[Dixielandjazz] After You've Gone

[ROBERT R. CALDER]

I telephoned my friend (who is an invention of a humourist called Beachcomber, beloved of Pat Ladd), 
Dr. Strabismus (whom God preserve) of Utrecht, and he assures me in accents or eccents in which the late Mr. Davern sometime spoke 

Ziss Efter you've Gone" schpeedink-up is undoubtedly a reminiscence of ze funeralss in Neu Orleeenz, the instanter accelerando und briskness of later on contrastink vith ze melancholy trudge of ze mourners to ze cemetery, and a return from ze site of interment to a site where drink can be conzumed, with a display of fellowship among zehe musicians, such that ze rush of zose already thirsty renders their briefly non-thirsty bandmates thirsty again and zey can all toast togezzer.   


(please, esteemed Bert Brandsma and compatriots, the above represents no parody of Nederland pronunciation, it is a Scottish transcript of an I believe English parody of teutonic professorspeak and pedantry and its imitations... )

 and of course more seriously a play on the song title which suggested N.O. funerals could well have been taken up by musicians.  No less a musician than Franz Liszt taught pupils to relate one and another existing composition they were to perform to a story parallelling it. This isn't to be confused with the "Tone Poem" composed as programme music supposedly representing an existing story or scene.  
Of course make the music mean something has its jazz manifestations in famously Lester Young's insistence on knowing the words to a song, and habits of piano soloists (Dave McKenna) playing sequences of songs with related titles.  Speeding up can also help when monotony sets in, or Sleep (not the tune!)
Robert R. Calder 
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