Post 583: 'BERLIN RAGS'

I was intrigued by 'Berlin Rags', a video put up by James Sterling (24 February 2018). If you haven't yet seen it, click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGstamQp5Vs

Even by Tuba Skinny standards, it is an extraordinary piece of music. It was obviously thoroughly composed (mainly using the key of D minor) and arranged from start to finish, with none of the usual opportunities for improvised 'solos'. Notice the two bars from Barnabus and one from Todd at about 52 seconds, which seem to make a highly-unusual 3-bar 'bridge'. These bars are clearly part of the arrangement. Similarly, at about 1 minute 35 seconds, without any signal from Shaye, the strings switch to playing off-beats and the whole band takes the volume down briefly. Then you have those Justin tremolos - several of them, starting at about 1 min 58 - again obviously part of the composition. There’s Robin’s use of the cymbal starting at 1 minute 43 – four times in all, I think, and again later, all obviously pre-planned. Then there's the three silent beats from the entire rhythm section at 2 mins 42: things like that don't just happen. Finally, there is the very special and unusual ending. The structure of the piece is unconventional; and although it uses familiar chords, there are surprises in the progressions as well as in the melody.

So where did it all come from? Do you know? I did not. All I could tell was that it was NOT the 'Berlin Rag' that was composed by Bernie Pearl.

Well, Robin has kindly let me know it was composed in 2016 by Ewan Bleach - who of course had been a member of Tuba Skinny for a while. Well done, Ewan! And thanks, Robin. Ewan composed it for the band Frog and Henry and they (without a trombone - unlike Tuba Skinny) recorded it in 2016 on their CD (it's the very first track):

https://frogandhenry.bandcamp.com/album/frog-and-henry.

What's more, their version is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_hlXHBianM&feature=youtu.be .

Over the years, there have been close links between Tuba Skinny and Frog and Henry. I believe there have been four musicians who have played a great deal in both bands. When Tuba Skinny took on 'Berlin Rags', they had to find a role for the trombone. Robin told me also that his cymbal markings were purely an idea he had stuck with, though he changes them from time to time.

At the top of this article  you can see the poster produced to go with this tune. Frog and Henry Music have very kindly sent it to me.

-------------------

My friend Jonathan Graham, who is one of England's best traditional jazz musicians (on both guitar and trumpet), sent me this comment, which I think is spot on:-

I concur – lovely piece, brilliant arrangement and beautifully played. No room for error anywhere with those chord progressions. The chord players look like they may be reading (I would want to) but the front line seem, as you suggest, to have memorised it – this is particularly impressive when listening to how many note-precise parts the trombone player has to include. All very reminiscent in style and process to the legendary Morton Red Hot Peppers.

Post 567: THE GENEROUS MAKERS OF GREAT VIDEOS

If, like me, you spend many hours watching YouTube videos of traditional jazz bands playing in the USA - and particularly in New Orleans, you must have noticed that dozens of the videos have been put up by two video-making enthusiasts who use the code-names digitalalexa and RaoulDuke504. And more recently James Sterling has also come on to the scene. And there others - such as Wild Bill and jazzbo43, who have captured many good New Orleans performances for us. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude; and I think the bands too must be grateful to these people for spreading their fame to many thousands throughout the world. 

A great experience I had in New Orleans during April 2015 was meeting two of these video-makers. They were enthusiastically filming at the French Quarter Festival.

RaoulDuke504 has the advantage of living near New Orleans. I met him while he was filming the Tuba Skinny performance at the Festival. Here he is:

I had the great privilege of shaking his hand and thanking him for the pleasure he has given me (and so many thousands of people) with his wonderful videos.

Digitalalexa is actually two people - husband Al and his wife Judy from New Jersey. They travelled down frequently to New Orleans and had a grand time filming their favourite bands. Al and Judy film the same performance from different angles and when they return home Al edits the two videos into one, trying to make the most of the best shots they have obtained between them. It was a great honour to meet Al and Judy several times at various events. Al told me his videos by 2015 had over three million 'hits'. It was through their videos that I (and hundreds of other fans) first discovered Tuba Skinny and some of the other great bands. So I am deeply grateful.

Here is Judy at The Louisiana Music Factory, where they were about to film a Tuba Skinny Concert.

And here at the same event is Al.

These wonderful modest people enjoy their relative anonymity. But I hope they won't mind my featuring them on this Blog and saying a Big Thank You to them on behalf of us all for bringing us such pleasure.

Good news is that Al and Judy produced the first video of Tuba Skinny to be viewed more than a million times: THIS ONE - CLICK ON TO WATCH IT.

By the way, Al and Judy also founded The 2015 French Quarter Festival and Tuba Skinny Appreciation Society. Al and Judy designed and then Judy embroidered a batch of these lovely souvenir bannerettes. They distributed them to several fans to wave during the Parade and they also gave some to the members of Tuba Skinny.

What terrific souvenirs. I treasure mine!

James Sterling lives in Florida and can get to New Orleans in five hours by car. In January 2015, he came upon a YouTube video of Tuba Skinny (probably one of digitalalexa's). He told me it changed his life for ever. (Exactly the same experience had happened to me a year or two earlier.) He said: 'I watched Tuba Skinny videos for 6 hours straight, finally stopping at 1am'. Since then, James has made the journey three or four times each year. In 2016, I had the pleasure of meeting James and his wife, too. Here he is in Frenchmen Street. Thank you, too, for all the good work, James!

Post 541: 'SOME KIND'A SHAKE' - A NEW GEM FROM TUBA SKINNY

On 3 March 2018, that generous video-maker James Sterling put up on YouTube a performance by Tuba Skinny of a tune called Some Kind-a-Shake. This tune, which - James informed us - was an 'original' by the band, had never been previously available on YouTube. You may watch it BY CLICKING HERE.

What you will witness is another astonishing composition and performance. Tuba Skinny must have been busy in recent weeks working up some slick arrangements. I guess they have rehearsed together quite a bit.

For what's it's worth, and in case you're interested, here's how I see this new piece.

Essentially it's a 16-bar (8 + 8) tune in the key of F; but it is played with so much variety and quite a few surprises.

After twice through the 16-bar Chorus, we find Shaye offering an obbligato on the third time. Then the fourth time through has a surprise rhythmic pattern (with silent first beats in the third and fifth bars from the whole band ). Craig is the next to play his improvisation on the theme.

Then at 1 min 52 comes the highlight of the piece - an amazing 8-bar 'Bridge' section. You have Todd, Barnabus, Shaye and Craig over a period of four bars playing just one note each in turn through two rising arpeggios (to my ear, Gb diminished and Ab diminished respectively). The band did a similar thing in Blue Chime Stomp - you may remember. Then there's a two-bar banjo tremolo, and next a couple of bars from Todd to lead us back to the 16-bar Chorus (but - unusually - the key has not changed).

Max - a stalwart of Tuba Skinny.

Now we have one Chorus for the strings and one for Barnabus (playing the tune fairly straight) and one in which Todd leads while the whole front line plays very sweet choreographed supporting notes. Finally, there's a stomping ensemble Chorus, followed by a clever and well-rehearsed Coda - it uses the first two bars of that Bridge again! and then one additional bar to put the tune to bed.

Wow! When did you last hear any other band (especially in the U.K.) do anything like that - without printed music in front of them?

The only other band I can think of that does similar tricky things (i.e. while working without printed music) is The Smoking Time Jazz Club, also based in New Orleans.
==========

Post 263: A 13-BAR BLUES, A 12½-BAR BLUES AND AN 11½-BAR BLUES??!!??

Well, here's something unique in my experience - A 12½-bar Blues and an 11½-bar Blues..

We all know dozens of 12-bar blues. The 12-bar blues form is the commonest structure in our music.

But my friend James Sterling introduced me to a blues with a 12½-bar structure when he filmed Tuba Skinny playing Blue Sky Blues. With the help of Peter Donkin, who identified it, we learned the song had been recorded in about 1930 by The Mississippi Blacksnakes (an alternative name for The Mississippi Sheiks), and that it was probably composed by Walter Vinson. You can hear the original BY CLICKING HERE.

The tune ought to feel uncomfortable, with those two 'extra' beats at the end of each Chorus. And yet The Mississippi Blacksnakes and Tuba Skinny sail through it as though it is the most natural form in the world - just as Tuba Skinny did when they added to their repertoire the unusual 'Jackson Stomp', which has an ELEVEN-bar blues structure.

Here's the link to James's video. You can hear those extra two beats for the first time at 34 seconds and then at the end of every subsequent Chorus:

CLICK HERE.

And then came a video of Tuba Skinny playing Viola Lee Blues - again filmed by my friend James Sterling. This time it's a tune learned from the recording made in 1928 by banjo blues legend Gus Cannon. The tune feels odd, with (compared with a standard 12-bar blues) two beats 'missing'. What seems to happen is that Bar 6 has only two beats, unlike the expected four. Again, Tuba Skinny make it sound easy. Listen for yourself and try counting the beats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jnbx4oHFuk

And here's a curiosity - the only 13-BAR blues I can think of. It occurs as the Interlude in Blind Boy Fuller's Untrue Blues. This is essentially an eight-bar tune, but he has two guitar links of 13 bars, which seemed to be based on the 12-bar blues, but with Bar 10 repeated. When Tuba Skinny revived this tune in 2014, they scrupulously followed the original and kept the 13-bar section.

===========================

Post 259: 'AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL' - SHAYE AND TS

Many musicians dislike playing At The Jazz Band Ball. When the band-leader announces it, they think, 'Oh, no. Not that. It's boringly repetitive and so simple that it presents nothing of interest - no challenges'.

It is indeed a very simple tune, consisting of just 32 bars, and it is usually played in the key of Bb. It breaks down into two 16-bar parts. All that can be said for Part A is that it is in the related key of G minor and that bars 1 to 4 and bars 9 to 12 are actually on the chord of G minor, so that at least gives it a certain flavour.

But Part B (16 bars entirely in Bb) is the section on which bands tend to stick and on which improvisations develop. Part B's chord progression uses The Circle of Fifths, which makes it so easy to create variations that it is all a bit too easy. Musicians can be tempted to play on automatic pilot.

The reason I'm making these points is that at last I have come across a YouTube video that shows how musicians playing this tune can be creative and turn it into an exciting experience.

It's our old friends Tuba Skinny under the direction of Shaye Cohn who have worked the trick, in a performance kindly filmed for us recently by James Sterling: CLICK HERE.

Establishing a sensible tempo, they play Part A (the minor key section) only twice (at the start and again at 1 minute 1 second - notice Shaye signalling this with the hand on the head); but Part B is played no fewer than 13 times.

In particular, you have to admire Shaye on the cornet for participating in at least 9 of those 13 choruses - sometimes taking the lead but often putting in decoration while Craig or Barnabus take their turn to lead. Just listen to the notes and variations she plays. Observe her fingers and admire the energy she puts into her contribution. (This is in spite of the fact that, according to a correspondent,  she was suffering from a cold at the time.)

By the way, if you have trouble sorting out those thirteen Part B choruses, it may help to look out for the 5th - Jason's banjo 'solo'. Then you will find Todd leads on the 9th and Robin on the 10th.

At The Jazz Band Ball was created by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1917 - so it's more than 100 years old. You can listen to them in 1918 playing it at break-neck speed. In just two and a half minutes, they get through Part A four times and Part B six times! CLICK HERE.