Jazz History 4

8/3/2019 Jazz History 4

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4. Tin Pan Alley: The Great

American Songbook


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Overview

This discussion will deal with the development

of Popular Song in the United States and how

it relates to jazz. We will talk about important

Tin Pan Alley composers, and listen to some of

their music in its original form, and then

compare how jazz musicians alter the songs to

fit their personal style.


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The Great American Songbook is ahypothetical construct that seeks to representthe best American songs of the 20th centuryprincipally from Broadway theatre, musical

theatre, and Hollywood musicals, from the1920s to 1960, including dozens of songs ofenduring popularity. The Great AmericanSongbook became (and remains) a vital part of

the repertoire ofjazz musicians, who describesuch songs simply as "jazz standards".


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Tin Pan Alley

Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the

collection ofNew York City music publishers

and songwriters who dominated the popular

music of the United States in the late 19th

century and early 20th century. The name

originally referred to a specific place: West

28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue inManhattan(there was a Tin Pan Alley in

London also)


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The start of Tin Pan Alley is usually dated to

about 1885, when a number of musicpublishers set up shop in the same district ofManhattan. The end of Tin Pan Alley is lessclear cut. Some date it to the start of the

Great Depression in the 1930s when thephonograph and radio supplanted sheet musicas the driving force of American popularmusic, while others consider Tin Pan Alley to

have continued into the 1950s when earlierstyles of American popular music wereupstaged by the rise ofrock & roll.


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Called Tin Pan Alley because of the noise of

all the songpluggers playing simultaneously Songplugger-pianist who played tunes all day

in order to sell them

Before the invention of Radio, songs weredeemed successful by sheet music sales

Middle class tended to have pianos in their

home as entertainment

Music was only marketed towards adults


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Play One Froggy Evening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRnX4quv

5W4


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The Frog Sang..

Hello My Baby by Howard and Emerson, 1899

Come Back To Erin, by Claribel,1866

Im Just Wild About Harry by Noble Sissle and EubieBlake, 1921

Michigan Rag, was actually written for the cartoon

Throw Him Down, McCloskey, by John W. Kelly, 1890

Wont You Come Over To My House, Williams and VanAlstyne, 1906

Please Dont Talk About Me When Im Gone Largo Al Factotum, Clare, Stept, and Palmer, 1930


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Hello My Baby by Howard and Emerson, 1899, is

listed as a Coon Song


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Coon songs were a genre of music popular inthe United States and around the English-speaking world from 1880 to 1920, thatpresented a racist and stereotyped image ofblacks.

By the mid-1880s, coon songs were a nationalcraze; over 600 such songs were published inthe 1890s. The most successful songs soldmillions of copies. To take advantage of the

fad, composers "add[ed] words typical of coonsongs to previously published songs and rags."


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Coon songs, ironically, contributed to the

development and acceptance of authenticAfrican-American music. Elements from coon

songs were incorporated into turn-of-the-

century African American folk songs, as was

revealed by Howard W. Odum's 1906-1908ethnomusicology fieldwork. Similarly, coon

songs lyrics influenced the vocabulary of the

blues, culminating with Bessie Smith's singingin the 1920s


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Excerpt from Racism in Music Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9SYedvz

Os0


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Georges Top 10 Tin Pan Alley

Composers

1. Stephen Foster(July 4, 1826 January 13, 1864)

2. W.C. Handy(November 16, 1873 March 28, 1958)

3. Cole Porter(June 9, 1891 October 15, 1964)

4. George Gershwin(September 26, 1898 July 11, 1937)

5. Irving Berlin(May 11, 1888 September 22, 1989)

6. Jerome Kern(January 27, 1885 November 11, 1945)

7. Johnny Green(10 October 1908 15 May 1989)

8. Johnny Mercer(November 18, 1909 June 25, 1976)

9. Fats Waller(May 21, 1904 December 15, 1943)

10. Richard Rogers (1902 1979) and Oscar Hammerstein (1895

1960)


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Stephen Foster


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Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 January

13, 1864), known as the "father of American

music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in theUnited States of the 19th century. His songs

such as "Oh! Susanna", "Camptown Races",

"Old Folks at Home" ("Swanee River"), "HardTimes Come Again No More", "My Old

Kentucky Home", "Old Black Joe", "Jeanie with

the Light Brown Hair", and "Beautiful

Dreamer" remain popular over 150 years

after their composition.


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Camptown Races

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4NVg8i8i

1Y


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My Old Kentucky Home

sung by Paul Robeson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yQu0sFy

kbw&feature=related


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W.C. Handy


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William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 March 28, 1958) was a blues composer andmusician. He was widely known as the "Father ofthe Blues".

Handy remains among the most influential ofAmerican songwriters. Though he was one of

many musicians who played the distinctivelyAmerican form of music known as the blues, he iscredited with giving it its contemporary form.While Handy was not the first to publish music inthe blues form, he took the blues from a regionalmusic style with a limited audience to one of thedominant national forces in American music.


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St. Louis Blues played by W.C. Handy Orchestra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmFUXYa

ZIMk

Sung by Bessie Smith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Who6fT

HJ34


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St. Louis Blues played by Herbie

Hancock and Stevie Wonder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lkg8mBF

jEA


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Cole Porter


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Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 October 15,1964) was an American composer and

songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana,he defied the wishes of his domineeringgrandfather and took up music as a profession.Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical

theatre. After a slow start, he began to achievesuccess in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he wasone of the major songwriters for the Broadwaymusical stage. Unlike most successful Broadway

composers, Porter wrote both the lyrics and themusic for his songs.


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Cole Porter Songs played by Jazz

Musicians include. All Of You

Begin The Beguine

Easy To Love

Every Time We Say Goodbye

Everything I Love

From This Moment On

Get Out Of Town

I Concentrate On You

I Get A Kick Out Of You

I Love You

Its All Right With Me

Just One Of Those Things

Night And Day

Love For Sale

So In Love

You Do Something To Me

Youd Be So Nice To Come Home To


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What Is This Thing Called Love?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px9eULbu

gLE&feature=fvsr

A very straight version


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What Is This Thing by Charlie Parker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjouVLwyz

C4&feature=related


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George Gershwin


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George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 July 11, 1937) wasan American composer and pianist.[1][2] Gershwin'scompositions spanned both popular and classical genres,

and his most popular melodies are widely known. Amonghis best known works are the orchestral compositionsRhapsody in Blue (1924) andAn American in Paris (1928),as well as the opera, Porgy and Bess (1935).

He wrote most of his vocal and theatrical works, including

more than a dozen Broadway shows, in collaboration withhis elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin. George Gershwincomposed music for both Broadway and the classicalconcert hall, as well as popular songs that brought his workto an even wider public. His compositions have been usedin numerous films and on television, and many became jazz

standards recorded in numerous variations. Countlesssingers and musicians have recorded Gershwin songs.


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Gershwin Tunes That Jazz Musicians

play include. But Not For Me

Embraceable You

A Foggy Day

I Got Rhythm

I Loves You Porgy

Lady Be Good

Our Love Is Here To Stay

SWonderful

Somebody Loves Me

Strike Up The Band

Summertime

They Cant Take That Away From Me

Who Cares?


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But Not For Me sung by Sarah Vaughn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JamLxPjX

MpE&feature=related

Features the verse as well as the chorus


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But Not For Me with Trane Changes


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Irving Berlin


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Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 September 22,1989) was an American composer and lyricist of

Jewish heritage, widely considered one of thegreatest songwriters in American history.

Wrote hundreds of songs, legend before he was30, total of 1500 songs in his 60 year career

Composer George Gershwin called him "thegreatest songwriter that has ever lived", andcomposer Jerome Kern concluded that "IrvingBerlin has noplace in American musiche isAmerican music."


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Famous Songs of Irving Berlin include..

Alexanders Ragtime Band

The Best Thing For You

Blue Skies

Cheek To Cheek God Bless America

How Deep Is The Ocean

Remember

They Say Its Wonderful

White Christmas


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Remember-song by Al Jolson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8_E4_y

RU7Q


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Remember as played by Hank Mobley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wylto0E63

Q8

From Soulstation, with Wynton Kelly, Paul

Chambers, Art Blakey


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Jerome Kern


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Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885

November 11, 1945) was an American composer

ofmusical theatre and popular music. One of the

most important American theatre composers of

the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700

songs, used in over 100 stage works, includingsuch classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help

Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets

in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way

You Look Tonight", "Long Ago (and Far Away)"and "Who?".


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Jerome Kern tunes popular with

jazzmen include.. All The Things You Are

Dearly Beloved

A Fine Romance

Im Old Fashioned

In Love In Vain

Long Ago and Far Away

Old Man River

Pick Yourself Up

Nobody Else But Me

The Song Is You

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes The Way You Look Tonight

Yesterdays


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All The Things You Are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srvOsegTh

JA&feature=related

Sung by Barbara Streisand

With the verse and the chorus


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All The Things You Are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANaiDSLy

yMY

Keith Jarrett Trio with Gary Peacock and Jack

DeJohnette


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Johnny Green


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Johnny Green (10 October 1908 15 May 1989)was an American songwriter, composer, musical

arranger, and conductorHis most famous songwas one of his earliest, "Body and Soul". He hadstarted his professional life as a stockbroker,pushed into it by his father, but he hated it and

left to pursue music. After 1933 he had his own orchestra which he

used to play around the country. He also, until1940, conducted orchestras for the Jack Benny

and Philip Morris records and radio shows.


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Body and Soul

"Body and Soul" is a popular song written in

1930 with lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert

Sour and Frank Eyton; and music by Johnny

Green.


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Body And Soul..

Arguably the most recorded jazz tune of all time

Written for Gertrude Lawrence in London in 1930

Made popular in the U.S. by torch singer Libby

Holman in Threes A Crowd. The lyrics, from the point of view of someone

throwing themselves romantically at someonewho is uninterested, was consideredcontroversial at the time, and the lyrics had to bere-written on the spot.


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Libby Holman sings Body And Soul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlzdNn4h

RBM


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Note: This version includes what is known as

the verse, which is usually played before the

chorus, which is the most recognizable part of

the song. In jazz, playing the verse of Tin Pan

Alley songs has slowly fallen out of favor, and

with the exception of some older players, hasbecome a lost art. The verse and chorus idea

is comparable to the recitative and aria of

European opera.


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Ruth Ettings version with different

lyrics!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34IeErbNS

vM


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Among the most famous of these is the take

recorded by Coleman Hawkins and His

Orchestra on October 11, 1939, at their only

recording session for Bluebird, a subsidiary of

RCA Victor. The recording is unusual in that

the song's melody is never directly stated inthe recording; Hawkins' two-choruses of

improvisation on the tune's chord progression

constitute almost the entire take.


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Coleman Hawkins plays Body And Soul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUFg6Hvlj

DE&feature=related


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Body and Soul played by John Coltrane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtr4XQGc

SDY&feature=related


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Johnny Mercer


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John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer (November 18, 1909 June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter and

singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he alsocomposed music. He was also a popular singer whorecorded his own songs as well as those written byothers. From the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s,

many of the songs Mercer wrote and performed wereamong the most popular hits of the time. He wrote thelyrics to more than fifteen hundred songs, includingcompositions for movies and Broadway shows. Hereceived nineteen Academy Award nominations, and

won four. Mercer was also a co-founder ofCapitolRecords.


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Johnny Mercer songs a jazz player

might know.. Autumn Leaves (with Joseph Kozma)

Blues in The Night(with Harold Arlen)

Bye Bye Baby

Charade (from the famous 1963 film)

Come Rain Or Come Shine(with Harold Arlen)

Days of Wine And Roses(with Henri Mancini Dearly Beloved(with Jerome Kern)

Everything Happens To Me(with Hoagy Carmichael)

Fools Rush In

Goody Goody

I Remember You

I Thought About You Im An Old Cowhand

Laura


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Autumn Leaves sung in French by Nat

King Cole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlC-

tT5ukrg


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Autumn Leaves played by Bill Evans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiew8O8B

LlY&feature=related

Scott LaFaro: Bass

Paul Motian: Drums


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Fats Waller


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Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 December 15,

1943), born ThomasW

rightW

aller, was ajazzpianist, organist, composer, singer, and

comedic entertainer. He was the youngest of

four children born to Adaline Locket Waller

and the Reverend Edward Martin Waller.


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Wrote around 400 songs, sold many of them for cheapdue to money problems

Learned how to play stride by watching a player piano.Pianist James P. Johnson encouraged him to getclassical lessons

Johnson took him around to rent parties and cuttingcontests around Harlem, where Waller became one of

the top stride pianists Collaborated frequently with friend Andy Razaf

Wanted to do more serious music, but had a comedicnature and was always encouraged to be humorous

Had tremendous appetite for food, died of pneumoniaon a train in 1943 at the age of 39


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Wow..

His playing once put him at risk of injury. Waller waskidnapped in Chicago leaving a performance in 1926.Four men bundled him into a car and took him to theHawthorne Inn, owned by gangsterAl Capone. Fatswas ordered inside the building, and found a party in

full swing. Gun to his back, he was pushed towards a

piano, and told to play. A terrified Waller realized hewas the "surprise guest" at Al Capone's birthday party,and took comfort that the gangsters didn't intend to killhim. According to rumor, Waller played for three days.When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk,

extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars incash from Capone and other party-goers as tips.


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Fats Waller tunes likely to be played by jazz

musicians include..

Honeysuckle Rose

Aint Misbehavin

Jitterbug Waltz Keeping Out Of Mischief Now

The Joint Is Jumping


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I Want Some Seafood, Mama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-

CdtZmJg9w

Example of a novelty type song


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Honeysuckle Rose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYA3caFNv

LQ&feature=related

f


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Oscar Petersons version of

Honeysuckle Rose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWnpazgI

MLI&feature=related


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Rogers and Hammerstein


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Richard Rodgers (1902 1979) and OscarHammerstein II (1895 1960) were a well-known

American songwriting duo, usually referred to asRodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string ofpopular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950sduring what is considered the golden age of themedium. With Rodgers composing the music and

Hammerstein writing the lyrics, five of their shows,Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I andThe Sound of Music, were outstanding successes. In all,among the many accolades that their shows (and theirfilm versions) garnered were thirty-four Tony Awards,fifteen Academy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and twoGrammys.

J l i h l


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Jazz players might play:

My Favorite Things

It Might As Well Be Spring

Hello Young Lovers Surrey With The Fringe on Top

Shall We Dance

Happy Talk This Nearly Was Mine


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My Favorite Things

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eaGxLZrL

uk&feature=related

Julie Andrews from The Sound Of Music


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My Favorite Things by John Coltrane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQsvMf8X

0FY

With McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, and Elvin

Jones


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The Brill Building


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The Brill Building is an office building locatedat 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the

Manhattan borough ofNew York City, justnorth ofTimes Square and further uptownfrom the historic musical Tin Pan Alleyneighborhood. It is famous for housing music

industry offices and studios where some ofthe most popular American music tunes werewritten. The building has been described as"the most important generator of popularsongs in the Western world."[3]


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Overlaps with the Tin Pan Alley era

Building owners started renting to music

publishers after 1931, generated lots of

popular material during the Big Band era and

also between the 50s and the 60s

Vertically integrated in that songwriters couldgo from writing the song to having a hit using

the resources within the building

By 1962 the Brill Building contained 165 musicbusinesses

A ti t i t d ith th B ill


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Artists associated with the Brill

Building

Burt Bacharach and Hal David

Neil Diamond

Laura Nyro

Paul Simon

Phil Spector

Bobby Darin

Tony Orlando

Carole King


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Among the hundreds of hits written by this

group are "Yakety Yak" (Leiber-Stoller), "Save

the Last Dance for Me" (Pomus-Shuman), "TheLook of Love" (Bacharach-David), "Breaking Up

Is Hard to Do" (Sedaka-Greenfield), "Devil in

Disguise" (Giant-Baum-Kaye), "The Loco-Motion" (Goffin-King), "We Gotta Get Out of

This Place" (Mann-Weil) and "River Deep,

Mountain High" (Spector-Greenwich-Barry).


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"The music business is a cruel and shallow

money trench, a long plastic hallway where

thieves and pimps run free, and good men die

like dogs. There's also a negative side." -

Hunter S. Thompson


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Debatable?

It is difficult to determine if songwriters from

the latter half of the 20th century will fit into

the Great American Songbook canon. For

many, the Songbook era ended with rock androll.

Why would songs from the beginning of Rock

and Roll to Today not fit into thiscategorization?


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The Great American Songbook is not

closed.-Vanessa Rubin, jazz singer Jazz Musicians lately are taking everything

from Beatles tunes to Stevie Wonder,

Motown, Nirvana, and even Britney Spearstunes. What makes a tune work in a jazz

context and what makes it not worth the

effort?

Documents

Jazz History 4