Post 539: THE CALIFORNIA FEETWARMERS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Frequent correspondent Phil Lynch in the USA is a fan of the Los Angeles-based band called The California Feetwarmers. He has written to me about them in the past.

Now, Phil has alerted me to a concert they gave at The Red Room, Cookstown, in Northern Ireland when they were on tour there in July 2017.

Fortunately for us, a generous video-maker called John Watson put several videos from the concert on YouTube. The sound and visual qualities of these videos are exceptionally good, so this concert is something available for us all to enjoy.

And what we find is that this band is seriously good! Not only are they fine musicians; they are also brilliant at putting together a truly entertaining programme, holding an audience spellbound throughout.

The seven musicians arrange themselves in a straight line across the stage - just the way I like - so that the audience can see all of them and they can see each other. These young men play high-energy music, underpinned by a sensitive, accurate sousaphone, guitar and banjo and minimalist unobtrusive percussion. The clarinet, trumpet and trombone players are technically brilliant and great team-workers. On top of all that, the members of the band can sing; and there are times when the whole band joins in with vocals, in fine close harmony.

They obviously prepared well. There are some first-rate head arrangements, so there is no need for signalling on the hoof.

Take Clarinet Marmalade. They leap about among the various themes and bridges. And there is even a vocal - something I've never heard with this tune before:

CLICK HERE.

The same kind of slickness is evident in their performance of That's a Plenty:
CLICK HERE.

Then, for a contrasting example of their ability to entertain - and involve an audience - try I'm Feeling Good. You can't help wanting to join in on the Chorus, which is based on one of our most familiar 16-bar [plus two-bar tag] chord sequences. The use of stop chords against the cornet solo, and the Chorus in double-time (but with rallentando ending) illustrate how well the band has prepared. 

CLICK HERE.

There is even a storming 14-minute Medley of Sing On, Down By The Riverside, I'll Fly Away, Oh Mary, Don't You Weep, and Over in the Gloryland, which showcases well how brilliant each of the musicians is, both individually and in collective improvisation:
CLICK HERE.

I hope I have whetted your appetite. Explore the rest of the concert for yourself. I am sure you will be impressed by the way these musicians have absorbed the influences of the early ragtime, string and jug bands and given them a new life in the Twenty-First Century. I rate The California Feetwarmers as one of the top bands playing anywhere in the world today and wish I could get to hear them some time.

According to their web page, the members of the band are:

Brandon Armstrong - sousaphone/Bass
Charles De Castro - cornet/Accordion/vocals
Josh Kaufman - clarinet/accordion/piano/vocals
Carlos Reynoso - washboard/Guitar/vocals
Dominique Rodriguez - snare drum/bass drum
Justin Rubenstein - trombone/vocals
Patrick Morrison - Banjo/Guitar.

Post 169: 'BOODLE AM SHAKE'

Boodle Am Shake was recorded by The Dixieland Jug Blowers in 1926. You can hear their performance on You Tube.

It's difficult to be sure of the tune. Below is my impression of it and this sounds reasonable on my keyboard. I put it in Bb, which seems to be a comfortable key. There's a 4-bar Introduction, a 16-bar Verse and a 32-bar Chorus. The song has some amusing nonsense words. You can hear them on You Tube.

Post 117: THE MEMPHIS JUG BAND

The links between the early 'jug bands' and traditional jazz are much stronger than you may think. Their repertoires and playing styles overlapped, as did their instrumentation. Also the jug bands tended to play tunes based on simple, familiar chord sequences - just the sort of thing that appeals to many traditional jazz musicians.

And don't be put off by the thought of 'jugs'. You may be picturing someone trying to make 'music' by blowing into a jug and producing a sound like a constipated tuba. But in fact jug bands comprised various mixtures of fine musicians playing guitars, banjos, mandolins, violins, pianos - in fact all manner of instruments (yes, often including a jug). There could be anything from two to eight players in the band.

It's called a 'Jug Band' but there's only one jug.

These bands flourished in the late 1920s and early 1930s, especially in the regions of Memphis and Chicago.

In recent years, they have had a big influence on the young generation of busking traditional jazz players and string bands in the streets of New Orleans; and there are also numerous modern jug bands playing material taken from the 1920s.

Think for example of the following tunes in the repertoire of the great young jazz band, Tuba Skinny. They were all learned from the records made by The Memphis Jug Band:
I'll See You In The Spring

Papa's Got Your Bathwater On
Fourth Street Mess Around
Memphis Shakedown
Come Along Little Children
Bumble Bee
Ambulance Man

Care to try one? Listen to a performance of I'll See You in the Spring by Tuba Skinny. You can see them play it in Ab (a wee bit low for Erika's voice) if you CLICK ON HERE.

In later performances, they switched to Bb. In this version, the words are helpfully very clear: Click on here.

And for a recent relaxed al fresco performance:

click here.

Compare it with The Memphis Jug Band's original by clicking here. Don't be fooled into thinking it i just a repetitive 16-bar tune. Listen out for the curious 14-bar Interlude, starting on the Dominant 7th.

But who exactly were The Memphis Jug Band? Like many of today's young street bands, they did not have a fixed personnel. The driving force was Will Shade (also known as Son Brimmer or Sun Brimmer): he was a singer who played guitar and harmonica. He composed several of the band's songs. From 1926, he convened the band and managed such gigs as they attracted. He drew on a pool of fourteen musicians who could play banjo, guitar, mandolin, washboard, kazoo, violin, jug, drums and piano. They included Vol Stevens, Charlie Nickerson and Ben Ramey. Four lady singers (notably Hattie Hart and Memphis Minnie) also appeared at various times on the recordings. They played blues, ballads, novelty humorous numbers and pop songs of the day. They produced a distinctive, addictive sound, partly because the jug and kazoo respectively performed the roles of trombone and trumpet in a traditional jazz band. They are believed to have made almost 100 recordings (some of which you can find on YouTube). The band also occasionally recorded under different names (such as The Memphis Sheiks, The Carolina Peanut Boys and The Dallas Jug Band).

Overlapping other local jug bands at this time were The South Memphis Jug Band, Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers and Jed Davenport's Beale Street Jug Band.

The Memphis Jug Band went on, widening its styles and membership, over many years; but it is the early recordings that have most influenced traditional jazz today. Of course, the band's legacy to pop and rock music has been even greater.

Among its repertoire, let me recommend these (all of which I believe you can find on YouTube). Note that many of its tunes were 12-bar blues.

On The Road Again

Cocaine Habit Blues

Stealin' Stealin' (a 32-bar  a  -  a  -  b  -  a)

Round and Round (great fun)

Kansas City Blues
Memphis Shakedown

Move That Thing (rather like It's Tight Like That)

He's in the Jailhouse Now (series of verses about criminals who have been punished, each followed by the 'He's in the Jailhouse Now' 16-bar chorus)

K.C. Moan (a very simple blues, but in 16 bars)

Papa's Got Your Bathwater On (sung as a duet, and with lyrics alleged to refer to an ancient voodoo practice)

Gator Wobble (standard 12-bar)
I'll See You In The Spring (mentioned above - a lovely 8+8 bar sung structure, using the Magnolia Chord Sequence, with a curious 14-bar instrumental intermezzo [faithfully retained in the Tuba Skinny version] between the vocals)
She Done Sold It Out (standard 12-bar)
Fourth Street Mess Around (great sung number, 16+16 bar structure; with an amusing Coda)
Bumble Bee (archetypical 12-bar country blues. Singing by Memphis Minnie makes it something special)
Ambulance Man (another 12-bar duet)
I'm Looking For The Bully of the Town (Despite its off-putting title, this up-tempo song from 1927 is surprisingly catchy.)