[Dixielandjazz] Limehouse Blues and the composer of Lucalliah

[ROBERT R. CALDER]

Pronounced "Few-sally-ah!" of course, as the man Ralph Sutton called Wellstride insists on a sleevenote (wonderful sleevenotes he wrote, Dick Wellstood!) 

Dick also composed tunes, and what he called, for instance in compositions by even Earl Hines, pretty well non-tunes. The ideal of the stride non-tune composition was for Dick to have as many changes as possible, for the fact of having to make the change endowed the composition with a built-in accent.  A conspiracy to corner tunes in the interest of stride pianists? 

So I have to worry whether my friend, and the man of whose constituency I hope I am a worthy member and neighbour, Ken, not to mention china, ken, might not take amiss the suggestion that Mr. Hyman published doctored chords.   

LIMEHOUSE BLUES conforms to an early definition of Blues, meaning a slow and mournful and melancholy song by no means necessarily on the twelve-bar pattern, and presumably also falls under the cloud raised by Edward Said under the heading ORIENTALISM, and having been composed with an intention to sound "Chinese"  -- Limehouse being the area of East London associated with Sherlock Holms, Fu Manchu, opium and chinoiserie -- might be none the worse for the occasional ingenious tweak.  As an example of the accursed and 'buked and scorned ORIENTALISM the composition is thus politically incorrect after a fashion which should offend only paranoiacs and can be recommended accordingly, 

Chuberry Ciao!Robert R. Calder
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