Category: New Orleans style jazz

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From blues to rhythm and blues

From blues to rhythm and blues

Recently I explored the worksongs sung by slaves in the US. The 1864 ‘Emancipation Act’ freed all slaves and opened the way for further development of the music of African-Americans. You have already been introduced to the first expressions of this boogiewoogie and ragtime. From the worksongs, a singing style gradually developed that was called ‘blues’ around 1920. Banjo and guitar were often used for accompaniment. The blues, like the worksongs, expressed the feeling of discontent that the inferior position of the African-American population entailed but also sang about relationship problems and natural disasters. The term ‘blues’ stems from seafaring: if a captain or officer died during the voyage, a blue flag was hoisted or a blue band was painted around the ship.

The first blues

In the 1920s, blues was first published as sheet music and the first gramophone records appeared. The blues remained music by black people for black people. That was taken care of by the emerging music industry, which spoke of ‘race music’. Music for and by whites was marketed as ‘country music’, although the two styles did not initially differ much.

The first blues record appeared in 1912, the ‘Dallas Blues’. W.C. Handy’s’ Saint Louis Blues’ (1914) is still played today.  Here, the composer himself plays his ‘Dallas Blues’ on the trumpet. 

Handy contributed to the popularisation of the blues through his orchestral arrangements, which also saw blues played in theatres and policy by choir and orchestra. You can see this here in a 1929 video in which Bessie Smith, one of the first female blues performers, also sings the Saint Louis blues.

Blues as a music style

I pause to consider a few characteristics of the ‘blues’ as a musical style. Blues musicians use a five-tone (‘pentatonic’) scale, unlike ‘western music’, which usually uses a seven-tone major or minor scale. Starting from the C major scale, the pentatonic scale consists of these five notes: C, D, E, G and A, i.e. without the F and the B. This scale is found all over the world, including, for example, in Celtic and Scottish music and in many children’s songs, Negro spirituals and hymns. Here, for example, the first bars of Amazing Grace.

Instead of the omitted notes, blues musicians often add a lowered E (E-flat) and/or lowered B (B-flat) in the C major scale. These are called the ‘blue notes’. Anyone with a keyboard instrument at hand should try playing a C-major chord (C – E – G) and fiddle around with the lowered E and B. This immediately sounds ‘bluesy’. In the minor scale, the raised F (F-sharp) is usually the blues tone. You then get: C, E-flat, F, F-sharp, G, B-flat.  In the following video you can learn in two minutes to play a simple solo on the piano in the C minor scale.

Besides the use of the pentatonic scale, most blues are distinguished by their structure, consisting of three stanzas of four (four-quarter) measures each. The first four bars posit a statement, in the second group it is repeated (‘call and response’) and in the last four bars an explanation follows.  Here, by way of illustration, three lines from Blind Lemon Jefferson’s 1927 ‘Rising high water blues’.

 Backwater rising, Southern peoples can’t make no time 
I said, backwater rising, Southern peoples can’t make no time 
And I can’t get no hearing from that Memphis girl of mine 

Furthermore, in blues you often hear a ‘walking bass’, a series of successive notes played in a driving manner up and down. What is also common are sliding notes, the ‘sliding effect’ on the guitar. On the piano, you achieve this effect – as the video illustrated – by using a fast-leading stroke.

The rise of urban blues

The blues in the product of the southern states and the Mississippi area (‘Delta blues’) and had numerous regional variations. Both at the time of growing prosperity (1920s) and recession (1930s), many African-Americans moved to the northern states and Chicago became the new centre of the ‘urban blues’.  This was somewhat rawer in nature. Big bands also made their appearance, such as the bands of Count Basie (‘One o’clock jump’) and Jimmy Rushin (‘I left my baby’) Big names from the 1930s include Charley Patton and Robert Johnson.  Here is a recording of ‘Sweet home Chicago’, sung by Robert Johnson (1937), a song that would be covered many more times.

Electric guitars had now become commonplace, so they were often referred to as ‘electric blues’. In the 1940s, there was a boom in new blues songs. In Chicago, Willy Dixon was constantly writing songs for artists who caused a furore there, such as Muddy Waters (‘I can’t be satisfied’, ‘Rollin’and tumbling’ and ‘Hoochie Coochie man’) and Howlin’ Wolf (‘Wang Dang Doodle’ and ‘Back door man’). 

Here is a recording of Muddy Waters’ ‘Im your hoochie coochie man (1971)

Rhythm and blues

Over the years, the Chicago sound became more rhythmic and the tempo of the melodies became faster and wind instrument support played an increasingly important role. The term ‘rhythm and blues’ made its appearance.  Also because the music industry wanted to get rid of the term ‘race music’.  As the years progressed, ‘rhythm and blues’ became an umbrella term for music originating from the African-American population, even though the number of white artists as well as fans increased rapidly. 

Older people among us still experienced plenty of the stars of the post-war period. Besides Muddy Waters, one can think of John Lee Hooker (‘Boogie Chillen’, ‘Dimples’ and ‘Boom Boom’), the ‘king of blues’ B.B. King (‘The Thrill is gone), Louis Jordan with his band ‘Tympany Five (‘You Ain’t My Baby’, ‘Saturday  Night Fish Fry“.

Here, ‘the king of the blues’ plays ‘Sweet little angel’ with Jeff, Beck, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Albert Collings in 1993.  The diversity of players alone is a sign of the blending of styles and ethnicities that has taken place in recent decades.

From the 1950s, many more can be mentioned Little Richard Penniman (‘Tutti Frutti’, ‘Long tall Sally’), Ruth Brown (‘Teardrops from my eyes’, (Mama) he treats your daughter mean’, Fats Domino (‘Aint that a shame’), Ray Charles (‘I got a woman’) and Chubby Checker (‘The twist’). These songs also show the great influence that rhythm and blues, alongside boogiewoogie, had on rock and roll, think Elvis Presley. 

Here, late 1993 and older Ruth Brown sings ‘Mama, he treats your daughter mean’ along with Bonnie Raitt. You can see the original version from the 1950s by a still-young Ruth Brown here.

The blues in the UK

Had Muddy Waters still shocked audiences in the UK with his performance, he inspired a range of English groups to contemporary blues renditions, such as Cyril Davies, Alexis Korner, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Yardbirds, Eric Clapton and also the Rolling Stones, who performed several times with the older blues luminaries.

The ‘UK invasion’ in the US charts in turn inspired a new generation of blues artists in the US: Paul Butterfield, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, J. Geils Band, Ry Cooder, the Temptations, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, the Allman Brothers Band, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Fabolous Thunderbirds. All artists who, in turn, influenced many others. 

It is almost impossible to make a choice here, which is why there is a link behind most of the names. I end up choosing guitar virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan and his lifelong band Double Trouble with the classic blues ‘Texas Flood’. He is considered as one of the most influential musicians in the history of blues and one of the best guitarists of all time despite his short life (1954 – 1990). He had a lifetime of problems with alcohol, love and drugs, which he had overcome by 1986. He then had four healthy years left to benefit from his fame until he was killed in a helicopter crash in 1990.

During the development of the blues, there has been cross-fertilisation between (rhythm and) blues and other genres.  Initially, these were the (negro) spirituals and gospel songs and, from the 1920s, old-style jazz: ‘Dixieland’ in New Orleans and later in swinging dance orchestras, such as Count Basie and his band. After the war, this was mainly rock ‘n roll. In the 1980s, the term ‘R&B’ was further expanded to include hip-hop, having already been used for soul, funk and even disco. These styles will be discussed later. 

One of the most important people who has kept the memory of the blues alive and secured its future is Jools Holland, who, together with his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, has been performing at many venues for decades and has kept viewers glued to the tube in his weekly programme ‘Later’. In and the annual ‘Hootenanny’, where he ushers in the New Year with the audience.  Here he and his orchestra accompany Ruby Turner in ‘Roll out of this hole’ (2010 – 2011)

Afterword: Recently released is the album The Barnestormers, an international super formation on which Jools Holland plays and sings contemporary rhythm and blues/rockabilly/rock – whatever you name it – together with Jimmy Barnes, Slim Jim Phantom, Chris Cheney and Kevin Shirley.  Here you listen to the song ‘Johnny’s Gone’ from this album, accompanied by a fast-paced cartoons

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Louis Armstrong (The development of jazz 7/11)

Louis Armstrong (nicknames Satch and Satchmo) was born on August 4th, 1901, in New Orleans and died on July 6th ,1971 in New York City. He played trumpet and cornet and had a great influence on the development of jazz.

He spent his childhood in poverty. At the age of 11, he bought a cornet in a pawn shop and by the age of 13, he was already playing in bands entertaining audiences in dance halls, brothels and riverboats.

1920s

In 1922, ‘King Oliver’ asked Armstrong moving to Chicago and play in his ‘Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band’. You can listen to an early recording of the band here.

In Chicago he is payd well for the first time. Influenced by his first future wife Lil Hardin, he broadens his skills by also playing classical music. From 1924, he plays in the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the most prominent African-American band of the time.  Here you can listen to this orchestra, whose members at the time included both Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins.

Armstrong has fully mastered the New Orleans style (‘old jazz’). When he joined the Fletcher Henderson band, he had been pioneering the most current forms of jazz for quite some time. This included the shift from collective to individual improvisation. His improvisations were sophisticated, subtle and melodic.

In 1925 Armstrong formed his own band ‘Louis Armstrong Hot Five (later Hot Seven)’. Among others he recorded the hit Potato Head Blues (1927) and his improvised solo in this song has since been imitated countless times.

Writing about improvisations, the introduction and solo of the song ‘Weather Bird’ (1928) together with pianist Earl Hines is one of the most famous improvisations in the history of jazz. Listen here:

During that year, Armstrong made 25 recordings. He also started singing more and more, his ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1929) became a hit. So did Armstrong’s interpretation of Carmichael’s ‘Stardust’ (1931) and ‘Lazy River’ (1931). You can listen to the latter below. He appears to be a master of ‘scat singing’, which is singing and improvising with meaningless words.

1930s

The Great Depression put many musicians out of work. Louis Armstrong could come and play at the New Cotton Club in Los Angeles, along with Lionel Hampton on drums. Hollywood could still afford a rich nightlife.  Moreover, radio recordings were made of all the performances. Later, Armstrong developed problems with his fingers and lips, and signed contracts to play in films more often.

1940s

After many years on the road, in 1943 Armstrong settled in Queens NYC with his then fourth wife. Again, many big bands had to stop performing because expenditure became too high. At the same time, interest in small ensembles was increasing, which suited Armstrong. Armstrong’s new group was called ‘Louis Armstrong and His All Stars’. In 1948, he recorded the English-language version of Suzy Delair’s song ‘C’est si bon’ which became a world hit. You can hear and see him play and sing on this 1962 recording:

1950s

Over the last 30 years, Armstrong has written over 50 songs, averaged over 300 performances a year, made many recordings and appeared in 30 films. His best-known film is ‘High Society’ with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm.  Listen to the duet with Crosby:

In the 1950s, Armstrong was a beloved American icon. However, at that time a generation gap emerged between him and the younger generation of jazz musicians, such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, who scorned Armstrong’s ‘vaudeville style’. In turn, Armstrong called their bebop style ‘Chinese music’.

During those years, he recorded two albums that were considered masterpieces: ‘Louis Armstrong plays W.C. Handy‘ (1954) and Satch Plays Fats (songs by Fats Waller). 

1960s

In 1963, he appears in Dave Brubeck’s jazz musical ‘The Real Ambassadors’ in which he performs ‘Summer Song’, one of his most popular vocal performances up to then. You can listen to it below

During these years, Armstrong toured Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria. However, he suffered a heart attack and had to rest for quite some time. It was not until 1964 that he set foot in the studio again and recorded his international hit ‘Hello Dolly’. The song reached number one on the Hot 100 and dethroned the Beatles. You can watch and listen to a recording from 1968 here.

Armstrong starts another world tour, but he breaks it off for health reasons as well. 

In 1968, he made the last recordings with his trumpet on the album ‘Disney Songs the Satchmo Way’ and scored another hit ‘What a Wonderful World’. You can hear and see that one now:

Armstrong dies in his sleep of a heart attack on 6 July 1971.