West End Blues and History T2W5L1 2024
American history
- White people didn’t want to go into north america the begin with - diseases, hard to capture, fights, etc
- They captured south america first and stole people as slaves
- Shipped the slaves to north america
- Protest music by afro americans in slavery - influences music of the modern period.
Black music influence
- White people didn’t like the black influence
- Earthy, coarse sound
- Young people enjoyed and related to
- Themes and ideas!!!
- Blues
- Using rhythmic ostinato and riffs
Blues evolution
- Basic blues
- 1930’s evolution
- Going to 4th on second bar, and back to 1 on 3rd
- Leading to 5 on third system second bar using II7
- Count Basie Blues Changes
- Bb7 and Bdim on second bar
- Cm7 and F7 on b.4
- Bdim on b6
- Gm7 bar 9
- Bebop changes
- Keep first 4 bars
- Keep 5 - 7
- Am7 and D7 b8
- Keep 9 - 10
- Am7 and D7 b11
- Gm7 and C7 b12
- Tritone substitution
- Keep 1 - 5
- Bm7 and E7 b6
- F7 and E7 b7
- Eb7 and D7 b8
- Keep b9
- C7 and Bb7 b10
- Keep 11 - 12
- Tritone substitution means substitute the chord with a chord a tritone away
- Charlie Parker Blues
- Fmaj7 b1
- Em7b5 and A7b9 b2
- Dm7 and Db7 b3
- Keep b4
- Keep b5
- Bbm7 and Eb7 b6
- Am7 and D7 b7
- Abm7 and Db7 b8
- Keep b9
- C7 b10
- F and D7 b11
- Keep 12
Blues and lyrics
- Often starts with “woke up this morning” style
- Not “I got a good woman” unless something nasty next line (“With the meanest dog in town”)
- Repeat the first line on the third line
- Rhyming couplets
West end blues
- 20s
- No one’s ever heard a soloist take such command over a piece
- Iconic beginning
- F# in the beginning theme - enharmonically incorrect - should be Gb
Structure west end blues
- Trumpet solo
- Head
- Solo by trombone
- Solo by clarinet and scatting (Louis armstrong)
- Piano solo
Recordings
- Before, people had to tour to get names known
- Louis armstrong got recorded
- Therefore household name and played on radios