Critical Listening #3: Golliwog's Cakewalk

Claude Debussy was born in France in 1862. He began playing the piano as a child and, between then and his death in 1918, became one of the most famous composers known to man. There are few who do not know the name of Debussy and at least a few of his works, such as Clair de Lune or Deux Arabesques.

Though Debussy is considered an impressionist pianist by some, he was always kicking against the standards of his day. He even once said, in regards to his desire to choose his own way of playing, "I am sure the Institute would not approve, for, naturally it regards the path which it ordains as the only right one. but there is no help for it! I am too enamoured of my freedom, too fond of my own ideas". It comes as no surprise that someone who felt this way would find a certain attraction to a predecessor of jazz -- ragtime.

In 1908, Debussy wrote his Children's Corner Suite dedicated to his daughter. It contains a series of songs that are supposed to remind a person of certain children's toys. One of these songs has a decidedly ragtime feel -- Golliwog's Cakewalk.

A cakewalk was a type of minstrelsy in which the most bizarre and exaggerated dancer would receive a cake. A golliwog was a type of doll that was similar to the black-face minstrels of the time. With that small explanation, here is Golliwog's Cakewalk performed by Arturo Michelangeli.

Though this piece is not a "jazz" piece and therefore cannot be analyzed in quite the same manner, I believe that it is worth looking at because it shows the far reaching effects of jazz and, more especially, ragtime.

In the simplest of terms, Golliwog's Cakewalk can be said to have a format of A-B-A. In reality it is slightly more complicated then this:

8 bar introduction
(A section)
8 bar theme 1
8 bar theme 1 with variations
8 bar theme 2
8 bar theme 2 with variations
6 bar transition
(B section)
14 bar theme 3 (split 8-6)
12 bar theme 4 (split 4-4-4)
17 bar theme 4 variation (split 3-3-4-4-3)
(A section)
8 bar theme 1
8 bar theme 1 with variations
8 bar theme 2 with variations
7 bar theme 2 with variations
8 bar ending

As we can see, Debussy does not conform to the typical 16 bar phrase of basic ragtime. Even though his form is completely different, this piece still has a ragtime feel to it. For one there is the dance feeling. This is a cakewalk--you can just imagine people dancing extravagantly to it--and it has that peppy upbeat attitude. It also has the quick walking tempo of most ragtime and sounds deceptively easy which is not a requirement for ragtime, but is something that frequently occurs. In keeping with that New Orleans sound, we feel a very strong emphasis on every other beat (two and four) instead of every beat like is found in later jazz.

Debussy pays careful attention to the "touches" he uses on the piano. Throughout the A section and at appropriate times in the B section, there is this very sharp and precise staccato which only enhances the dancing feeling of this piece. In the B section, Debussy departs from ragtime to play a mocking shadow of Richard Wagner's opening prelude from Tristan and Isolde.

This piece though not a purely ragtime idea, nonetheless shows the far reaching effects of the ever changing music scene in America. Even though it had to cross an ocean, ragtime, and eventually jazz, would reach the world and influence all kinds of people and musics.

Sources:
Debussy: Man and Artist by Oscar Thompson
www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/golliwog/

The Facets of One Face

By 1890, piano sales worldwide had reached into the hundreds of thousands and by 1900 just America's piano sales alone were in the hundreds of thousands. As mentioned last time, the piano had become a common household item, not just for richer, upper-class citizens, but for the middle class as well.

Novels from that time and earlier show that the ability to play the piano was deemed a marriageable quality. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Ionych by Anton Chekhov are two novels that show this idea perfectly. Because of the marriageability factor, the enjoyment derived from the piano, and its advancing availability, many people, especially women, played the piano. Piano playing was so prevalent that Oscar Wilde, an Irish author and poet, is quoted to have said, "The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation".

Though there is no documentation of this, I believe that the number of women in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries that played the piano had an important role in the beginnings of jazz. Imagine it...a woman, a mother, who plays the piano, who loves that music and her children hearing it and then really listening to it. Maybe she taught them to play, maybe they just acquired a love of music, but I believe that it affected those children. James Weldon Johnson, the author of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (a fictional story of one young man's experiences with the music of the piano) spoke of his own mother's playing. He reminisced that "...those evenings on which she opened the little piano were the happiest hours of my childhood...". There is no doubt in my mind that the increase of pianos in the home inspired some of these children to the realm of jazz.

Though the piano would eventually come to jazz, it first found its fame in two very contrasting places: the concert halls of the nations and the brothels and bars of the cities. Although the concert halls produced many great pianists, even some who would play jazz type music such as George Gershwin, the brothels and bars are more important to us at this moment.

Many early jazz pianists started their careers as pianists in lowly places. The owners of the brothels and bars knew that the piano was the perfect instrument--it could provide melody, harmony, and rhythm all in one and only required them to pay one person which saved them money. For many black pianists, these brothels and bars would become a heaven-send. Though these talented musicians could not perform in the same venues as their white counterparts, the lowly places they played allowed them a freedom of expression and repertoire that allowed them to expand their own knowledge and push the bounds of musical innovation.

Sources:
Marketing History of the Piano http://www.cantos.org/Piano/History/marketing.html
U.S. Piano Sales History http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/uspiano.htm
Piano Roles: A New History of the Piano by Professor James Parakilas

Critical Listening #2: What?!

This week I'm going to analyze a tune by the names of "What?!". This wonderful piece is from the album "Bone Structure" by Wycliffe Gordon and Ron Westray which was originally released in 1996. Gordon and Westray explore bounds on the trombone that are both enlightening and astounding. They are accompanied by a wonderful rhythm section: Marcus Roberts on piano, Reginald Veal on bass, and Herlin Riley on drums.

"What?!" is a very lively and fast paced tune. Though the rhythm section never fails to keep the beat it is easy to get lost in amalgamation of sound that this quintet produces. Playing in this quintet are Gordon and Westray on trombone and their rhythm section consisting of piano, bass, and drums. 

The form of this tune is a bit strange: 

8 bar A x2

16 bar B x1

8 bar A x2

8 bar C x1

piano solo

trombone solo

8 bar A x2

16 bar B x1

8 bar A x2

C type ending

The main theme or "A" section is an 8-bar phrase that is always played twice. It provides a reassuring structure to the piece. The B is strange in that it appears to be 16 bars long. The first 8 bars present a new theme and the next 8 bars present one that it very similar but not exactly the same. The C section is only 8 bars long and is only played completely one time. At the very end of the piece it is began, but then the entire band holds out one note until the final cymbal crash from the drummer.

There are two soloists the pianist and one of the trombonists. The piano solo lasts for quite a few choruses, in fact, it is almost half the song. The pianist emphasizes the off beats quite frequently which creates tension. This whole solo seems to be an experiment in how much tension the pianist can create. Dissonance is also frequently used, as are repeated notes and licks. At the very end of the solo, the pianist mimics the A section to lead into the trombone solo. Though the trombonist plays rather lyrically at the beginning, he then adopts a saxophone-esque playing technique with his many swirling, non-stop eighth notes. He plays a rather short solo as compared to the pianist but it is rife with arpeggios and glissandi, as well as being technically difficult.

The rhythm section is this song is quite excellent. The bass player sets up a walking bass line regardless of the fast tempo and never once looses the beat. The pianist has quite a large solo, but when he's not soloing he adds "hits" much like a drummer would and oftentimes even in conjunction with the drummer. During the trombone solo the pianist helps keep the chord progression in tact, but stays mostly behind the scenes with very few fills and virtually no notes that are not block chords. The drummer plays ride time during the A sections and the solos, but during the B and C sections brings in a Latin style of drumming that fits the melody perfectly. It is impressive to hear his flawless performance at this tempo as well as managing to add fills in the solos and set up the new choruses.

One of the most impressive things about this piece is the two trombonists. There is a common joke that implies that any two trombonists playing in unison will actually be more like a half step or even a second, but though Gordon and Westray play in unison they match not only each others notes but styles and dynamics. They provide an energy with each new chorus (especially the ones after the stop time measures) that keeps you wanting more and (at least in my case) makes you want to move...or learn to play trombone.

Because of the drumming style on sections B and C and the distinctive feeling of movement, this piece gives of a genuine Latin feel that is augmented with strange rhythms and solos making it so much more than just another Latin piece. I would recommend this to any trombone player as well as the rest of the album.

It's Just A Piano

This portfolio is designed to let me explore some aspect of jazz that is hitherto unknown to me. As I have contemplated what I would like to research and write about I realized that even though I have a background in both classical and jazz piano, I have little knowledge on the changing role of the piano in music culture and more specifically in jazz.

The piano is in reality called a pianoforte. This name comes from the Italian words piano and forte which are used in music. Respectively, they mean soft and loud. This function of the piano, the ability to play loud or soft, was one that its predecessors lacked. Both the clavichord and the harpsichord were restricted by a extremely small range of dynamics. However, the design of both of these instruments was integral to the invention of the piano.

Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano around 1700. Unlike the harpsichord which had strings that were plucked or the clavichord which had tangents, the piano consisted of hammers that struck the strings and then rebounded so the sound would continue. It was at first seen as just another keyboard type novelty but that would soon change.

Because of the popularity of the piano both in the home and in popular music it is hard for us to understand how different a harpsichord or clavichord are from the piano. Though this is a jazz portfolio, I have never heard of jazz played on a harpsichord or clavichord so we will examine some classical music to see the difference. The following piece is Sonata in B minor K.27, L.449 composed by Domenico Scarlatti.

Clavichord

Harpsichord

Piano

From the differences in these three videos, it is obvious that the piano had the ability to become a much more versatile instrument than either the harpsichord or the clavichord. The harpsichord, though loud enough to play at concerts, had virtually no change in its loudness. The clavichord could change its volume but was still so quiet that it could be heard from no more than a few feet away. The piano would meet both of these requirements. It is especially important to note the ability to use a wider range of dynamics because by being able to drastically change the volume of the performance the piano would be capable of not only being used as a solo instrument, but as a part of an ensemble. 

As composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach (who had formerly composed for the harpsichord), Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frederic Chopin, and Claude Debussy made the piano more well-known and well-liked through the ages up to the twentieth century, it became a common household item. This phenomenon ushered in the entrance of the piano into jazz.

Critical Listening #1: The Kid From Red Bank

The piece I am going to examine for this week is a Neal Hefti tune called "The Kid From Red Bank" which was written for Count Basie and his orchestra. The version I'll discuss here is performed by the Count Basie Orchestra and featured on "The Complete Atomic Basie" album.

This recording was made and released in 1957 by Capital Records. It was written to showcase Count Basie of whom the song title refers (Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1904).

So without further ado..."The Kid From Red Bank".

"The Kid From Red Bank" has a very steady beat, albeit at an exceedingly fast tempo that is played in cut time. It has a very energetic big band feel. The instruments playing are saxophone (both tenor and alto, possibly a baritone but I couldn't decide), trumpet, trombone, bass, drums, guitar and (obviously) piano. 

This piece is styled as a piano feature so the band has certain melodies that they play at specified times (they would have been written down on sheet music and played exactly) and when they're not playing the tune is opened up to Count Basie's piano solo accompanied by the rhythm section (bass, drums, and guitar). 

This tune is rather easy to outline in simple form: 

A section x2

piano solo x2

B section x2

piano solo x2

C section x2

piano solo x2

A section x2

8 bar phrase (ending)

Unlike most songs, the phrases in this piece (aside from the ending) are not 8 bar, but 12 bar phrases. Right from the beginning (there is no introduction) we hear our first melody or our A section which is 6 bars band and then 6 bars piano solo. This A section is played twice. We then get to enjoy two 12 bar choruses of Basie's excellent piano playing. Then comes our B section which features the trombone section with hits from the drums and piano. The B section is also played twice and sticks with a 12 bar phrase. After the B section Basie plays two more choruses of his solo and then the band plays the C section twice. Though it is a different melody, the C section is modeled after the A section in that it is 6 bars band and then 6 bars piano solo. Two more choruses of piano solo and then we're back to the A section again with the typical repeat. The band ends the piece with an 8 bar phrase that is cut off by a hit from the drums. 

As I mentioned before this is a piano feature for Count Basie and, therefore, he is the only soloist. Basie has a very particular piano style; while some jazz pianists will play variations of the tune, Basie stays away from the melodies while staying within the bounds of the 12 bar blues format. Basie also plays surprising few notes at some points in his solo. A good example of this is the 6 bar phrase solos he plays during the A and C sections. Basie makes good use of repetition to build up the suspense in the music (eg. the repeating eighth notes in his solo after the first set of A sections). This suspense builds interest in what will happen next in the music and Basie doesn't disappoint. In his solo section after the B section, Basie employs a technique called stride. Stride is a style of left-hand piano accompaniment that alternates between low bass notes with higher chords. Basie's use of stride coupled with the syncopation found in parts of this particular solo section almost gives the impression of an old ragtime piano tune. The solo section after the C section is a conglomeration of first repetition, then the stride style. Basie's 4 bar mini solo finishes up the tune quite nicely.

Basie's solo shows his excellence as a jazz pianist. Instead of filling up the space with a multitude of notes, Basie makes the empty spaces work for him. He knows exactly how to accent the coming sections his band will play while also proving that it is his piece. He plays a variety of techniques from stride and syncopation, to glissandi and broken chords. These ability to play not in just one way, but many makes the solo a delight to listen to.

Part of Basie's success must be attributed to the rhythm section. Because of the quick tempo, this song could very easily drag (for those of you who may not know, drag is a slang term for fall under tempo). The bass provides a walking bass line that is always steady and consistent. The guitar comps chords but with a regularity that makes his part hard to pick out. The drummer plays ride cymbal and high-hat perpetually while also providing hits to accent both the piano solo and the beginnings of each new chorus. Never once does the rhythm section let down their guard and this vigilance lends the tune a strong support that keeps it from sounding rushed or sloppy.

The rest of the band may not provide a foundation for the piece or the pizazz that Count Basie's solo does, but they provide the necessary energy needed to get the piece going and then keep it that way. By their careful attention to the different kinds of accents and musical notation (staccato, tenuto, slurring, etc.) their performance is precise and unified. This provides an excellent amount of energy to a piece that doesn't features much more piano than anything else.

"The Kid From Red Bank" is an excellent example of a big band tune as well as a great showpiece for jazz piano everywhere. This piece with its fast tempo, endless energy, reliable rhythm section and skilled soloist holds you spellbound until the very last note.