Post 434: WHAT ARE 'BLUES'?

A reader asked me to explain the type-names we come across in traditional jazz tune titles. 'What is the difference between a Drag and a Rag?' he asked. 'What exactly is a Stomp? How do you define Blues?'

Little did he know I am just as confused about these matters as he is. There is plenty to read on the subjects, both in books and on the internet; but agreed definitions are not easy to come by.

Worst of all is trying to define Blues. In the 1940s, the first 'Blues' I became aware of were the songs of Bessie Smith and her contemporaries. There were tunes such as Backwater Blues and Blue Spirit Blues. I was led to believe the Blues were mournful songs, expressing suffering or regrets, or at least wistfulness and nostalgia. The books I read suggested they had arisen from the chanting of African slaves and were structured on a familiar twelve-bar chord pattern (three four-bar blocks). They used a scale in which flattened thirds, fifths and sevenths were common.

But just think of the heritage of tunes with 'Blues' in the title today.

There are songs called 'Blues' that are really just run-of-the-mill pop music of ninety years ago (normally 32-bar structures). Think of Beer Garden Blues (a conventional 32 bars in AABA structure). Think of Tishomingo Blues, Sugar Blues (this one actually an 18-bar, including tag), Bye Bye Blues, Wild Man Blues, Rent Party Blues, and Davenport Blues.

When professional composers got to work on writing 'Blues', their inventiveness took them far beyond creating one mournful melody of 12 bars. You find Yellow Dog Blues, Savoy Blues, Riverside Blues, Perdido Street Blues, Royal Garden Blues, Jackass Blues, Aunt Hagar's Blues, Dippermouth Blues, Livery Stables Blues, Beale Street Blues, Canal Street Blues, St. Louis Blues, West End Blues, Tin Roof Blues, Chimes Blues - all having two or more (often very cheerful) 12-bar themes and in some cases further structuring, such as 'bridge' passages and key changes.

The early classic Crazy Blues has a long, continuous vocal that runs through three themes. Only the middle one comprises 12 bars; but you would hardly be aware of it.

There are tunes with a 12-bar theme but also a substantial and memorable verse that is played before it. Think of Memphis Blues.

There are plenty of 'Blues' that are lovely wistful compositions that do not include a 12-bar theme at all - Basin Street Blues, Melancholy Blues, Wabash Blues, Michigander Blues, Owl Call Blues, Winin' Boy Blues, Faraway Blues, for example.

Some tunes called 'Blues' have no 12-bar theme and nothing 'bluesy' about them, but are simply well-structured fun numbers. Think of Wolverine Blues, Blue Grass Blues, Dangerous Blues and Jazz Me Blues.

Sometimes the 12-bar blues structure turns up in unlikely places. For example, Mahogany Hall Stomp (yes - it's called a stomp) has a simple main second theme of 12 bars on which the musicians improvise. The same thing happens in She's Crying For Me, Copenhagen, and especially in The Chant, which sounds like a very tricky piece, even though there is a simple 12-bar section tucked away within it as a basis for improvisations.

And what about Tom Cat Blues? It actually sounds like the 12-bar song Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This Morning leading (usually with a change of key) into the 16-bar Winin' Boy Blues.

And consider Weary Blues. Band-leaders often tell you it is not a blues and it is certainly not weary. In fact the first two themes are 12-bar structures, though they whip along in such a way that you would hardly notice. Then, with a change of key, you are into the pulsating familiar 16-bar theme on which sparkling improvisations are possible.

So: what kind of tune may be called a 'Blues'? As John Gore, my favourite school-teacher, used to say to us pupils in his Latin class 70 years ago: 'Tot homines, quot sententiae' [There are as many opinions as there are people]. He was quoting Terence, the Roman dramatist who lived 22 centuries ago.

Post 21: HOW TO STRUCTURE 'WOLVERINE BLUES'

Wolverine Blues was composed by Jelly Roll Morton in or before 1922. It's a popular tune with traditional jazz bands because it gives them more to get their teeth into than the 32-bar songs which occupy a large part of their programmes.

Wolverine Blues is not a 'real' blues in the sense of having a 12-bar structure or sad sentiments with many 'blues' notes. According to some sources, Jelly Roll himself had been playing it for quite some time as The Wolverines, so maybe that should be its title.

It usually begins with a bright 4-bar Introduction, establishing the key. Then comes the jaunty Theme A (16 bars, comprising 8 + 8, much moving between the tonic and dominant, and ending with The Sunshine Sequence). This theme is usually played twice. Immediately next comes Theme B (another 16 bars, comprising 8 + 8, but this time using a simple chord sequence of the Sister Kate type). This can also be played twice; and occasionally you come across a band that uses Theme B as a basis for improvisations.

Next comes a 4-bar Bridge (sometimes a chromatic uphill gallop). To lead in smoothly to Theme C, the Bridge needs to end firmly on the Dominant 7th of the key that will be used in Theme C.

Finally is Theme C - familiar to all jazz enthusiasts. It is based on a simple chord progression and consists of 32 bars (16 + 16), It is easy to stick on this theme and improvise upon it, as most bands do.

Generally, to round the performance off, the band plays the final eight bars of Theme C as a coda.

But if your band intends to play Wolverine Blues, you have to agree on certain points before you start. Which keys will you use? Will you omit the Bridge or any Themes?If you listen to the following eight performances (see the chart below - you can find them easily enough on YouTube), you will notice what variety there can be.

All have an Intro. But after that, note the variations.

Most bands play Theme A in Bb. But The Antique Six prefer to play it in F (which is very comfortable). Three of the eight bands omit Theme B altogether, which I think is disappointing. The five who play it all stick in the same key as for Theme A, except Benny Goodman's band. He switches to Eb. I notice that the famous Australian 'Red Book', used by hundreds of banjo players, supports Goodman's version, also heading back like him to Bb for the final theme.

Going on, we find Jack Teagarden's Band omits the Bridge. A pity. Louis Armstrong's version omits everything apart from the main theme - Theme C. Of course, what he does with that theme is magical.

The final theme (Theme C) is played by seven of the eight bands in the key of Bb. The odd man out is Jelly Roll Morton, who actually composed the tune and ought to know in which keys it should be played! He goes into Eb - a logical progression from the previous themes in Bb.

So, after all that, how on earth are we supposed to tackle it? I'll give you my preference, for what it's worth.

I think we should not omit any parts. After the 4-bar Introduction, I would suggest Theme A twice, then Theme B twice; then the Bridge, and then stick on Theme C, not forgetting the Coda.

But keys? I don't care for the Goodman Bb to Eb back to Bb. It's tempting to stick with Bb all the way, like Kid Ory and John Shillito; or to go for the Antique Six version (easy on the lips of the blowing players). 

But by a narrow margin, my vote goes to the Jelly Roll version - first two Themes in Bb, using Eb for Theme C, with its natural development from the dominant to the tonic. Note how his Bridge is entirely on the chord of Bb7: perfect.

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Footnote

The Book Playing Traditional Jazz by Pops Coffee is available from Amazon.