Post 595: ELLINGTON'S 'BIG HOUSE BLUES'

For anybody interested in studying traditional jazz, 'Big House Blues', composed by Duke Ellington in 1930, is a good illustration of what makes the music endlessly fascinating and interesting.

For a start, like plenty of other pieces from our standard repertoire, it has two sections of which one is in a major key (in this case Eb) and the other in the related minor key (C minor).

Next, it reminds us that not all tunes in the 1920s and 1930s were structured in 12-bar or 32-bar formats. In fact, the first theme (Section A - see below) consists of 20 bars. Other examples of 20-bar tunes from our early repertoire are After You've Gone, Oh You Beautiful Doll, The Darktown Strutters Ball, I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan, Keeping Out of Mischief Now, You've Got the Right Key but the Wrong Keyhole, You Got Me Crying Again, and Papa De Da Da.

The tune uses riffs – again typical of our music – and they are unusually pretty and rhythmically interesting. Note what happens in bars 17 and 18 of the A section, for example. 

It is possible to go straight from section A into section B , though bands with a piano often get the pianist to play a four-bar link between the two, just as Ellington did.

Now look at the second theme - section B – in the key of C minor. It has a 32-bar AABA structure, again using a pretty, dramatic riff for the A sections. The middle eight has its own striking, defiant melody ending with a powerful use of the G7 chord.

Improvisations are normally played on this B section and they can be very dramatic. The melody and the minor key lend themselves to growling, muted work, for example. Actually, the chord sequence is much simpler than it sounds: it is possible for a musician of average ability to produce something quite impressive from this material. I think that is why it is popular with trumpet and trombone players.

I have heard some bands also introducing a 12-bar blues chorus in Eb, and using this for improvisations. I think that spoils the overall impact of all the minor chord stuff. Ellington himself didn't do it in 1930, so why should we?

A very good way to end the tune is to play Section A again, with those bars 17 to 18 sustaining the drama and bar 20  bringing the piece to a striking sudden halt.

You can hear the tune being played by Ellington himself BY CLICKING HERE. And you may watch a band playing the piece in 2008 BY CLICKING HERE.

Post 221: 'SATURDAY NIGHT FUNCTION'

One of the leaders in whose band I 'dep' has taken a fancy to Saturday Night Function - the Duke Ellington tune. He wants to add it to his band's repertoire.

I remember that Ken Colyer made an impressive recording of it long ago.

I have listened to it and note that it's essentially a 16-bar tune with some lovelier-than-usual harmonies. It's a useful tune because you can play it at slow-to-medium tempo, thereby creating a contrast with some of the quick numbers we all love to play.

This is how I've worked it out and this is how I shall try to play it, unless anyone supplies me with a more accurate version.

I'm not certain about the Ebdim in Bar 12, though it sounds like a strong possibility. An alternative could be B major or B major 7th. What do you think?

(Insertion: Henry - banjo from Germany - has just told me it should be B7. I think he's right.)

In some performances on record, free-style solos on a straightforward 12-bar blues progression are played after the above, before returning to the 16-bar theme to finish.

What exactly was a 'Saturday Night Function'? Most probably it was a means of paying the rent. You invited people to buy tickets for a Saturday-night party at your house; and the admission charges covered the cost of your rent.

There's another Duke Ellington tune with the same sociological background - Rent Party Blues.

Post 179: 'CARAVAN'

'Caravan' - according to one of my busker's books - was composed by Duke Ellington, Irving Mills and Juan Tizol in 1937.

Traditional jazz bands rarely play it. Why is this? Possible reasons are these. It has a tricky melody (even the 'Middle Eight' melody notes add 9ths to their chords). It is considered to be a 'big band' number. Its structure - as written in 64 bars - deters players who like neat 32-bar packages.

However, I know there are a few traditional jazz bands who have attempted it with success, for example as a feature for the trombonist.

It is such a good and unusual haunting tune that I encourage more bands to try it. It would give variety to programmes, and as it's very distinctively in a minor key, it is useful as a contrast with the major key tunes that normally fill a programme.

Here's how to make it approachable.

Re-think it as a tune of 32 bars. Do this by halving the length of all the notes as printed. You then have a tune as follows:

a(1)   :  8 bars

a(2)   :  exactly the same as a(1)

b       :  middle eight

a(3)   : exactly the same as a(1)

So you really have to learn ONLY 16 bars. That should not be difficult.

It is all the easier because 'a' hovers for the entire first six bars round one chord, so improvising is easy.

For b, the melody needs to be learned (not too difficult) and improvising on these bars is easy because they have an intuitive chord progression. For example, if you play the tune in D minor, then the chords for the Middle 8 are:

 D7  |  D7  |  G7  |  G7  |  C7  |  C7  |  F  |  F:A7

Give it a try. I'm about to do so.