[Dixielandjazz] Chords and the Condon Sound

[Steve barbone]

Interesting thread. Lost the posts about it so am adding my 2 cents from a
not always accurate memory.

Brought to mind last Tuesday when rehearsing with Tex Wyndham. We rehearsed
"Out of Nowhere", a lovely song written in 1931, but with chord changes that
were quite modern for those days.

I checked the chord chart because we were doing it in F and I always do it
in G so I wanted the chart for a crutch.

The melody line uses some 9ths as the melody note yet the chart had no
chords further out than 7th. So I asked Tex why no 9th chords?

His response was that since he transcribes the charts for a "trad" band, he
never writes a chord higher than a 7th. (His band is 2 beat San Francisco
Revival Style, banjo/tuba)

So, if one is going to emulate a Condon sound, I should think on a tune like
this one, 9th chords might make some difference.

However, I think the main thing with the Condon Sound is the rhythm section
sound. It is "swing" 4 beat. We New Yorkers loved how his band swung. And
when I got a chance to play with Gene Schroeder on a regular basis one
summer long ago, I marveled at how he swung his stride piano. Fluid right
hand runs with left hand stride.

Back to Tex's rehearsal. I experimented with a fairly modern solo, not
withstanding the squared up chords, but that two beat rhythm was much more
difficult to play "modern" against.

So IMO if you are looking to get a Condon sound, swing that rhythm. And if
you have some Condon albums "live", on one, maybe the Newport Jazz Festival
in the rain, he mentions that his band plays "Modern Dixieland". Listen to
it and forget your peers who may counsel you to return to 2 beat.

Oh the horror, the horror. :-) VBG

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't
be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's
thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner
voice." - Steve Jobs