Post 594: DISENTANGLING 'TANGLED BLUES' (SHAYE COHN AND TUBA SKINNY)

An 18-bar vocal from Erika

I first heard Tangled Blues when Tuba Skinny performed it at The Louisiana Music Factory on 14 April 2015. It was a new composition by Shaye Cohn, with words by Erika Lewis.

Tangled Blues is a very pleasant tune, somewhat country-and-western in feel and played in the Key of F.

But something about it struck me as strange. You form the impression  that you are listening to one melody. But listen carefully and you find there are two separate tunes. Let's call them A and B. They have a lot in common. For example there are motifs such as this one that occur in both A and B (giving the piece that feeling of unity).

It occurs twice in A, played (I think) on the chord of F. It also occurs twice in B, but this time (I think) played on the Bb chord. So we begin to see what a clever 'tangle' Shaye has woven for us. Part A has a lyric and comprises 18 bars. How many tunes can you think of that consist of 18 bars (not counting tunes that are really 16 bars with a 2-bar tag, such as Sister Kate)? Can you think of any? Apart from Miss Otis Regrets by the wonderful Cole Porter, I can't. So Shaye has played a very clever trick here.

However, Part B is a conventional 32 bars but with no lyric.

Despite their similarity of 'feel', the two parts sound (to my ear, which may be misleading me) quite different in chord structure. It seems A starts with, and twice uses, the I - IV - V - I chord pattern whereas B starts on the V chord (dominant - C7th, followed of course by the tonic), of which it makes much use later.

The whole performance goes like this:

4-bar Introduction
18-bar A (Ensemble)
32-bar B (Cornet 16 + Ensemble 16)
18-bar A (Todd on Tuba playing the melody)
32-bar B (Clarinet 16 + ensemble 16 - trombone with melody)
18-bar A (the only occurrence of the vocal - sung by Erika)
32-bar B (Ensemble, cornet-led)

Total = 154 bars; performance time about 4 minutes 20 seconds.

What a clever, pretty and intricate tangle indeed! Well done, Shaye!

'Tangled Blues': Todd plays
the  18-bar melody.

You can watch a street performance filmed by RaoulDuke BY CLICKING HERE or digitalalexa's video (the performance at which I first heard the tune) BY CLICKING HERE.    

My friend Peter Petrovič, who lives in Maribor, Slovenia, enjoys the challenge of trying to work out tunes by ear. He sent me his attempt to decipher Tangled Blues; and I think he has done really well.

Post 590: 'SAVOY BLUES' - TWO MAGNIFICENT CONTRASTING PERFORMANCES

May I draw to your attention two recent and magnificent performances of Savoy Blues? They are both available for you to watch and hear on YouTube.

Savoy Blues is one of the best-known tunes in the traditional jazz repertoire. It is played by almost all of our bands. Created by the great pioneering trombonist Edward 'Kid' Ory (1886 - 1973), it is played throughout in the key of F and has opportunities for 12-bar blues improvisations at its centre. But it also has popular riffing patterns at the beginning and end. These have become conventional parts of the structure. The exciting riffs are old friends to anybody who listens regularly to traditional jazz. Because the trombone usually has such a prominent part, the tune is often regarded as a trombone feature. Most bands playing Savoy Blues stick closely to the original Ory structure.

The first performance on YouTube, by the Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band, adheres to these conventions. The video may be enjoyed BY CLICKING HERE.

The ladies begin with the famous 16-bar introduction with its striking notes at the end (30 seconds to 32 seconds). This is followed by the famous riff of 12 bars where once again the final two bars are usually accentuated (52 seconds to 54 seconds). After this comes a four-bar 'bridge' (two bars played twice) acting as a lead-in to the series of 12-bar blues solos. 

In this Shake 'Em Up performance, the first solo is taken by Chloe Feoranzo on the clarinet. Chloe by the way plays a Buffet E11 clarinet with a Vandoren M13 Lyre mouthpiece. She begins with a laid-back chorus and then plays two more in which her improvisations become increasingly fiery. Chloe is followed by Marla on the trumpet. She also takes three choruses, demonstrating some very fine work with the plunger mute. Note how Haruka Kikuchi and Chloe back her up with a gentle riff in the third chorus (2 minutes 56 seconds to 3 minutes 12). 

It is usual in Savoy Blues for the final solo to be taken by the trombone. That is what happens here. The great Haruka Kikuchi, who has told us it was Kid Ory who inspired her to become a traditional jazz trombonist, plays very much in his manner. She takes just two choruses, with Marla and Chloe backing her up prettily in the second. As is the convention in Savoy Blues, the trombone solo ends with a glissando rising over two bars (3 minutes 57 seconds to 4 minutes 01 in this video). This glissando is one of the most treasured and exciting moments for traditional jazz audiences (as indeed it obviously is for the cheering audience here!).

The glissando takes us into the final two 12-bar riffing choruses. The Shake 'Em Up ladies then finish with a neat two-bar trombone-led coda. 

Throughout this performance, notice the superbly metronomic, empathetic and gentle rhythmic footfall provided in the background by Albanie, Molly and Dizzy. 

What a magnificent performance of Savoy Blues this is! Here we have six of our greatest musicians each individually demonstrating wonderful skills and yet playing brilliantly as a team. It is hard to imagine a better performance of Savoy Blues in its conventional form.

Now let us turn to the slightly more recent performance by Tuba Skinny. You can watch the video BY CLICKING HERE.

This is equally magnificent and yet the tune is reinterpreted in Tuba Skinny's distinctive way. Editing of the usual rituals has taken place and the tune is given a new delicacy. There is no question of its being a 'trombone feature'; and the 12-bar riffs that usually bring the tune to an end are replaced by a repeat of the riffs from the beginning.

Sure enough, Tuba Skinny begin with the usual 16-bar riffing introduction but with less accentuation on the famous final two bars than we normally hear (from 32 seconds to 35 seconds). Then, sticking for the moment to the usual pattern, they follow with the 12-bar riff but again quite deliberately tone down the final two bars (54 seconds to 55 seconds). 

This is followed by the usual four-bar link to the solo choruses. It is played gently by Barnabus. 

As with the Shake 'Em Up version, soloing now begins. First we have Craig playing two choruses on the clarinet, in the second of which he is very neatly and gently backed up by Shaye and Barnabus (1 minute 26 seconds to 1 minute 42).

We then have an extraordinary conversational two choruses in which Barnabus on trombone and Shaye on cornet 'trade twos' in a most exquisite manner (1 minute 47 seconds to 2 minutes 30). For me, this is the highlight of the performance and it demonstrates so well why thousands of us all over the world consider the musical partnership and mutual understanding of Shaye and Barnabus to be among the best in traditional jazz anywhere. 

After this we have a single 12-bar chorus from the strings. 

Now, in a total break from the Savoy Blues conventions we do not have a final chorus from the trombone and we do not have the famous glissando up to the 12-bar riffs that normally bring the tune to an end. In contrast, the trombone solo and those riffs are dropped altogether and we have Todd (at 2 minutes 52 seconds) taking the lead just for 12 bars while the others repeat the 12-bar riff that had been played before the solo choruses. 

Finally, Tuba Skinny choose to go right back to the beginning (with Shaye tapping her hand on the head at 3 minutes 13 to remind them to do this). So they end by playing the 16-bar introduction and the 12-bar riff that always follows it yet again, giving us an unusual and surprising ending, which incidentally they finish in a gentle manner with a little rallentando.

In addition to the musicians I have named, note the usual brilliance and solidity of the Tuba Skinny rhythm section and the subtleties of Robin's playing on his percussion instruments.

So this too is a magnificent performance, cleverly thought out, with superb teamwork and some lovely touches demonstrating traditional jazz at its best. 

I hope you will enjoy these videos as much as I have. And I must add that both were uploaded by RaoulDuke504. I think we owe this generous gentleman a major international award for all the pleasure he has spread over the world with his videos in the last few years. Thank you, RaoulDuke504!

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.

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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 581: MAY AND SHAYE - 'THRILLER RAG'

Thriller was one of the rags composed by May Aufderheide. She wrote it in 1909. May was also the composer of 'Dusty Rag', which is still a favourite with our bands.

I think May would have greatly enjoyed hearing Tuba Skinny, in 2017, adding Thriller Rag to their repertoire. As so often, we have to thank the videomaker RaoulDuke504 for recording their performance for us. You can watch it BY CLICKING HERE.

I believe the sheet music starts with the instruction 'Not Fast', but Shaye Cohn chooses to ignore this and play the piece at a pretty quick tempo. I don't think May Aufderheide would have disapproved of the effect this achieves. Such a tempo certainly provides the basis for 'thrills'.

In fact, although the whole band plays well, I think this performance is in particular a tour de force by Shaye herself.

The four-bar Introduction (from 10 seconds into the video until 14 seconds) is possibly the most thrilling part of all. Shaye leaps to the high Ab and rapidly tumbles down through arpeggios on the Ab diminished chord.

The Thriller comprises two 16-bar themes. Tuba Skinny play through Theme A twice, during the second of which (at 34 seconds) Shaye introduces some interesting variations. When they come to Theme B (54 seconds), Shaye frequently plunges down to the Ab below the stave; and yet then leaps up two octaves to the Ab above the stave for more of those descending arpeggios (e.g., 1 minute 08 seconds). This is something very difficult to do on a cornet, especially at this speed. I am not even sure I have heard Shaye do such a thing before. It's a sign that she is at the height of her powers and full of confidence.

By the way, from all I have said, you may have inferred correctly that the band plays Thriller Rag in the key of Ab - the key in which May Aufderheide composed it. But some bands (certainly here in England) have taken to playing it in F, which is - in a sense - cheating but makes it a good deal easier on the lips!

Also notice how well Shaye directs the performance. In addition to making it clear which instruments are to take 16-bar solos, there are at least six other discreet signals:

2 mins 10 secs: All the 'front line' to join in.

3 mins 09 secs: Return to Theme A.

3 mins 29 secs: Switch to Theme B - finger pointing down:

3 mins 43 secs: Washboard to play the 'break'.

4 mins 03 secs: Front line to play the break.

4 mins 08 secs: Final chorus (leg extend signal).

Post 579: SHAYE COHN - TRADITIONAL JAZZ COMPOSER

Shaye Cohn is considered by many to be the best traditional jazz band leader, the best traditional jazz cornet player and one of the best traditional jazz piano players and violin players in the world today. I think it's time also for us to recognise her achievement as a composer of our kind of music.

While only in her early 30s, Shaye had already given us some wonderful compositions. Think of the very entertaining and clever Blue Chime Stomp. Remember the haunting Owl Call Blues. And there was Salamanca Blues - a lovely melancholy piece with themes in F and then Ab, giving plenty of opportunities to the trombone and guitar.  Watch it in this performance: CLICK HERE.  As you can hear, it starts with a pleasant 12-bar blues theme in F, played by Barnabus. After that, so many interesting things happen: an other-worldly 16-bar theme led by Shaye; then a switch to the key of A flat and some lovely 12-bar blues sequences (including those played with a 'break' on bars 7 and 8 by Craig and Barnabus and Todd - always signalled by Shaye's outstretched leg). It's an early example of the beauty and complexity of Shaye's compositions. I should think she must still be very proud of it.

The medium-tempo Tangled Blues is a particularly clever composition: as its title suggests, it sets us plenty to 'untangle', with pretty, wistful phrases popping up in different keys and in two different themes - one of which runs for the highly unusual length of 18 bars.

In some of her work, we might say she is following the Schoebel School of Composition. By this I mean that, just as Elmer Schoebel in such pieces as 'Stomp Off, Let's Go' and 'I Never Knew What a Girl Could Do' has unconventional linking passages that catch us off balance, so Shaye does not restrict herself to nothing but such 8-bar blocks of music as constitute about 95% of traditional jazz tunes. 

Indeed, Shaye often challenges the ubiquitous 32-bar structures [four 8-bar sections, a – a – b – a] followed by popular music composers of the 1920s and 1930s. Some of her structures verge on the byzantine.

Pearl River Stomp (from 2016) springs another Shaye surprise. It begins with a bright 16-bar theme in the key of Ab. This is played through several times. Various instruments in turn take the lead, with interesting backing from the others. But just when you think it will continue like this, no doubt ending with some ensemble choruses, there is an abrupt drop to the key of Db and an entirely new 16-bar theme is played (very much like Bogalusa Strut and complete with the break in Bars 7 and 8). And it is with this theme - played only two or three times - that the piece ends.

Elysian Fields includes some apparent 8-bar sections that weirdly morph into 9 bars, with the barely perceptible addition of a holding pause.

Then there is the mighty Mortonesque Pyramid Strut, composed while the band Tuba Skinny was touring in Australia. This is the most complex of Shaye's creations. It has four themes, as well as an 8-bar bridge, and uses two keys. Lots of 'breaks' are built in and there are witty moments - such as the Coda. You can find videos of all these tunes on YouTube.

A favourite of many fans is the hauntingly beautiful Deep Bayou Moan. To my ear, it's in Ab (F minor). Elegiac, introspective, Arcadian: it has all these qualities.

Shaye's composition Nigel's Dream sounds so authentically 1920s that you could easily be fooled into thinking it was a previously undiscovered manuscript by King Oliver.

You can hear Shaye and Tuba Skinny performing Nigel's Dream either at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1-vc0YVodU

or at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mH63AsRRuw.

As ever, we must be grateful to the video-makers (in this case James Sterling and RaoulDuke504) for bringing this tune to our attention.

Its cheeky two-bar introduction involves nothing more than one 'Charleston' bar from the washboard followed by a single chord from the banjo, guitar and tuba. Then we are into Theme A - 32 bars in the key of C. Great use is made of a phrase (reminiscent of the Middle Eight of East Coast Trot) in which a flattened third is accentuated. Actually these 32 bars comprise two almost identical 16s; and at the end of the first sixteen (Bars 15 and 16) we have a 'break' (played by the banjo first time through and by the cornet and clarinet in a witty King Oliver-style mini-duet when the Theme is played again, led by the trombone, later).

The final bar of Theme A takes us through a modulating chord into the Key of Eb, in which Theme B is played. Twice through the sixteen bars (apparently both beginning with the chord sequence IV - IV - I - I) gives us a merry 32 bars. We then go straight back into Theme A (key of C again), with the trombone taking the lead. Then Theme B (in Eb) is re-visited. This is played through a couple of times with some boisterous, polyphonic ensemble, giving the piece a great ending. There is a neat Coda of just one bar.

What a composition! It's just as well written and well played as those King Oliver Jazz Band classics from the 1920s.
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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 572: GREAT TRADITIONAL JAZZ IN A FEW SECONDS

To appreciate the finer points of traditional jazz and the genius of great players, it sometimes pays to concentrate on exactly what is happening in just a few seconds of music.

That is what I am inviting you to do today.

I would like you to click on a YouTube video and then focus on just EIGHT seconds of the performance. I will give you the link in a moment. But first let me set it in context.

The musicians (Tuba Skinny) are playing a tune called Crumpled Papers. This was composed just a few years ago by Michael Magro. It is a relatively simple tune - a 12-bar in the key of D minor. But it has amazing energy and gives plenty of opportunities for exciting improvisation.

In this video, the band plays straight through the tune 15 times. So in total we have 15 x 12 = 180 bars (measures) of music.

For the first couple of choruses, the tune is played by the ensemble, led by the cornet, in a straightforward manner. Then we have a similar two choruses, again ensemble, but led by the cornet producing some variations in the form of chromatic runs.

But now comes the fifth chorus; and this is the one on which I'm inviting you to focus. Shaye on cornet passes the lead to Barnabus on trombone.

Note exactly what Shaye is doing in this chorus during the eight seconds running from 1 minute 44 until 1 minute 52. Barnabus has taken on the melody but she is decorating it by running around (on the D minor chord) in her own subtle, energetic and tasteful way. The two phrases for you to note occur from 1 minute 44 seconds to 1 minute 46 seconds, and from 1 minute 49 seconds until 1 minute 52 seconds. I put it to you that those few notes demonstrate traditional jazz playing and teamwork at its very best. (In most other bands, the trumpet player or cornet player would have dropped out at that point, taking  a breather.)

Now here's the link, with thanks to James Sterling for being there to video the performance for us:

CLICK HERE.

Shaye is always like this - modestly creative, and energetic, instinctively playing notes that are just right and make the band as a whole sound wonderful. She is not one of those self-important players who like to show off their technique by playing pointless screaming high notes. Also, as you see in this and hundreds of other videos, she cleverly directs the musical traffic, so that even a short and simple tune such as Crumpled Papers is developed in a way that is full of variety and excitement.

Post 571: TRUMPET NOTES HIGH ON STEROIDS

When you are in your eighties and still trying to play the trumpet, you have to keep things simple. You are unable to play very high notes because your lips have lost their strength.

Lionel Ferbos is my inspiration. He went on playing in New Orleans almost right up to his death at the age of 103. In his final years he kept things very simple indeed, using only the lower notes. And yet he was still playing some very pretty traditional jazz. 

Lionel Ferbos, who died in 2014.

All was fine with me until recently, when my legs and arms rapidly became very weak and I was feeling unusually tired most days. I hardly had the strength to lift a trumpet to my lips; and my walk became a slow shuffle.

I put it down to old age. But Mrs. Pops Coffee ordered me to see the doctor; and it is never a good idea to disobey Mrs. Pops Coffee.

Blood tests showed I had polymyalgia rheumatica – something of which I had never heard. My doctor prescribed a course of steroids – 15 mg. a day of Prednisolone, to be exact, with the intention of reducing the dose a little in the weeks ahead.

How lucky I am to have such a doctor (and such a wife)! After a few days of the treatment I was able to walk steadily again, to hold my trumpet and to need less sleep.

Yesterday when I was doing what I pretentiously call practice, I discovered to my amazement that I was able to play some of those high notes above the stave. They sounded rather squeaky but they were there all right. I can only put this down to the steroids which must have strengthened my lips as well as my arms and legs. Another curious side-effect has been that my fingernails and toenails are growing much more quickly than before and need trimming every couple of days.

However, I have no intention of using my new-found steroid-induced ability to attempt high notes when playing with my friends in traditional jazz bands.

In my view, traditional jazz with a soul does not require trumpets producing lots of raucous high notes which seem to be mere exhibitionism and do not contribute much to the beauty of the music, especially in ensemble work.

Think of Shaye Cohn. She is probably the best and most creative traditional jazz cornet player in the world today and yet she opts for subtle, inventive musical phrases that rarely go above the stave. In fact, having listened to her in about 450 videos, I have never heard her play a note higher than Concert A above the stave. Music theorists call it 'A5', equivalent to vibrations at 880 times per second (880 Hz). You can hear Shaye using this note when playing Dallas Rag.

Shaye is an example to us all. There are trumpeters who can frequently be heard squeezing out notes at 1046 Hz (the note called 'C5') and even higher. But what's the point?
============
I must add the footnote that in January 2018 we finally heard Shaye play a high Bb (in Echo in the Dark). This was not mere exhibitionism. She was merely copying precisely the trumpet lead in the original recording of this pretty tune by The Original St. Louis Crackerjacks.

Post 543: TUBA SKINNY'S 'TUPELO PINE' - ALBUM AND CD

Tuba Skinny recorded their eighth album - Tupelo Pine - in May 2017 and released it in August.

Using the eight musicians who were appearing regularly with the band at the time (but without Erika, who was absent), it offers music ranging from 1921 right up to tunes recently composed by three of the band members. Greg provides vocals, with one by Max.

The only tune to have appeared previously on one of their CDs is Call of the Freaks. On their earlier Garbage Man CD, it was played under its alternative title - Garbage Man, in fact. In this 2017 version, there are some 'freakish' inventions, especially from the clarinet, and we still have the vocal (Stick out your can....). But the arrangement is more  elaborate, intricate, delicate, and polished than in the earlier version.

And that is exactly what will strike you about this album. Everything is so deftly executed. You have the impression that a great deal of preparation has gone into the arrangements. Backing rhythmic patterns are precise and well-rehearsed. All the little breaks are carefully worked out. A good illustration of this is the structure and use of two-bar breaks in Come On and Stomp, Stomp, Stomp, where the band precisely follows the famous recording made in 1927 by Johnny Dodds' Black Bottom Stompers. What stands out strongly compared with Tuba Skinny's earlier recordings is that everything is even more slick and polished.

As usual with Tuba Skinny, there is no exhibitionism. The emphasis is on good melodic music played with bags of intelligence and impeccable teamwork.

Several of the tunes have become familiar through YouTube videos that appeared in 2016 and 2017. For example, the 1933 Clarence Williams composition Chocolate Avenue is yet another of those good old numbers the band unearthed. It is a gently swinging 32-bar tune in Eb; and the band passes the melody around in its usual fashion. To read the article I wrote when Tuba Skinny were first filmed playing Chocolate Avenue, CLICK HERE. And to watch a video I made of them playing this tune in New Orleans when I was there in February 2017, CLICK HERE. It is interesting to compare different performances. You will notice that the structure is remarkably similar, with the trombonist (in my video Charlie Halloran, but on the CD Barnabus Jones) leading the first sixteen bars of the Second Chorus and Craig on clarinet leading from the Middle Eight to the end of the Chorus. On the new recording, in the third Chorus Todd on sousaphone is given the dominant role in the first sixteen bars but the full ensemble rounds the piece off. So: three Choruses in all. However, in my video, you can see them playing four Choruses in total, with much prominence given to the three-man string section in the third.

And Clifford Hayes' romping Frog Hop from 1929 (at two and a half minutes the shortest piece in the album) is a real foot-tapper, with good little solos and a couple of amusing 'frog' effects.

Dangerous Blues - the 1921 song with music by that tragically short-lived young lady Billie Browne - features Craig on clarinet and also has the usual collective vocal. You can read my article about this tune BY CLICKING HERE.

Come On and Stomp, Stomp, Stomp (composed in 1927 by Fats Waller et al.) is the trickiest and most complex piece in this album. Tuba Skinny's version is taken at a more leisurely pace than the one by Johnny Dodds, is fully arranged, complete with the key changes, and sets a great example to any band wishing to try this tune.

Shaye's composition Pearl River Stomp (2016) is a bouncy number with two sixteen-bar themes. In this performance the lead is passed around, the bass clarinet is strongly in evidence and there is even a 'twos' section shared by cornet and trombone. Almost imperceptibly, without any bridge, it slips into Db for the final two choruses (the second theme) after being entirely in Ab up to that point. This theme seems to be similar to the second theme of Bogalusa Strut, also using that tune's chord progression.

And Shaye's Nigel's Dream (from 2015) is another fine composition. With typical Shaye-isms, it slides neatly from C to Eb, back to C and then back to Eb to finish. It uses a thematic base reminiscent of the middle eight of East Coast Trot, and indeed the whole piece is something of a trot, played with great energy. Quite a dream our Nigel had!

I am glad the album also includes Thoughts, Robin Rapuzzi's gently rolling composition from 2015, in a lovely arrangement. I have written before about this tune. You may read my article BY CLICKING HERE. Robin originally composed it for violin but he is proud of the way it sounds when played by the band.

I'm Going to Germany (the 1929 number composed by Noah Lewis for Cannon's Jug Stompers) is a 16-bar song with a wistful melody, well presented by Greg, with good support from the band.

Greg also sings Loose Like That - one of those bright 8-bar tunes from which Tuba Skinny always manages to extract so much. It gets the album off to a fine start. (There is a YouTube video of them playing this song at the Abita Springs Buskers' Festival in April 2017.) In contrast, he also sings the 1930 Broonzy number Eagle Riding Papa, which is a brisk 32-bar tune.

Max is the singer on Right or Wrong, the pleasant love song composed in 1921 by Arthur Sizemore and Paul Biese, with words by Haven Gillespie.

Some have already said that the elegiac minor-key Deep Bayou Moan is the loveliest melody Shaye has ever written. She herself leads it off, and it is then played beautifully by all members of the band. You may well consider this track alone justifies the price of the album.

The eponymous Tupelo Pine, composed by Barnabus (maybe inspired by the band's canine musical director!), is a slow, lovely melody in Eb over a simple chord progression (plenty of Ebs, C7ths and Abs). As with all the other tunes, it provides opportunities for a variety of instruments to take the lead.

You can download the album, or individual tracks, from Bandcamp: CLICK HERE.

Post 540: LOOSE MARBLES IN 2008

I have written before about the band Loose Marbles.

I argued then, and I still believe, that this group has been the most important and most influential traditional jazz band to emerge in the Twenty-First Century. To read that article, CLICK HERE.

But how on earth did I miss, during all these years, some wonderful videos of the band that appeared on YouTube as long ago as 2008? I am thrilled to tell you that I have recently discovered them.

A generous video-maker whose name is given as Wayne G. Harvey attended a concert by the band at the Delaware County Institute of Science, which is situated in the Borough of Media, Pennsylvania. The Loose Marbles played on a stage in front of glass cases exhibiting mounted birds.

Mr. Harvey uploaded videos of twelve tunes from the concert. He could not have known at the time that these videos would become precious historical documents.

Why are they so important? For the following reasons.

They show the state of evolution of the Loose Marbles at that time. Ben Polcer on first trumpet and Michael Magro on clarinet were firmly in control (and how well they played together!). The repertoire was mainly very familiar tunes, but played in a thrilling way. Tuba Skinny had not yet formed; but we get to see three musicians who were to become founder members (Shaye, Barnabus and Kiowa) honing their skills in the company of Ben and Michael.

They show how the band liked to produce music without any electronic assistance. That's the way they still like it, whenever possible, and so do I. Even vocals were clearly delivered without amplification.

It is hard to believe that Barnabus and Shaye had taken up the trombone and cornet respectively only a year or two earlier, having previously played other instruments. Barnabus, in the trombone chair, is brimful of confidence. And Shaye - here playing second trumpet to Ben - is already showing great technique and harmonic creativity. She has spoken in an interview of how important this stage of her career was: playing second trumpet to Ben taught her to keep things simple and to complement his playing harmoniously.

It is interesting to see how Ben gave the illusion of adding a percussion player to the band with his devices operated by foot and hand. I believe he still does this occasionally.

The music always sounds exciting, mainly because of the energy and talent of the players, and partly because - with a 'front line' of four and Ben's percussive additions - it sounds almost like a 'big band', especially with the assistance of the Museum's acoustics, as the sound bounces off those glass cases!

The videos are also historically interesting because they show us those great dancers - Chance Bushman and Amy Johnson - sharing the little stage and contributing hugely to the audience's enjoyment. As we now know, the migration of dancers as well as of instrumentalists to New Orleans in the years after Katrina was a very important factor in the revival of traditional jazz in the streets of that City and has remained so.

You can find and enjoy all twelve of these videos easily enough on YouTube. But if you would like me to get you started, may I offer these contrasting tunes?

For Tiger Rag, CLICK HERE. (There's fine dancing in this; and listen carefully to Shaye supporting Ben in the opening minutes of full ensemble.)

For Some Day, Sweetheart, CLICK HERE.

For Whenever You're Lonesome, CLICK HERE. (You may be surprised to hear Barnabus providing the vocal, and Shaye confidently taking a lovely and unpretentious solo chorus.)

Among the other fine videos from the concert are Over in The Gloryland, Isle of Capri, Willie the Weeper, 'Taint Nobody's Business If I Do and Ice Cream.

Post 538: FLATTENED SIXTHS AND 'SAN' - FROM LOOSE MARBLES TO TUBA SKINNY

Imagine you are playing a standard tune in the key of F. The chords you are most likely to use are F major, B flat major and C 7th. In fact some tunes can be played using only these three chords. But there's a fair chance you will also need G minor 7th, A 7th and a few more.

But an unlikely chord is D flat 7th.  Based on the flattened 6th note in the scale of F, it has a clashing, 'depressing' effect on the melody at any point where it is played. However, it crops up briefly, for special purposes, in quite a few of our tunes.

In the Chorus of the popular tune San, composed in 1920 by Lindsay McPhail and Walter Michels, this chord occurs an exceptional number of times. In total, it occupies 18.75% of the Chorus. This gives the tune its distinctive character. I can think of no other tune in which this chord is used so much.

I recently came across an interesting video that had been put up on YouTube at the end of 2013. The generous video-maker was a person codenamed twobarbreak and the video was of Loose Marbles playing San.

By the way, my friend Bob Andersen in San Diego has emailed me to say that twobarbreak is in fact Peter Loggins, the well-known jazz trombone player, dance teacher and jazz researcher.

You can watch his video BY CLICKING HERE.

They are playing the tune in the key of F. Listen for that D flat 7th chord: you hear it forty-two times, first at 03 seconds, and then at 05 seconds. See what I mean?

This video also appeals to me because it provides a glimpse at what was going on behind the scenes in those days when Loose Marbles was still evolving and Tuba Skinny was in its early stage of development.

There is no audience. The band seems to be rehearsing in an otherwise deserted New Orleans bar. Chord books lie around on the floor; and Shaye is directing proceedings: for example, she sets up a washboard Chorus by the hugely energetic Robin. This is accompanied by stop chords - a device that was to occur very often in later Tuba Skinny performances. 

San has a 24-bar Verse in a minor key but Loose Marbles choose not to play this at all. Instead, they simply romp through the Chorus seven times in a pretty exciting manner. The distinctive clarinet sound of Michael Magro is much in evidence. There is the usual Loose Marbles emphasis on ensemble playing, and they ensure that the tune is not always led by the cornet. Note how Barnabus on trombone leads in the second and fifth Choruses. 

Already in 2013, Shaye's wonderful gift for intuitive improvisation and harmonisation during ensembles was much in evidence. The actual notes she plays in the fourth Chorus (that runs from 1 minute 45 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds) repay close attention. They are so much more inspired and original than what we hear from so many players. It is amazing to think she had taken up cornet-playing only three or four years earlier.

The musicians are all familiar faces, though a couple of them seem to have since departed from the New Orleans scene.

In more recent times, Tuba Skinny have been playing San frequently. You can easily find videos of them doing so on YouTube. Watch an example filmed by my friend James Sterling BY CLICKING HERE.

But Tuba Skinny are now including the Verse - usually playing it at the start and again later. They are also pitching the tune three semi-tones higher, having switched to the key of Ab, in which it works very well. However, I don't think these later performances are necessarily more exciting than that original Loose Marbles rehearsal!