Once again an interesting week of listening examples to review.
Though the recording quality of "Castle House Rag" was not stellar, it provided insight into to early days of recording. To put yourself back into that era as a listener it poses interesting questions like how much interpretation did particular listeners do internally while listening to recorded music like this? Did they mentally change the sound to reflect what they assumed it would sound like before hearing it live? Did those who never had a chance to hear music like this live before the mass movement to urban areas have the conceptualizations do even to this? An obviously upbeat and energetic song, I can easily see how this song, in addition to the others in Europe's repetiore could have helped propel this group to popularity. I listened to some other versions including this one by the Crown Syncopators, just so I could get a better feel for what the bass, harmony, and percussion lines were really about since in Europe's recording the percussion was very "boomy" that just stewed everything together burying most of the other lines the majority of the time, especially the bass and harmony lines. This provided a nice clear version to pick out the numerous lines, though most in this version are covered by the piano. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghMBChYGgbA
This interesting version provides another era recording that seems a little clearer, thus making it more of a nice middle ground recording, and it is just a fun listen, you'll see why... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldIxu4XYtLk
I've always enjoyed "Tiger Rag" but this recording opened my eyes a little about the racial segregation of the times and how some groups claiming to be authentic, proclaiming so even within their own group name (the Original Dixieland Jazz Band), while actually providing a slightly watered down version of the product they were peddling to get audiences to support them. Hearing "dipper Mouth Blues" by the Creole Jazz Band and King Joe Oliver was a great compliment in the text to show some of the difference, and I admittedly learned something new in the readings this week when I discovered that he was a mentor to a young Louis Armstrong. Hearing Louis in his early days where he was not the leader and hearing the proficiency of his mentor was fascinating to me.
I feel I have heard "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" before (it's a song that is pretty hard to forget in my estimation with it's unique trumpet growl and somber mysterious feel), but as someone not familiar with jazz, I cannot recall exactly where. I feel as though it might have been in a movie sometime...
The listening examples that helped explained the very simplistic form of Tin Pan Alley songs and demonstrated some early crooners starting with Gene Austin were also enlightening. I find it surprising, even in the age in which he became popular, that he reached the level of success that he did, when by today's standards his vocal skill would be considered average. The clarity of the recording helped I have no doubt, as did his skill to use the relatively new microphone. I find that this trend continues on today, where substandard performers gain enormous popularity just because they know how to market themselves or the producers help them to introduce something new and innovative to audiences, and as long as the quality is "good enough" than the gullible will crave more.
In comparison, I can easily see how Bing Crosby, with the team of Irving Berlin, would gain popularity. A noticeable step up, he was much more elegant with his vocal prowess, adding nuances that are still appreciated today. Maybe it was the result of audiences becoming more educated through Austin's many recordings, that they were ready and able to appreciate Crosby's skill more, but that would not explain why we still go through similar situations in music today. I am not trying to downplay the importance of being a good entertainer, for I find that to be an integral part of performing music, but it still confounds me that this trend of average musical talent becoming so successful.
As for the last two (though one is doubled) recordings of "April Showers" and "I Got Rhythm," I thoroughly enjoyed both. "April Showers" to show how performers (or at least those with ambition) try to reinvent themselves or their songs, or keep things the same because that's what their audiences want. Using the innovation of the microphone to "spice" an old tune up, just a little, I believe is a work of genius, and a process that continues to this day, though today many groups go the other way and perform acoustically, without electronic enhancement, to create the new flavor to their old standards. In both tunes, it is very easy to see how very simple, yet preplanned techniques of syncopation and form, can help to create memorable songs that will appeal to large audiences. This can be very useful in teaching composition to students, and for the upcoming song writing project in this class. These are techniques that I have noticed in many songs I have been listening to on the radio and in this class. AABA form, or a variant of it, is everywhere! One cannot seem to escape Tin Pan Alley song form in popular music, even today, so I would be remiss to ignore that fact when working with students and composing songs myself.
I said it last week and I'll say it again. I hope that all the future listening assignments in upcoming weeks are as interesting as these last two have been, because I certainly believe I am learning a lot, and I find it extremely interesting!
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