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1. America The Beautiful
We intended the stately introduction of this well known piece as an illustration of music without swing. As you can hear, once Rusty Jones kicks off the new tempo, these dixieland players can't help but swing it like crazy. What a great combination: a patriotic song, performed in a truly American style.
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2. Mutiny In The Nursery
Careful listening to this number, originally recorded by the Nat "King" Cole Trio, shows that swing music really is for kids of all ages. But what about that part where the singers are saying "roo-tie-dee-ah-duh"? Did they forget the words? No. Smaller groups would often use their voices to imitate big band horn sounds, just as they would play instrumental ensemble passages to make the band sound like a larger number of players than it was.
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3. It Don't Mean A Thing
The lyrics to this famous Duke Ellington/Irving Mills song offer playful instruction
on how to give music that important element, swing: "It makes no difference
if it's sweet or hot/just give that rhythm everything you've got." The essence
of swing does defy description. In fact, when once asked for a definition of
jazz, Louis Armstrong replied, "If you have to ask, you'll never know." Ellington,
Mills and Armstrong were not being snobbish. The point is, if you could say
it in words you wouldn't need the music. Good swing is something that is best
left defined by the sounds themselves, and enjoyed by happy ears and fidgety
feet.
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4. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter
Frequently, early jazz bands had a "front line" of a few horns. Front lines generally included trumpet or cornet, clarinet or saxophone, and trombone. Right behind the front line was the rhythm section; featuring string bass or tuba, piano, guitar or banjo, and drums. This instrumental design could make all the sounds our ears like to hear - low, middle and high. The front line delivers melody and counter-melody, while the rhythm section supplies chords and a sense of time. This particular song has long been associated with the great "Fats" Waller. Our version has a "front line" of cornet, soprano saxophone, and trombone; with string bass, piano, guitar, and drums in the rhythm section. Louis Armstrong played the cornet early in his career, and two other great artists, Bix Beiderbecke and Wild Bill Davison, played cornet their entire careers. You can tell Greg Studebaker loves all three.
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5. Roly Poly
Swing is swing . . . no matter where you play it. In New Orleans or Chicago the voice of swing was in the brass or woodwinds. In San Antonio or Tulsa the voice was swinging with the sound of strings: fiddles, mandolins and guitars. But listen closely - no matter where it's played, we still have the lows, middles, and highs - melody and chords - and doesn't that steel guitar slip around like a trombone? Many bands in the South and West were "strung" together in this way, but the most famous was Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, maybe because he played fun songs like Roly Poly. The style of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys became known as "Western Swing" or "Texas Swing" and is still very popular with dancers even today.
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6. Fidgety Feet
Some say that jazz grew directly out of the New Orleans marching brass band
tradition. Listening to Fidgety Feet, it's easy to imagine strutting along with
either a finger or umbrella in the air. This tune has three sections like most
marches and is presented here with an instrumental lineup that could walk in
a parade - a front line of trumpet, clarinet, and trombone, and a rhythm section
of tuba, banjo and drums.
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7. Old King Cole
On this swinging nursery rhyme, when Old King Cole calls for his "fiddlers three" the much beloved Johnny Frigo is there to answer. Johnny is a Chicagoan who has carved his place in music history by being one of only a handful of artists to play and record jazz on the violin. Often in jazz, the violin appears as it does here - in a small group with other stringed instruments. Other famous ensembles of this type include Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang (violin and guitar), Django Reinhart and Stephane Grappelli (guitar and violin), and Homer and Jethro (guitar and mandolin).
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8. Listen My Children and You Shall Hear
In the 1930s and 40s jazz became very popular as dance music, and bands got bigger, perhaps to make a bigger sound in ballrooms crowded with people. Naturally, with twelve or even twenty people in a band, a little additional musical organization was needed. An arranger would write specific parts for each player so that the music would still feel right, but would also leave room for a singer and other improvising soloists. The Count Basie Band was one of the greatest examples of this style, and made the original recording of this song. Some even regard the sound of Basie's rhythm section as the definition of swing -just the way it played "one-two-three-four" felt so good. Through the years Basie's band had many star soloists, including Jimmy Rushing, a man with a singing voice and spirit large enough to be heard over a big band; and Lester Young, a saxophonist whose nickname was "Pres," as in "President of All Saxophone Players." We've tried to present all of these elements here on Listen My Children - horn sections, rhythm section, singer, soloist (Paul Mertens), and arranger - all swinging.
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9. Struttin' With Some Barbeque
No project about this type of music could be done without a song made famous by Louis Armstrong. Many books and videos are available to tell the whole story of Satchmo, as he was affectionately called. Jazz musicians try to express themselves with an individual voice - Louis Armstrong set that standard early on. His imagination, ability and brilliant personality combined to make a sound that is instantly recognizable. This tune was one Louis recorded many times. We do it in a style closer to that of the early part of his career - small band with tuba and banjo. Did you notice the clarinet and trombone at the beginning? They're not playing the melody, but they are playing other melodies which compliment the one played on the trumpet. What a beautiful conversation - maybe that's what Lil Armsrong (the composer) meant by "some barbeque," because all the ingredients come together to make something delicious.
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10. Kee-Mo Ky-Mo
From the time of Louis Armstrong on, improvisation became such an important part of American music that musicians experimented with it on all instruments, even their voices. Sometimes a vocalist, in order to convey a feeling, will invent syllables that fit the notes and rhythms he or she is singing. Louis Armstrong was one of the early masters of this technique, called "scat" singing, and this tune shows us again that Nat "King" Cole enjoyed it also. Some parts of this tune also have regular English words, most notably, "I love you," which is what so much good music is about.
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11. Party For The Old Folks
A square dance? A schottische? A Paul Jones? What are these country dance steps doing in a swing album? This Bob Wills song, like America the Beautiful and Kee-Mo Ky-Mo, shows us again how music of any type, with any words, can be played in a swing style. Maybe that's why some of Bob's famous songs were also recorded by pop and jazz stars of his day. Versions of this song exist where the melody is played by twin fiddles or trumpet. Our version has the melody played on the electric mandolin, an instrument which had its greatest amount of exposure in Bob's band, played by the famous "Texas Playboys" Tiny Moore and Johnny Gimble.
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12. Patty Cake, Patty Cake
At last, the "complete" version of this rhyme, with the parts Mother Goose left out: rot-doot-dot-doot-doddin-day! This version again comes from the early King Cole Trio - recordings Natalie Cole and her siblings probably enjoyed as youngsters. Several other small groups also specialized in scat, jive, and harmony. Slim and Slam, The Spirits of Rhythm, The Mills Brothers, The Cats and the Fiddle, and Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five all worked in this pivotal style that helped shape later forms of modern jazz and even rock and roll. As much for fun as this music is, it is worth pointing out that the Nat Cole Trio was made up of consummate musicians Ñ they even swung Rachmaninoff on one side! Nat Cole is still one of the most imitated pianists of the century, just as Oscar Moore and Irving Ashby set high standards for guitarists.
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13. The Jeep Is Jumpin'
Duke Ellington originally came from Washington, D.C., and his phenomenal contributions
to our nation's music and culture are a cornerstone. He wrote a tremendous amount
of music in many styles and formats. In fact, so many of his songs have become
standards that it's easy to overlook the fact that Duke was also a great arranger,
piano player and band leader. He particularly enjoyed showcasing the talents
of his musicians, writing parts that catered to their individual styles. Our
recording of The Jeep is Jumpin' is a small tribute to Duke and the band for
which he wrote. Jim Gailloreto recalls Johnny Hodges in the alto sax solo and
Steve Schmidt reminds us of the high trumpet parts of Cat Anderson.
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14. When It's Sleepy Time Down South
This became Louis Armstrong's theme song in 1932. Satchmo's singing got so
popular that at one point he hired Bobby Hackett to play cornet behind his vocal
solos. There is a lot of that type of improvisation on this version. Rich Fudoli
sets the tone by playing beautiful melody and background figures on the soprano
saxophone. There is nothing like a lullaby to remind us that music doesn't need
to be fast in order to swing.
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