[Dixielandjazz] enduring repertoire

[ROBERT R. CALDER]

Sweet Georgia Brown commends itself for the same reason the Star Trek theme commended itself to the late Dick Morrissey, and Sonny Rollins took to "An Old Cowhand",  and Hal Galper met "The Flintstones"  (you vont an older tune dan dat?) 


These are not two-chord tricks -- a guitarist and mathematician called Mike Nicholson, whom I haven't seen in years, used to do a nice thing with cheap material, "see this chord in my left hand: in the course of none of these numbers does it need to move." I gather one of his victims of those decades past has made a revival .


I have a tape somewhere of the radio show Humphrey Lyttelton did to the memory of Yank Lawson -- which is by way of an aside, except for the magnificent selection and commentary displaying the depth and range of Yank's playing.  And now back on topic, the opening number in that recital of performancers was a World's Greatest Jazz Band performance of a then recent pop tune.  And it was magnificent. With the other Beatles etc. numbers Bob Wilber arranged he did some amazing things, but for the most part amazing considering the limited range of opportunities for solo developments.  In some cases the rhythmic outline afforded little scope even for scoring jazz.  


I once got stuck at a bus stop in a narrow old street when in the middle of a traffic jam one idiot (who presumably CAN'T HEAR NOW -- having deafened himself) was broadcasting I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (HOO HOO OOO so far afield he ought to have been sued for broadcasting royalty payments.  Every too often the lady's voice (now I gather stilled in life) would project above the tailgate fugue of drivers and passengers with that single phrase, followed by boredom and banality, because there was nothing else to that number but the sound of a machine cranking until out came the phrase again. AIEE AIEE, WILL ..... (enough!)

Rather like a bad marriage, dull routine most of the time, interspersed with overloud protestations of affection.  

A lot of the 1930s and even 1920s repertoire derives from musicians of eastern European families hearing harmonic relationships remote to other folk (read Marshall Stearns) but there are limits even to that -- though the enduring repertoire for improvisers is a region full of interesting country roads, or alleys et cetera of a mediaeval or unplanned city.   The plethora of superficial effects available in recordings nowadays cannot disguise the motorway or highspeed train character of the way to a punter's bank account is by way of, and not necessarily causing no harm to, ears connected to no great experience of music.  

Wham, bam, play it again...  (no Thankyou, No Ma'm, and no need of a Sam when the thing plays itself again automatically)

I remember Chico Freeman being challenged to play I CAN'T GET STARTED -- and applauded when he responded with a speech about why he liked to play his own new material.  But when he had played I CAN'T GET STARTED as an encore the applause near took the roof off the venue.  What's the difference between bad post-bop and dreary Dixieland?  The bad postbopper achieves monotony by playing ever newer compositions.  


And now for my second  (hot, non-alcoholic) drink of the day!
Slainte!
Robert R. Calder