Listening Guides

Listening Guide 8.1

Listening Guide 8.2

Listening Guide 8.3

Listening Guide 8.1
"Wrappin' It Up" 4 beats per measure

iTune link = Wrappin' It Up

Analysis of "Wrappin' It Up" (SCCJ, 2/2)

This is a Henderson composition and arrangement recorded in 1934. It is instructive to compare the performing and arranging style in this recording to "The Stampede" (SCCJ, 3/7), a Redman arrangement played by the Henderson band in 1926. The earlier recording uses banjo and tuba and stiffer rhythms all the way around. "Wrappin' It Up" dramatically demonstrates the culmination of a smoother swing style that had evolved during the intervening years.
       "Wrappin' It Up" is a 32-measure form, subdivided into two 16-measure sections. The number opens with a brass figure played in consecutive upbeats and answered in the next two measures by the saxophones. This call-and-response continues through the eight-bar introduction, with the brass and saxes alternating every two bars, then every bar, then finally coming together in the last two bars of the introduction.
       The theme is stated by the saxophones and answered at the end of each phrase by a short, one-note brass figure. In the second eight measures of the theme, the brass answer with a two-note figure. The brass finally join the saxes in the last 16 bars to finish out the theme.
       The next chorus is an alto saxophone solo by Hilton Jefferson. The light sound of the alto is accompanied by soft, sustained brass chords in their middle and low register. The brass figures get a little pushy rhythmically in the last eight bars of the alto solo, but they soon return to their more submissive character.
       The arrangement then builds with a bold trumpet solo by Henry "Red" Allen. The excitement of his solo is enhanced by a background of saxophones playing a busy, repetitive rhythmic figure. Allen's solo is interrupted briefly in the second eight bars of his chorus by an ensemble passage. He then regains the spotlight for the second half. Notice the timbral contrasts evident in the arrangement thus far: a reed solo accompanied by brass, followed by a brass solo accompanied by reeds.
       Following Allen's solo there is a two-bar brass figure that actually extends the 32-bar chorus to 33 bars. This is a lead-in to the brass playing the opening theme that had been played by the saxes. They are answered every two bars by the reed section, now all playing clarinets. With each entrance, the clarinets alternate playing their figure in the high then low register. The second eight bars of the chorus are a clarinet solo with the brass again playing a soft sustained background. The second half of the chorus features the saxophone section in a very demanding eight-bar passage followed by eight bars with the full ensemble that ends the arrangement.

Listening Guide 8.2
"Doggin' Around" 4 beats per measure

iTunes link = Doggin' Around

Analysis of "Doggin' Around" (SCCJ, 2/20)

This recording was made in 1938 and is typical of the riff chart style. It is a 32-bar AABA popular song form. Note that the only prominent ensemble passages are the saxophone section melody at the beginning and the ensemble riff at the very end. The rest of the performance is involved with solo presentations accompanied by occasional ensemble backgrounds.
       After a piano introduction, the saxes play the opening riff, answered by the brass. The B section has no precomposed melody but achieves its contrast from the A theme by featuring an eight-bar solo improvisation, in this case Jack Washington on alto sax; this practice is typical in riff charts. The sax riff finishes the first chorus.
       The second chorus begins with a solo by tenor saxophonist Hershel Evans. Evans's sound is deep and husky, and he adds a wide vibrato to certain notes for emphasis, much as Louis Armstrong did on trumpet. This style of tenor saxophone was established by Coleman Hawkins (1904–1969), star soloist with the Fletcher Henderson orchestra. For contrast on the bridge of the chorus, trumpeter Buck Clayton takes over as soloist, accompanied by the saxes. Jack Washington returns, this time on baritone sax, to finish out the chorus.
       The next chorus is a solo by Basie. Here is a marvelous example of his economical, yet effective style that proves less is more. Basie makes great use of space and silence in his solo, but the few notes he plays are strategically placed to enhance and propel the momentum and excitement of the steady pulse kept by the rhythm section.
       Basie's solo is followed with a tenor saxophone solo by Lester Young (1909–1959). Young's sound was quite different from most of the tenor players of his day; it was based on the softer sound of Frank Trumbauer (Chapter 7). Basie's favorite arrangement format was to pit Young and Evans against each other in tenor battles. Young's cooler character is the perfect follow-up here to Basie's understated approach.
       Young's solo chorus is followed with a drum solo by Jo Jones. Then the arrangement is completed by a brass riff accompanied by an ascending saxophone section line.

Listening Guide 8.3
"Ko-Ko" 4 beats per measure

iTune link = Ko-Ko

Analysis of "Ko-Ko" (SCCJ 3/4)

This recording was made in 1940 during a peak productive period for Ellington. It was also a time that saw the greatest combination of instrumentalists Ellington ever assembled.
       "Ko-Ko" is a blues in E-flat minor, a key that creates a particularly dark quality in the voicing of the chords in the orchestra. It is classified as one of Ellington's "jungle pieces," featuring jungle-style drums by Sonny Greer, exotic chord voicings, savage, stabbing rhythms in the brass, and chantlike melodies.3 The most notable aspect of "Ko-Ko" is that it is a programmatic concert piece, not a dance number, even though it is played with a danceable beat at a danceable tempo.
       The number opens with Sonny Greer's tom-toms and a sustained bass note from Harry Carney's robust baritone sax; together they give the effect of a timpani, or kettledrum. The trombones play a dramatic introduction followed by the first theme. It is played by Juan Tizol on valve trombone; this particular instrument's musical character is plaintive and mysterious.⁴ Tizol is countered by the saxophone section's aggressive answer to his chantlike melodic figures.
       The next solo is also a trombone solo. Usually this would be considered a redundant and poor orchestrational choice, but Ellington knew his trombone section and how different the individuals could sound. This second trombone solo is by "Tricky" Sam Nanton. He played a trombone version of Bubber Miley's plunger style, but his sound took on a strange vocal quality, like someone singing the vowels "Ya Ya." He is playing forcefully in the upper range of his horn, and he is accompanied by two trumpets and one trombone playing short, jagged rhythms and using plunger mutes like Nanton. Beneath that is a more sustained line in the saxophones.
       Ellington builds tension in the next section by compressing the individual brass and saxophone figures from the previous section. Over this he plays dissonant clusters and sweeping scalar lines on his piano, accentuating the savage character of the piece.
       The intensity builds further in the next section with a climbing four-note figure layered in turn by the reeds, trombones, and trumpets, all meeting on an abrupt two-note figure. The shriek of the horns gives way to a two-measure walking figure played by Jimmy Blanton's bass, then the horns return with the same degree of ferocity. The bass and horns continue this exchange for the remainder of this section.
       In the final climactic section, the brass, topped by a screeching clarinet, hold long chords while the saxophones play a busy unison line. The introduction returns, and the piece ends with one more slowly climbing figure from the horns.