Post 576: ORIGIN OF THE EXTENDED LEG SIGNAL

Way back in the early months of 2008, Shaye Cohn was still a beginner on any kind of brass instrument, though she was already improvising on one very well.

She had a pocket trumpet in those days.

Later she was to acquire from Ed Polcer the old Yamaha cornet with which she has won thousands of devoted fans all over the world; and the Yamaha is the instrument she is still playing to this day.

But back then in 2008, with her pocket trumpet, she would busk in various groups on the streets of New Orleans. One of these groups was the Sweet Nothings, led by Aurora Nealand.

What a piece of good fortune that a video-maker codenamed bixerbecke filmed them at this time. His video is a valuable historical document. Not only do we see Shaye playing her pocket trumpet - and improvising a simple but decent chorus from 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute 44 seconds; we also have an amusing episode from 2 minutes 38 seconds when Shaye discovers for the first time that it is conventional to provide the response 'got no pants on' when someone is singing 'The Sheik of Araby'. She finds it hilarious, and joins in.

Aurora, leader of the group, was already playing brilliantly (but dare I say that she too has gone on majestically improving in subsequent years?). And it's fun to hear Aurora struggling to sing the highest notes of the song. They could have pitched it in a lower key for her, instead of Bb, as used by most bands. But this would have been a change hardly worth making.

However, another point of interest in this video is Aurora's use of the extended leg to signal to the band when they are on the final chorus.

Aurora extends the leg to signal the final chorus

This is a device used so much by Shaye when leading Tuba Skinny in the years that followed. Many of you, I am sure, believe that Shaye 'invented' this signal. But as this video shows, Aurora was using it back in 2008. My guess is that Shaye picked it up from her and that Aurora was the 'inventor'.

I am indebted to my friend Phil Lynch in the USA who reminded me of the existence of this video.

You can watch it BY CLICKING HERE.

Post 426: THE BALKAN BRASS BAND INFLUENCE IN TRADITIONAL JAZZ

My American friend and frequent correspondent Phil is very keen on a band called The California Feetwarmers.

He has kept me informed about their Summer 2016 tour in the U.K., Germany and Switzerland. You can hear this band of very proficient musicians by clicking here, where they play slick arrangements of Aunt Hagar's Blues, San and Bill Bailey.

Phil tells me some of the players previously played as a 'Balkan brass band' and there is still a great influence of the disciplines of Balkan brass band music in their playing.

This set me thinking, because Balkan Brass Band Music is something about which I knew virtually nothing. So I spent a couple of hours reading about it. I discovered it seems to have arisen from the folk music mainly of Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria. Much of the music supports vigorous dancing. It has repetitive insistent melodies and very strong rhythms.

Picture a village square. We see a group of colourfully-dressed dancers in a circle, hands linked, dancing in a manner that involves fast-paced complicated foot movements while the upper bodies remain statuesque. They are accompanied by a sousaphone heavily stamping the first and third beats of the bars, an accordion playing rapid sequences of notes, a violin, trumpets and other horns, as well as sundry busy percussion instruments. The band plays with technical precision. The harmonies sound simple – largely involving the three main chords (but perhaps this is deceptive, since it seems likely also that they using some uncommon scales); and the melodies, mostly rapid, contain some acrobatic twists and turns. In some tunes, there are compound time signatures, notably 9/8 and 7/8.

A 'Balkan Brass Band' in New Orleans!

I learned that there are various song forms of which the two commonest are the Kolo and the Čoček. The Kolo is often a group dance as described above and sometimes in 9/8 rhythmic form. The Čoček may also be in 9/8 time.

To get an immediate feel for what Balkan brass band music at its brassiest sounds like, click here.

The Balkan influence has spread among some of the very best traditional jazz musicians of today. Think of Jenavieve Cooke. In her years of nomadic living, she picked up Balkan music at its source. In April 2016 she told me 'I'm a traditional Balkan music and dance freak!'

Years before she formed the famous Royal Street Winding Boys, Jenavieve founded in New Orleans a Balkan brass band called Backyard Belladonna.

And there's Ben Schenk (mainly playing clarinet), now in his 50s, who spent years evolving the kind of band that seemed just right for him. He ended up with The Panorama Jazz Band, which is quite capable of playing traditional jazz in familiar style, but also has in its programmes doses of influence from Balkan brass band music and Klezmer music, not to mention a considerable Caribbean element! Panorama has been a truly great band since Aurora Nealand (who, by the way, has toured in the Balkans) joined it. She - one of the world's greatest reed players - has a heart full of the joys of music of all cultures. She perfectly complements Ben's work. There are plenty of videos of the band on YouTube but I will mention this one, where you catch them in Big Band Mardi Gras format: CLICK HERE.

And think of Matt Schreiber. This fine accordion player and Balkan music specialist not only plays with Ben in the Panorama Jazz Band but also works in the specialist Mahala Trio (Balkan music in New Orleans). Try watching a video of him and his two colleagues by clicking here. It's not a brass band but it certainly gives novices such as myself a good insight into the nature of Balkan music.

And now we have The Wit's End Brass Band. They have produced a remarkable CD that you can find on Bandcamp.

The Wit's End Brass Band 2016.
It includes some familiar faces!

You must watch THIS VIDEO OF THEM. CLICK HERE TO VIEW.

I discovered there are very many 'Balkan Bands' all over the world, even in such unlikely places as England, Australia and the Netherlands. In the USA there are dozens of them, and Balkan Band Summer Camps are held on both the East and West Coasts. For a terrific Balkan SuperBand playing in our beloved Royal Street, New Orleans: CLICK HERE.

Balkan Brass Bands:
Above and Below

In spirit, instrumentation and rhythmic excitement, it seems to me this Balkan music has a lot in common with Klezmer music, which has also had a permeating influence on New Orleans jazz in the 21st Century. Add to these influences that of Caribbean calypso music – much associated in recent years with The Panorama Jazz Band and with Madeleine Reidy and later with The Rhythm Wizards in New Orleans and Wow! We observe some very interesting developments in the music we love.

Post 329: THE WORLD'S BEST TRADITIONAL JAZZ ALL-FEMALE FRONT LINE?

Could this have been the world's best all-female front line? They were playing at The Spotted Cat in November 2014. It was The Shotgun Jazz Band. I watched the performance streamed live on Playjones. And the ladies were (left to right) Haruka Kikuchi, Marla Dixon and Aurora Nealand.

What a pulsating performance it was!

The Spotted Cat
(photo courtesy of my friend Bill Stock)

Post 235: STEPHANIE NILLES - ALL TOO RARE A JAZZ PIANIST

Stephanie Nilles

I was in The Spotted Cat, New Orleans, one evening in April 2015, enjoying a thrilling programme by Aurora Nealand's band. Partnering her on the front line was James Evans, and these two outstanding reed players were producing some thrilling choruses both individually and together, and obviously enjoying themselves hugely. Aurora is the kind of player who seems hardly ever to stop smiling, even when she is playing.

But something else quite wonderful also caught my attention.

There was a young lady pianist 'sitting in'; and her playing was possibly the best I have ever heard in a traditional jazz band. In the ensembles and backing the solo choruses, she did just what was needed - lightly sketching in the chords and fitting in with any rhythmic patterns established by the guitar and bass. But  whenever she was given a solo chorus, it was as if Franz Listz had suddenly occupied the piano stool. Using the entire width of the keyboard, she produced some astounding improvisations, notes tumbling and cascading from the keys - but always clearly on the correct harmonic progression. It was thrilling musicianship. On top of that, she even offered an occasional vocal, which she sang in an entertaining way, with an unusual light, girlish voice that brought back memories of the late Blossom Dearie.

Who was this amazing performer? Nobody around me in the dense crowd was able to tell me.

Fortunately, while sheltering from rain a couple of days later, I met Aurora Nealand and had the opportunity to ask. She told me the lady was a good friend of hers - Stephanie Nilles.

Back in England, I consulted the internet to find out more about Stephanie.

She is described as a 'Chicago-born jazz/punk/barrelhouse musician' who has been 'hustling around the United States, Europe, and Canada.... averaging 150 gigs a year, and captivating unsuspecting listeners with a voice that would make Jelly Roll Morton look orthodox and Ma Rainey look sober'.

But her background (I was not surprised to find) was a classical training. She studied piano and cello from the age of six, was a finalist at the Young Concert Artists' International Competition, a gold medalist at the Fischoff Competition, and had performed on National Public Radio on three separate occasions by the age of seventeen. At twenty-two, she had graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a degree in classical piano performance. She moved to New York City, where she began writing songs and performed regularly on the east village anti-folk scene.

Stephanie has made several CDs and has also been involved in numerous music projects in both Europe and America. On the internet, you can find plenty about her activities, but these quotations will give you some insights into Stephanie and her music: '....a highly accomplished, award-winning young pianist with a degree in classical performance and the whole world ahead of her chucks it all over to eke out a bohemian living playing punk clubs and sleeping in her car'; 'Her compositions are often dizzyingly witty'; 'Writing truthful and poignant stories of the world as it is'; 'With a voice that manically switches from sultry soul to wild yelping, not to mention mad piano skills and a wild performance energy, Nilles has the talent to shuffle past the mediocre label props grinding their teeth on Top 40 radio today'.

My message is: if you ever have a chance of hearing Stephanie Nilles playing in a traditional jazz band, jump at it. You will be in for a treat. But I think the opportunities may be exceptionally hard to come by. It seems that playing in a traditional jazz band is something she does all too rarely. I was so lucky to be there on one of those occasions.

This video will give you some idea of what Stephanie Nilles is capable of - just with a voice and a piano:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW.

And with a small band:
CLICK HERE.

Possibly, you may not enjoy her style in these far-from-trad-jazz YouTube videos. But I can assure you that - on that great night in New Orleans - Stephanie accepted all the disciplines of traditional jazz and that her playing in Aurora's band was sensational.

Post 11: TRADITIONAL JAZZ MUSICIANS IN NEW ORLEANS, 2015

While I was in New Orleans in April 2015, I had the privilege of conversations with several of the musicians I had previously seen and admired only on YouTube.

I also listened to several of the great bands playing in the bars and clubs (such as The Spotted Cat and The DBA and The Maison) and to dozens of street musicians (buskers, as we say in England).

It was a special thrill to chat with them wherever possible. Some - under pressure from their adoring public - could spare me only a few moments; but with others I managed to have quite long conversations, from which I learned a great deal about how they practise, rehearse and manage their lives.

They tend to live in rented shotgun houses just outside the French Quarter. Some of them are near enough to walk to work. But many use bicycles, often fitted with trailers, to take themselves and their kit to the spot where they will play.

They work long and hard - even on a birthday! For an illustration of this, look at this Facebook entry by guitarist Shine Delphi:
Thank y'all for the birthday love. If you're in New Orleans come give me a hug. I'll be busking with Yes Ma'am  11 - 2, then Goorin Bros hat shop 3 - 5 and I'll finish the evening over at Buffa's 11 - 1.

You sometimes pass a band playing for tips at a certain spot and then - when you return five hours later - you find they are still there and still playing. What stamina they have! Here's the famous Doreen Ketchens, for example, playing a very long session in Royal Street.

Musical standards are so high. For example, I noticed street musicians have no problem playing terrific improvised 32-bar solo choruses even when they have a singer who chooses to sing in an 'awkward' key. Pretty well any of the musicians busking on Royal Street would be instant stars on the jazz scene here in England. But in England they would not make a living, whereas in New Orleans the tips from tourists give them just enough to live on.

There are now so many street musicians in New Orleans that competition for attention and for tips has become a problem. In Royal Street (the main location for buskers), you may be brilliantly singing songs accompanied by your own guitar, but there will be a five-piece band only 100 yards to your right and a solo classical violinist 100 yards to your left. So it's not easy to hold the attention of passers-by.

In addition, the streets are full of other 'entertainers' - the human statues, tap-dancers, the man who types instant poetry, the sword swallower, the magician, the exhibitionists (often vulgar) who expect tips just for posing in outrageous costumes, and so on.

I was told independently by two musicians (so it is surely true) that, if you want to play in a prime spot from 11a.m. (when music is allowed), you need some member of your band to man that position from 11p.m. the night before. All through the night, someone must be on the spot to hold it. Sometimes members of a band do this in 'shifts', with one arriving at 2a.m. to relieve the musician on duty since 11 p.m., and so on. How can they be fit to play after such a night? It's tough; and for this reason some who are now being offered decent gigs in the bars have decided not to play on the streets any more.

Of course there are other spots (such as on the Walk along the north bank of the Mississippi) where you could set up and play, but far fewer people pass by there.

When you talk to the musicians, it's not easy to get some of them to be serious on the subject of their talents. They constantly joke and belittle themselves.

But some of the musicians, notably Tommy Sancton, Ben Polcer, Charlie Halloran and John Dixon, were happy to chat about the technicalities of the music. What impressed me was how seriously they take it and how hard they work and practise. Often they will do two gigs (sometimes three) in a day - gigs of three hours or four hours each. On rare days when there is no gig, they still insist on the need to practise for a couple of hours. As one musician said, 'It's like being an iceberg. The public sees the little bit above the water; but there's a huge amount of hard work that goes on underneath the surface'.

I asked how important it was for trumpet, clarinet and trombone players to know the chord progression of a particular tune. To my surprise, they all considered it essential. Of course, they pointed out that - when you have played a tune many times - the chord sequence is 'in your fingers' and instinctive, so you no longer consciously think of it; but you must learn it in the first place. For an example that shows how thoroughly a trombone player knows his chord sequence, look at Barnabus Jones from twenty seconds into this video, where he is calling out the chord sequence of Dallas Rag for the benefit of other players: CLICK HERE.

Did they reach a point at which they had no need to learn any more tunes? Definitely not. The joy of mastering new tunes goes on and on. Ben Polcer - who as a young music graduate was among the first to migrate to New Orleans - is a brilliant player of both the piano and the trumpet. He has been one of the most important influential figures on the New Orleans scene since Hurricane Katrina. Yet he is still learning new tunes. He told me he can usually pick up a tune of the more 'straightforward' kind after hearing it a couple of times, especially as he will usually recognise familiar chord sequences within it. I had great pleasure hearing Ben play both instruments during my visit. You can watch his piano playing at close quarters if you click on this video of 'I Can't Escape'. And - with the same band - you can see him playing trumpet on 'The Original Dixieland One-Step' by clicking here.

One of the most exciting musicians on the current New Orleans scene is Aurora Nealand, who plays in various contrasting styles with different bands, some of which she leads.

Typical of the sort of thing Aurora does was this: her band started to play Dans Les Rues d'Antibes with its usual brisk up-tempo Introduction. Then they suddenly stopped and switched to a weird almost dirge-like bit of (what seemed to me ) free-style jazz. It was fun and went on for about a minute. Then they bounced back into Dans Les Rues and performed it in the conventional way, with some sensationally good solo choruses. Playful treatments such as that seem to be something Aurora is very keen to experiment with.

Aurora - like many of the musicians there - went to New Orleans intending to stay for about six months, mainly working at composing. But the culture soon got into her blood. Inspired by The Preservation Hall Band in her childhood, she had always loved traditional jazz. So she started to study it more deeply and soon found herself constantly playing on the streets - with various bands.

She is now one of the most brilliant and versatile reed players and band-leaders in the world. Aurora told me there is something very special about playing with bands in New Orleans. She said the technical standard of traditional jazz musicians in New York is extremely high; and yet compared with New York (where incidentally some of the New Orleans musicians spend a month or two in the summer), she found there was something more 'relaxed' and less cerebral about the music in New Orleans. This quality is hard to define; but it's there all right.

Post 3: THE SEMIOLOGY OF OUR MUSIC

Watch Aurora Nealand at 3 minutes 44 seconds into this exciting video (click on to view), and you will see her rapidly holding up two fingers and then four. Immediately her band knows they are to play just the second and fourth beats of the bars in the next chorus while backing the pianist. And they do so - to great effect. That's a good example of a leader skilfully directing her band.

In pretty well all performances by traditional jazz bands, one of the players is responsible for giving signals about what is to happen next - what we sometimes call 'directing the musical traffic'. These signals are the 'Visual Language' of the music.

I think it looks bad if - while a tune is being played - some of the musicians are seen talking about what they are going to do with the following Chorus. The discreet use of signals is so much better.

In a great band, signals may even be given by the eyes of the leader. Notice, for example, how often with Tuba Skinny all that is required is a glance from Shaye Cohn for the other musicians to know exactly what is required.

The most obvious and most common example or traditional jazz semiology is the signal to tell a player that he or she should improvise a solo (or take the lead) in the following Chorus. The leader usually does this by pointing his instrument towards that player - or sometimes indeed by mere eye contact. Here is Shaye Cohn of Tuba Skinny indicating with the slightest lean towards him that Barnabus is to take the next Chorus:

Here are some of the other useful signals.

This is the hand tapping the top of the head, demonstrated here by Marla Dixon, the dynamic leader of The Shotgun Jazz Band. It means: 'At the end of this Chorus, go right back to the beginning' (i.e. the Introduction or Verse).

And here it is deployed by Shaye Cohn.

This next one (the whisper signal) means 'Play the next Chorus very quietly.' I always enjoy the effect achieved by this.

But I have also noticed Marla signalling 'Next Chorus very quietly, please' by doing this:

The quiet Chorus is usually followed by a much louder one in which the band brings the tune to a climactic ending.

It makes for variety occasionally if a Chorus is played in 'fours'. That is to say, two or more players alternately take four bars each. Here's an example of Shaye setting up such a Chorus (note the four fingers). Immediately after catching the eye with this signal, she points to the two players who are to take the 'fours' and away they go.

Next is a signal Marla uses to tell the whole band to stop dead after the first beat of the next bar - to allow for the singer (or the designated player) to perform a two-bar 'break'. She punches the air behind her head. Some bandleaders indicate the break by holding the fist up and sharply pulling it down.

I like the clarity of that. It prevents the mistake that happens with some bands, when a drummer for example spoils someone's break by drumming right through it.

A great idea for occasional use is to have a chorus played entirely by the three front-line instruments only. To achieve this, the leader must indicate to the entire rhythm section that it must 'Cut!' Marla does this by slashing the hand horizontally in front of them:

To see this signal (at 4 minutes 45 seconds during a thrilling video of Climax Rag) CLICK HERE.

A rarely-heard signal is the one to indicate that the next chorus is to be performed by human voices only (everybody sings!). The achieve this, the leader calls 'A cappella'. See an example of Matt doing this at 2 minutes 18 seconds into this video: CLICK HERE.

This next signal is so helpful in creating something interesting and unusual. Yet I rarely see it used. As you probably know, the Middle Eight of a tune is also called The Bridge. So this signal means, 'In the next Chorus, start at the Middle Eight (The Bridge) rather than the beginning.' You get the hand into a bridge shape and rock it for a second or two:

Here is Marla using it.

There's a very clear example of Marla using it at 3 minutes 29 seconds into this video (click on to view).

But Shaye has her own signal for 'Go back to the Middle Eight'. She appears to make a 'bridge' with the two index fingers. You can see what she does if you click on this video and watch her fingers at 4 minutes 28 seconds: the band immediately responds by going to the Bridge, neatly bringing the tune to a conclusion.

Sometimes a signal is used to indicate the key of the tune. Fingers up mean sharps; fingers down are flats. So this signal means we are going to play in the key which has two flats (namely the key of Bb):

Normally such a signal should not be needed but it can be useful if the leader decides to switch into a different key at the start of the next Chorus. I have noticed Marla Dixon and Aurora Nealand - after playing several choruses of Why Don't You Go Down To New Orleans? in Eb - giving a one-finger-down signal to indicate that the final chorus would be in F. The effect of the key change was very impressive.

This next one means 'Half and half''. For example, when we play the next 32-bar Chorus, one player will take the first 16 bars and another will take the second.

When some of the players have been 'sitting out' during a Chorus and the leader wants them all to join in for the next, a good signal is a rolling motion with an instrument, indicating that all members of the band are being included. Here is Shaye using this signal. Take my word for it: the cornet is being waved round in a circle, indicating to Barnabus and Jonathan: 'I want us all playing in the next Chorus'.

Alternatively, the circle motion can be performed by the bandleader moving a single finger in a circle - usually above his head, so that everyone can see.

It helps all members of the band to know when they are on the last Chorus, bringing the tune to an end. With most experienced bands, this becomes almost instinctive. But it is helpful if the leader is positive in indicating the final Chorus. It may require no more than the trumpeter raising the bell of his instrument high as he plays and making sure everyone sees it.

But an interesting 'Finish' signal that has crept in recently (possible when bands are seated) is the extended leg.

To judge from YouTube videos, Aurora Nealand started this fashion among traditional jazz bands in about 2008 with a slight raising of the foot. But I have been told folk music groups used this signal in earlier decades. For a video of Aurora using it, CLICK HERE and watch her a few seconds from the end.

Shaye Cohn (who was playing with Aurora in that video) picked up the idea and used the extended leg so much in subsequent years that other bandleaders - so influenced by her - have started to adopt it.

Other signals are used to indicate 'Threes!' (all musicians except the soloist to play only the first three beats of the four in each bar) or 'Off!' (similar - play offbeats only). You can see Shaye order offbeats to back the clarinet at 2 minutes 6 seconds in this video: CLICK HERE. And she uses the same device at 2 minutes 19 seconds in THIS VIDEO where she is briefing the other musicians on how to back her own next chorus. Note the instant perfect response by all members of the band.

Another interesting instruction concerns the Introduction to the tune. Sometimes the last four bars are used as the Introduction. In England, the leader says 'Last Four' just before the band starts. But I note that Shaye Cohn in New Orleans says 'From the turn around'. I prefer that and presume it's the American custom. See an example by clicking here.

Another well-known signal is used when the next Chorus is to be a vocal. The leader's hand is held up and the fingers are used to mimic the shape of a mouth opening and shutting. You can see a very clear example of Shaye doing this if you click here and watch her at 3 minutes 29 seconds.

Of course, there is more to traditional jazz semiology than I have mentioned. Bandleaders develop their own signals.

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Pops Coffee's Books Playing Traditional Jazz and Enjoying Traditional Jazz are available from Amazon: