Post 454: 'TING-A-LING' - STARTING THE CONCERT

I was talking to one of England's best traditional jazz trombonists, a musician of great experience.

We got on to the subject of choosing tunes for a concert. He had a strong and persuasive opinion about how a concert should start. He said the first tune should be cheerful and up-tempo, but not too fast. It should be fairly simple. It should be in the key of Bb, as this was the most commonly used key and the one in which the melody instruments feel comfortable.

His reasons were these. At the start of a concert, the band needs to feel its way into the acoustics of the venue, so it is best to play something simple, giving all the musicians a chance to listen carefully to the sound and the balance. The audience also needs to adjust to the band - preferably while listening to something cheerful and unpretentious.

That all makes a lot of sense to me.

So would he please give me an example of a suitable first tune?

Ting-a-Ling, he said.

In case you don't know, this tune started life as a waltz - The Waltz of the Bells. It was composed in 1926 with words by Addy Britt (1891 - 1938) and music by Jack Little (1900 - 1956). If you would like to hear how it originally sounded when gently played as a waltz (on a Wurlitzer!), CLICK HERE.

Later, musicians found its chorus would work really well in 4/4 time as a traditional jazz number.

You will hear it pleasantly played by a small traditional jazz group that includes Cuff Billett on trumpet if you CLICK HERE. Or you may care to watch a six-piece band giving a lively performance BY CLICKING HERE.

Post 153: 'LOVE SONGS OF THE NILE'

Love Songs of the Nile is a beautiful tune that I first came across when I heard that very fine English trumpeter Cuff Billett playing it with his band in the 1990s. I have since discovered that it has been recorded by many of the best traditional jazz bands. The great Shotgun Jazz Band of New Orleans has the song in its repertoire. Here's their cracking version of it:
Click here to view on YouTube.

Apparently this song was written for a 1933 film called 'The Barbarian'; and it was sung in the film by Ramon Navarro. The composers were Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. (Nacio Herb Brown also wrote You Stepped out of a Dream and You Were Meant for Me.)

You can hear it played by the band of De De and Billie Pierce (with George Lewis on clarinet and Louis Nelson on trombone) if you
CLICK HERE.

John Dodgshon of California wrote to me about this tune, pointing out that some jazz bands play a version with a 'simplified' chord sequence. John is right. There is a difficulty in bars 9, 10, 13 and 25 of the Chorus, where the 'simplified' version, possibly based on the De De and Billie Pierce recording, has for example F major chords where there should be Ab7s. Here is the recommended correct lead-sheet that John has kindly sent me. It includes the Verse.