness' was fashionable at one time.) But we live in an age when people are neither amused nor shocked by the metaphors used; and today there is little appetite for this kind of verbal humour.

So, regardless of the lyrics, let us value this tune for its conveying of mood, its conciseness, its simplicity, its strong melody, its harmonic progression, its 'Break' and its 'Tag'.

Long before I received the photocopy of the manuscript above from Dick Baker, I did my best to pick the tune out by ear. This is the 'Need a Little Sugar' leadsheet that I came up with (as in the recordings: 12-bar verse and an 18-bar chorus). It's good enough for me.

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Footnote

My three books about traditional jazz are available from Amazon.