Post 425: 'FAREWELL BLUES' AND 'WEARY BLUES'

King Oliver and His Dixie Syncopators

James Sterling of Florida has established himself since 2015 as one of the leading video-historians of the contemporary New Orleans scene. One of his videos, filmed in June 2016, is of Tuba Skinny playing Farewell Blues (CLICK HERE TO ENJOY IT).

This tune was composed in 1922 by Elmer Schoebel, Leon Rappollo and Paul Mares for The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, who recorded it that year; but Tuba Skinny have modelled their version very closely on the 1927 recording by King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators (which you may hear BY CLICKING HERE). Oliver's version, in its turn, fairly closely followed the NORK original.

Watching it, I was reminded of the very simple and yet rewarding chord progression on which Farewell Blues is based. It is essentially a 16-bar A-A-B-A structure that goes like this:

I      | V⁷  |  I      | I
I      | V⁷  |    I    | I

VI⁷ | VI⁷ |  II^m  | I^o

I      | V⁷   |    I   | I

It is pretty well the same as the final theme of Weary Blues. This is not surprising because it is said that The New Orleans Rhythm Kings had the 1915 composition Weary Blues in their repertoire and developed Farewell Blues from that final theme. 

One reason why it is so attractive to play around with and improvise on is that the 'A' part is so simple; and the other reason is that the  chord and melody note in Bar 12 are nerve-tinglers. This is the most striking chord in the sequence. (By the way, some chord books give it as VI^b7 rather than 1^o; but this makes no great difference. Think about it: they are virtually the same.)

Farewell Blues is normally played at a steady and stately pace, whereas Weary Blues tends to be performed a good deal faster. But in all other respects, over these 16 bars, the chords you play and the improvisations you invent could be interchangeable.

Although Farewell Blues is little more than a simple 16-bar theme, the melody can be given some interesting treatments. For example, King Oliver (and Shaye in Tuba Skinny) both play the tune through first starting on the dominant (F in the key of Bb). It is as if they are harmonising a third above the melody. In later choruses, they do indeed start the chorus on the D. Later still, Shaye (just like  King Oliver) plays flattened 7ths at the start of all the 'A' Sections (another device that many bands employ effectively with Weary Blues).

So it's amazing what can be done (and what fun a band can have), even when starting out with a very simple blueprint.

Here's the 16 bars of Farewell Blues twice through - first starting on the F, and then in the D.

And here is the comparable theme from Weary Blues:

Post 5: THE NEW ORLEANS RHYTHM KINGS

The New Orleans Rhythm Kings in 1922

Despite their name, The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (nicknamed NORK) were not a New Orleans-based band. They were a mixture of musicians who came from the Chicago region, as well as from New Orleans. They started out in Chicago, where they were seeking better-paid gigs than those available in New Orleans. In 1921, they secured seventeen months of employment at The Friar's Inn, East Van Buren Street in Chicago, so they called themselves The Friar's Society Orchestra. They started making records in 1922 - with Jelly Roll Morton as guest on some of them. They played classic standards (such as Panama, Clarinet Marmalade, Milenberg Joys, Maple Leaf Rag and Tiger Rag) as well as some of their own compositions (such as Farewell Blues and Oriental).

Although the band fragmented after the Friar's Inn residency, the driving forces - Leon Roppollo (clarinet) and Paul Mares (cornet) - still occasionally assembled musicians to record under the name of The New Orleans Rhythm Kings. This was a good and popular move. Their well-crafted music proved that jazz was to be taken seriously.

They appear to have made about 34 recordings in the 1920s, though only seven of these were actually recorded in New Orleans (over a three-day period in 1925). The others were recorded in Richmond, Indiana. There were usually eight musicians in the band, but almost thirty different players appeared over the years. Important (and left to right in the photo at the top of this article) were Leon Roppollo, Jack Pettis, Elmer Schoebel, Arnold Loyacano, Paul Mares, Frank Snyder and George Brunies.

Among the others, some of the most noteworthy were Santo Pecora (trombone), Bill Eastwood (banjo), Chink Martin (bass), and Mel Stitzel (piano). Several of the musicians also played in The Halfway House Orchestra during the 1920s. (You can read my article about The Halfway House Orchestra BY CLICKING HERE.)

So The New Orleans Rhythm Kings were a short-lived band. They dissolved completely in 1925. (Actually there were feeble attempts at revival: in 1934 and 1935, another thirteen recordings were made under the band's name in New York, but only one member - George Brunies - of the 1920s band took part.)

The Band had a big influence on later traditional jazz, however. Some of their compositions have entered the standard repertoire. And their careful arrangement and interpretation of tunes have made a big impression and been directly imitated. The band contained some significant composers, notably Paul Mares, Santo Pecora, George Brunies, and especially their pianist Elmer Schoebel, who probably was responsible for much of the arranging. We can tell they were a band who took a lot of trouble with getting things right. We must infer that they had regular serious rehearsals. Their playing was polished and varied. Leon Roppolo - the band's best improviser - showed how creative and 'bluesy' a clarinet could be.

If you are new to this band and would like to sample its music, may I make two recommendations?

(1) I Never Knew What a Girl Could Do  composed by their pianist Elmer Schoebel and recorded (with eight musicians) in New Orleans in 1925. CLICK HERE to play it. This is a merry tune much copied and still in the repertoire of many of our bands today. You will note how well crafted it is, with a four-bar Introduction, 16-bar Verse and 32-bar Chorus. Admire the teamwork. Enjoy the simple, clear lead and solo chorus provided by Paul Mares on cornet. Note the clever arranged 'turn around' at 54 seconds and again at 1 minute 31 seconds (after which the Verse - too good to waste - is played for a second time). Enjoy Roppolo's solo chorus starting at 1 minute 54 seconds. The final ensemble chorus offers collective improvisation as good as it comes. Throughout the whole, the rhythm section keeps the pulse going at a tempo that feels exactly right.

(2) She's Crying For Me recorded three days later in New Orleans, with Santo Pecora (the tune's composer) on trombone. Listen to it BY CLICKING HERE. It's a quite complex piece. We have a tricky 16-bar minor-key Introduction; then (at 33 seconds) a 24-bar Main Theme (making good and repeated use of flattened thirds). At the end of this, we have an intriguing key change as the instruments 'climb the ladder' note by note (starting at 1 minute 6 seconds) to the new key. (This is evidence - if any were needed - of how much trouble they took over their arrangements and how they had obviously rehearsed.) Next comes a 12-bar strain, played through twice by the clarinet and - as that ends - the whole band comes in with some well-rehearsed transitional chords (at 1 minute 46 seconds) that take us back to the original key. And so we return to the Main Theme, with clarinet and cornet alternating the lead. So much for us to study, learn from and be inspired by.