Various songs between 1830-1960 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Various songs between 1830-1960 - Assignment Example I have listened to Jelly Roll Morton as I like blues and jazz and he plays a mean piano. I like the way the instruments interact. This kind of music reminds me of a book I enjoyed once by Machael Ondatje , Coming Through Slaughter, about a jazz horn player who blew his lip out when he went nuts and played until he could not play any more. La Paloma is an old Mexican folk song I also remember hearing as a child. It is a beautiful melody, and I never expected to hear it played as jazz. I guess the melody lends itself to improvisation. I never thought about it as anything other than a pretty folk song and I sure never dreamed that Jelly Roll Morton ever played it, though I guess it would have been very popular for afternoon parties, a la Stephen Foster. 3. King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, â€Å"Dipper Mouth Blues† (1923) I have to find more of these guys. I think that’s a real early Louis Armstrong playing the muted trumpet. The clarinetist is really mellow. At the time whe n this was recorded, the music was real, no digital augmentation and I love the complexity of this jazz, but I do with it had the fuller sound of stereo. My ears like the depth of modern recordings. I wonder how they ever got that name. It sounds like the name of a fish. I wonder how much music we missed, because the players were racially segregated? 4. Original Dixieland Jazz Band, â€Å"Tiger Rag† (1917) (on APM CD) I have only heard later versions of this tune, I think by Louis Armstrong’s band,. The chorus is very familiar, but I do not really remember the rest of the music. I went looking and found a version with Art Tatum on piano. I did not know anyone’s fingers could move that fast. 5. Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five, â€Å"West End Blues† (1928) Wow, this is one I had not heard. The rhythm is very regular like for dancing, but the instruments are really clear with solos on the horns. I have not heard many trombone solos. It sounds like a low Dix ieland, with the combined instruments and voice sort of having a conversation. The piano sounds like one that has tacks on the hammers. I think that was called honkey tonk piano. It is a great sound and reminds one of the places where this music was played. I get a vision of taverns, bars and some upper scale clubs playing this music. Great trumpet solo by Louis Armstrong. I have liked some things I heard with him playing, but I did not know he was such a great musician. 6. Jelly Roll Morton, â€Å"Black Bottom Stomp† (1926) It is really great that some people are sharing their old 78 records on Youtube. I would never have heard some of these. This tune really showcases dance rhythm Dixieland. The instruments sound a little strange, like maybe they are using mutes on some of the horns. 7. Guy Lombardo, â€Å"We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye† (lyrics) I heard this by Frank Sinatra, but I like the one by Guy Lombardo better. It has more style. The old Sinatra record is a sim ple dance tune with only an interesting solo on a high pitched xylophone. It is a happy love song., while many of this time were very sad. I guess girls really like sad songs and they bought most of the music. After all, it was girls who wanted to dance in these times. It was an acceptable way to touch. There was no television then, so these radio shows were really popular among middle and higher class people. It was happy entertainment, and I prefer the big band sound. 8. Bing Crosby, â€Å"Out of Nowhere†