If you are not already familiar with JazzStandards.com, you should check it out. Jeremy Wilson, who runs the site, has ranked the top 1000 jazz standards according to frequency of inclusion in currently-issued CDs by 700 jazz artists. Each song has a page; the first 300 song listings include notes on the song's origin, historical information, and analysis. Recently, Jeremy has added Youtube playlists of approximately 6 versions, for each of the first 300 songs.
A couple of years ago, Jeremy invited me to write some theory pages for the site. I wrote up seven: Theory Overview, Performance Practice vs. Composer's Intention, Harmony and Form, Blues, Rhythm Changes, Modal Jazz, and Bossa Nova. The theory pages are getting some great page view counts, and I hope they are proving useful to readers. I tried to write them in a way that would be useful to musicians but at least somewhat understandable by non-musicians (i.e., not overly technical).
A couple of weeks ago, Jeremy wrote to ask me if I'd like to come up with some video playlists to enhance the theory pages. Criteria, as per Jeremy's suggestion, were: live performance if possible, good camera work, good sound, and of course interesting performances. So far I've come up with playlists for the Performance Practice vs. Composer's Intention, Blues, Rhythm Changes, Modal Jazz, and Bossa Nova pages, with 6 videos per list. It's been fun researching the video selections, and I'll be doing the remaining two theory pages soon.
Check out the playlists! I've discovered some outstanding performances on the pages that Jeremy curated, and in the process of putting together my own five playlists. The home page of the site is here: JazzStandards.com; the theory pages start here: Theory Overview.
Mar 24, 2017
Mar 2, 2017
That "A Train" Lick, Part 3 - Jelly Roll Morton's "Jungle Blues"
My friend Adam has run across another, even earlier instance of "that A Train lick." In previous posts, we had it traced back to 1929. But here it is in 1927, in Jelly Roll Morton's "Jungle Blues."
The lick as used in "A Train":
You can hear a very similar phrase in "Jungle Blues" at 1:54, 2:37, and 3:09.
Here are links to my two previous posts on our "tune detective" project regarding the A Train lick:
In "Jungle Blues," another interesting melodic phrase is the one played at 1:40 and 3:00. This is the same lick that was the basis for the first published blues, "I Got the Blues" (Anthony Maggio, 1908). These notes are repeated over and over:
The sheet music for "I Got the Blues" and some history are in this post:
The "I Got the Blues" lick was subsequently appropriated by W. C. Handy for the third section of his "St. Louis Blues" (1914). It's kind of archetypal - b3 to 3 to 1. I'm sure it goes back a lot further than 1908. Here's how Handy used it in "St. Louis Blues":
The lick as used in "A Train":
You can hear a very similar phrase in "Jungle Blues" at 1:54, 2:37, and 3:09.
Here are links to my two previous posts on our "tune detective" project regarding the A Train lick:
That "A Train" Lick, Part 1 - Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Billy Strayhorn, and Tiny Grimes
That "A Train" Lick, Part 2 - Jimmie Rodgers!In "Jungle Blues," another interesting melodic phrase is the one played at 1:40 and 3:00. This is the same lick that was the basis for the first published blues, "I Got the Blues" (Anthony Maggio, 1908). These notes are repeated over and over:
The sheet music for "I Got the Blues" and some history are in this post:
"I Got the Blues" (1908), the first published blues
The "I Got the Blues" lick was subsequently appropriated by W. C. Handy for the third section of his "St. Louis Blues" (1914). It's kind of archetypal - b3 to 3 to 1. I'm sure it goes back a lot further than 1908. Here's how Handy used it in "St. Louis Blues":
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