Post 502: 'PANAMA' IN JAPAN

Today I would like to recommend to you a video of a band playing that old favourite Panama.

You can watch it here (click on):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1oxk0_mxBg

Why do I like this particular video?

1. Because is was filmed by that fine recorder of the Japanese jazz scene codenamed ragtimecave. He succeeds in getting super close-ups of musicians and he also achieves videos of high sound quality.

2. Because it demonstrates yet again what a terrific traditional jazz scene there is in Japan; and how well the Japanese succeed in bringing on young players.

3. Because this is in many ways an exemplary performance of Panama. Note the teamwork and also the well-judged but not-too-loud driving power of the rhythm players.

It could be argued that this performance goes on for too long. Was it really necessary for every member of the seven-piece band to take solo choruses on the final theme? Perhaps not. But I will grant them that little self-indulgence in a performance of such creativity and energy.

By the way, Panama Rag (originally entitled Panama, A Characteristic Novelty) is a standard in the repertoire of traditional jazz bands. It dates back almost 110 years, having been written by William H. Tyers in 1911. Tyers, born in Virginia, the son of former slaves, lived from 1870 to 1924. The piece of music possibly has nothing to do with the country Panama or the Panama Canal which was under construction at the time: it is said by at least one source to have been named in honour of Aida Overton Walker and Her Panama Girls - a music hall act. Whatever the truth, it is a great number and can sound good no matter at what tempo you take it. It can be strenuous to play, especially for the trumpeter, as there are five themes - all of which are usually repeated.

Post 467: SECTIONS CALLED 'TRIOS' IN THE STRUCTURE OF MUSIC

Have you ever wondered why so many classic jazz pieces run through two or three themes - perhaps including some links or bridges - and then finally settle into a chunky 32-bar theme on a straightforward chord progression - a theme that may be repeated with variations and improvisations for as long as the band wishes? I'm thinking of such tunes as At a Georgia Camp Meeting, Buddy's Habit, Blame It On The Blues, Bugle Boy March, Fidgety Feet, Frogimore Rag, Hiawatha Rag, Original Dixieland One-Step, Mabel's Dream, and Tiger Rag.

I believe it is all part of a tradition passed down to us from the days of Haydn. It is the 'Trio'.

Yes, I know a 'trio' usually means a group of three - three musicians, for example.

But there is another use of the word 'Trio' in connection with music and it dates from the way pieces were structured by the classical composers of the mid-Eighteenth Century.

Symphonies and string quartets by the likes of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven were made up of several units of music, spread over a number of movements.

The 'Trio', which often came within a 'Minuet' movement, was often provided as a contrast to another theme that was played before and after it.

Why it was called a 'Trio' is somewhat obscure, but it seems likely that, originally at least, it really did involve some kind of three-part harmonizing. (You can certainly find that in Haydn string quartets.)

Move forward to the late Nineteenth Century and we find that composers of light or semi-classical music still considered it proper to create pieces that included four or five separate themes, or parts. By analogy, they thought they too should have a section called the Trio; and often it appeared as a somewhat grand but simple melody (usually 16 or 32 bars). Just as the classical composers had done, they often switched to a different key for the Trio. And, just as in classical music, they sometimes indicated that the musicians were expected to go back to the opening theme and play that again AFTER the Trio.

This idea of including Trios was immensely popular in Brass Band music of the Nineteenth Century. Think of those great marches, in many of which there is a theme called the 'Trio'. Sometimes it is quite grandiose.

So it's hardly surprising that the Trio found its way into early jazz - and that it's still there today, though I doubt whether any of our current musicians ever consciously think about it.

Look at the original sheet music of some of our jazz classics. This is the final section of Deep Henderson. I have highlighted where the Trio begins.

And here is the point in Panama where the Trio begins:

It switches from the key of F to the key of Bb at the start of the Trio - the most common switch of all, in which early themes are played in the key that is the Dominant of the Final Theme.

The same happens in Maple Leaf Rag. Here the switch is from the key of Ab (for the earlier themes) to Db for the Trio.

And here's the Trio from Charles Cooke's 1914 piano rag Blame It On The Blues. When our jazz bands play it today, it sounds very unlike this, because it has been re-interpreted with a much more simple melodic line, easier for trumpet players to cope with.

A few more examples:

The Cactus Rag (1916) is written in Eb - until the Trio, which is in Ab.

Chimes (by Homer Denny, 1910 - not to be confused with Chimes Blues) is a rag in F with a Trio in Bb.

The rag Cole Smoak (1906) is in Eb, with the Trio in Ab.

James Scott's Evergreen Rag (1915) goes from G to C for the Trio.

So, whenever we play one of those multi-part tunes that ends with a steady theme on which we all love to improvise, perhaps we should spare a thought for the likes of Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), who so long ago showed how pieces of music may be constructed by putting together various parts - or themes - and how interesting it is to have such an impressive contrasting theme (perhaps in a related key) that, for want of a better term, we may call 'The Trio'.

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Post 414: 'PANAMA RAG'

Panama Rag (originally entitled Panama, A Characteristic Novelty) became a 'standard' in the repertoire of traditional jazz bands. It dates back over 100 years, having been written by William H. Tyers in 1911. Tyers, born in Virginia, the son of former slaves, lived from 1870 to 1924. The piece of music (despite the cover shown above) possibly has nothing to do with the country Panama or the Panama Canal which was under construction at the time: it is said by at least one source to have been named in honour of Aida Overton Walker and Her Panama Girls - a music hall act.

Whatever the truth, it is a great number and can sound good no matter at what tempo you take it. I have heard it performed gently and sedately (for example by The Ophelia Ragtime Orchestra) and also in a driving, pulsating way by some jazz bands at festivals.

It can be strenuous to play, especially for the trumpeter, as there are five themes - all of which are usually repeated. I tried writing it out. It is normally played in Eb, modulating into Ab, so I have transposed it into F modulating into Bb to suit my Bb trumpet.

As usual, I have fitted it into my mini-filofax collection of tunes arranged alphabetically (between, as it happens, Painting The Clouds With Sunshine and Papa De Da Da). You can see my scruffy effort below. But beneath that, I am presenting the version put on his website - http://cjam.lassecollin.se/ - by the great and generous Lasse Collin. It's much more helpful and tidier than mine, for those of you wishing to learn the piece.

Lasse's Version: