[Dixielandjazz] Flatted Fifths

[Stephen Barbone]

Oh my, the dreaded flatted fifth.

Yes Condon said we drink fifths, we don't flatten them, or something to
that effect. Yet all the while hiring and admiring Pee Wee Russell who
regularly flatted fifths since the mid 1920s. So beware the out of
context quote, no matter how cute it is.

And, of course, the legendary Bix Beiderbecke also flatted fifths
regularly. Perhaps Dizzy and Bird copied him a decade or so later? And
today's GREAT OKOMers also flatten fifths, e.g. Kenny Davern, and if we
stop and listen to them, so do MANY others.

Just about every Dixieland player since Bix has flatted a fifth here and
there. But because of the Condon quote, it is not politically correct
(in the context of OKOM) to admit that we do. So thank John Farrell and
Don Ingle for opining that they do indeed flatten fifths now and then.

And hear me when I say our band flattens fifths quite regularly. We're
just following and learning from Bix, Russell, and hundreds of other
OKOMers who went before us flattening fifths.

All you players out there, in a blues context, try a Root - Flatted
Fifth sequence rubato, skip from the flatted fifth to the seventh, back
to the root etc, etc., and you can develop a very neat sexy dissonant
solo. Pee Wee did one like it 50 years ago in One Two Three Blues. It
should be a basic learning  solo for all OKOMers.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone