Critical Listening #6: Pitter Panther Patter

One of the major changes that led into the modern jazz era is the transformation of the rhythm section. There were many pioneers in this realm. Count Basie's rhythm section is always hailed as one of the best rhythm sections that ever was because of their superb balance and communication. There were many others who changed the way rhythm worked. Charlie Christian changed the guitar from merely keeping time to, with the help of an amp, a solo instrument. Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, and Jo Jones were all inspirational and excellent drummers. The roll of the bass was also changed.

The bass had always been relied on for a steady beat that would keep the entire band together. Bass solos were altogether lacking of anything other than a walking bass line. Jimmy Blanton, among others, was integral in revolutionizing the way bass was played. The following piece is from a series of duets with Jimmy Blanton on bass and Duke Ellington on piano.

8 bar introduction
8 bar A
8 bar A
8 bar bridge
8 bar A
8 bar B
8 bar B
8 bar bridge
8 bar B
8 bar C
8 bar C
8 bar C
8 bar C
8 bar A
8 bar A'
8 bar bridge
8 bar A

This piece is in standard 32 bar popular tune form (generally AABA) with three different main themes. It has a fairly quick tempo. Obviously the only two instruments are piano and bass. This is more or less a swing piece although it seems different because of the lack of brass and sax sections.

For Duke Ellington this piece isn't anything new stylistically although it's still an interesting listen. Ellington introduces the piece with a series of runs down the keyboard (3 2-bar phrases) after which Blanton walks for two measures and then the A section starts up. Ellington sets up the theme during each of the three main themes making the song easily followed and recognizable. He uses a series of interesting techniques, such as blues notes (on the piano, they're actually half steps as pick up notes) and tremolos.

An interesting thing about the form of this piece is the bridges. Each bridge holds a sort of call and response with Ellington playing the call and Blanton responding.

When we listen to this piece it may not seem like much. After all, we've grown up in a world where the bass has moved beyond being a background noise, but in the early days of jazz the bass's only job was to keep time. Typically they played a broken chord pattern on every beat (referred to as "walking" the bass--you can hear an example of this in the seventh and eighth bars of the piece). With this tune (and much of his other music) Blanton does something completely different.

No longer does he constrict himself to a steady four beat pattern. Blanton makes the bass swing. His fills after each theme and response in the bridges is full of jazz techniques that we would normally identify with any instrument other than the bass. It is an enlightening and exciting moment to see the fundamental change in bass performance.

This little tune isn't much at first glance, but it shows the way jazz was changing especially in the rhythm section as well as in the group size. The evolution of the bass player's job in a band would make the small ensembles of modern jazz more interesting and diverse while still keeping them small.