4.

Tin Pan Alley: The Great American Songbook

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 it s original form, and then compare how jazz musicians alter the songs to fit their personal style.

 The Great American Songbook is a hypothetical construct that seeks to represent the best American songs of the 20th century principally from Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musicals, from the 1920s to 1960, including dozens of songs of enduring popularity. The Great American Songbook became (and remains) a vital part of the repertoire of jazz musicians, who describe such songs simply as "jazz standards".

Tin Pan Alley

Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New 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 in Manhattan(there was a Tin Pan Alley in London also )

 The start of Tin Pan Alley is usually dated to about 1885, when a number of music publishers set up shop in the same district of Manhattan. The end of Tin Pan Alley is less clear cut. Some date it to the start of the Great Depression in the 1930s when the phonograph and radio supplanted sheet music as the driving force of American popular music, while others consider Tin Pan Alley to have continued into the 1950s when earlier styles of American popular music were upstaged by the rise of rock & roll.

 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 were deemed successful by sheet music sales Middle class tended to have pianos in their home as entertainment Music was only marketed towards adults

Play One Froggy Evening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRnX4quv 5W4

The Frog Sang ..

Hello My Baby by Howard and Emerson, 1899 Come Back To Erin , by Claribel,1866 I m Just Wild About Harry by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, 1921 Michigan Rag , was actually written for the cartoon Throw Him Down, McCloskey , by John W. Kelly, 1890 Won t You Come Over To My House , Williams and Van Alstyne, 1906 Please Don t Talk About Me When I m Gone Largo Al Factotum , Clare, Stept, and Palmer, 1930

Hello My Baby by Howard and Emerson, 1899, is listed as a Coon Song

 Coon songs were a genre of music popular in the United States and around the Englishspeaking world from 1880 to 1920, that presented a racist and stereotyped image of blacks. By the mid-1880s, coon songs were a national craze; over 600 such songs were published in the 1890s. The most successful songs sold millions of copies. To take advantage of the fad, composers "add[ed] words typical of coon songs to previously published songs and rags."

 Coon songs, ironically, contributed to the development and acceptance of authentic African-American music. Elements from coon songs were incorporated into turn-of-thecentury African American folk songs, as was revealed by Howard W. Odum's 1906-1908 ethnomusicology fieldwork. Similarly, coon songs lyrics influenced the vocabulary of the blues, culminating with Bessie Smith's singing in the 1920s

Excerpt from Racism in Music Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9SYedvz Os0

George s 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)

Stephen Foster

 Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 January 13, 1864), known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century. His songs such as "Oh! Susanna", "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home" ("Swanee River"), "Hard Times 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.

Camptown Races
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4NVg8i8i 1Y

My Old Kentucky Home sung by Paul Robeson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yQu0sFy kbw&feature=related

W.C. Handy

 William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 March 28, 1958) was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues". Handy remains among the most influential of American songwriters. Though he was one of many musicians who played the distinctively American form of music known as the blues, he is credited with giving it its contemporary form. While Handy was not the first to publish music in the blues form, he took the blues from a regional music style with a limited audience to one of the dominant national forces in American music.

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

St. Louis Blues played by Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder

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

Cole Porter

 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 domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre. After a slow start, he began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway musical stage. Unlike most successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote both the lyrics and the music for his songs.

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 It s All Right With Me Just One Of Those Things Night And Day Love For Sale So In Love You Do Something To Me You d Be So Nice To Come Home To

What Is This Thing Called Love?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px9eULbu gLE&feature=fvsr

A very straight version

What Is This Thing by Charlie Parker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjouVLwyz C4&feature=related

George Gershwin

 George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist.[1][2] Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known. Among his best known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An 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 with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin. George Gershwin composed music for both Broadway and the classical concert hall, as well as popular songs that brought his work to an even wider public. His compositions have been used in numerous films and on television, and many became jazz standards recorded in numerous variations. Countless singers and musicians have recorded Gershwin songs.

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 S Wonderful Somebody Loves Me Strike Up The Band Summertime They Can t Take That Away From Me Who Cares?

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

But Not For Me with Trane Changes

Irving Berlin

 Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 September 22, 1989) was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history. Wrote hundreds of songs, legend before he was 30, total of 1500 songs in his 60 year career Composer George Gershwin called him "the greatest songwriter that has ever lived", and composer Jerome Kern concluded that "Irving Berlin has no place in American music he is American music."

Famous Songs of Irving Berlin include ..

Alexander s Ragtime Band The Best Thing For You Blue Skies Cheek To Cheek God Bless America How Deep Is The Ocean Remember They Say It s Wonderful White Christmas

Remember-song by Al Jolson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8_E4_y RU7Q

Remember as played by Hank Mobley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wylto0E63 Q8 From Soulstation , with Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Art Blakey

Jerome Kern

 Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical 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, including such 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?".

Jerome Kern tunes popular with jazzmen include ..

All The Things You Are Dearly Beloved A Fine Romance I m 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 Get s In Your Eyes The Way You Look Tonight Yesterdays

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

All The Things You Are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANaiDSLy yMY Keith Jarrett Trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette

Johnny Green

 Johnny Green (10 October 1908 15 May 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, and conductorHis most famous song was one of his earliest, "Body and Soul". He had started 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, until 1940, conducted orchestras for the Jack Benny and Philip Morris records and radio shows.

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.

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 Three s A Crowd . The lyrics, from the point of view of someone throwing themselves romantically at someone who is uninterested, was considered controversial at the time, and the lyrics had to be re-written on the spot.

Libby Holman sings Body And Soul

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

 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, has become a lost art. The verse and chorus idea is comparable to the recitative and aria of European opera.

Ruth Etting s version with different lyrics!

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

 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 in the recording; Hawkins' two-choruses of improvisation on the tune's chord progression constitute almost the entire take.

Coleman Hawkins plays Body And Soul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUFg6Hvlj DE&feature=related

Body and Soul played by John Coltrane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtr4XQGc SDY&feature=related

Johnny Mercer

 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 also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others. From the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s, many of the songs Mercer wrote and performed were among the most popular hits of the time. He wrote the lyrics to more than fifteen hundred songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Academy Award nominations, and won four. Mercer was also a co-founder of Capitol Records.

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 I m An Old Cowhand Laura

Autumn Leaves sung in French by Nat King Cole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlCtT5ukrg

Autumn Leaves played by Bill Evans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiew8O8B LlY&feature=related

Scott LaFaro: Bass Paul Motian: Drums

Fats Waller

 Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 December 15, 1943), born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer. He was the youngest of four children born to Adaline Locket Waller and the Reverend Edward Martin Waller.

 Wrote around 400 songs, sold many of them for cheap due to money problems Learned how to play stride by watching a player piano. Pianist James P. Johnson encouraged him to get classical lessons Johnson took him around to rent parties and cutting contests 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 comedic nature and was always encouraged to be humorous Had tremendous appetite for food, died of pneumonia on a train in 1943 at the age of 39

Wow ..
His playing once put him at risk of injury. Waller was kidnapped in Chicago leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by gangster Al Capone. Fats was 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 he was the "surprise guest" at Al Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters didn't intend to kill him. 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 in cash from Capone and other party-goers as tips.

Fats Waller tunes likely to be played by jazz musicians include ..

Honeysuckle Rose Ain t Misbehavin Jitterbug Waltz Keeping Out Of Mischief Now The Joint Is Jumping

I Want Some Seafood, Mama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCdtZmJg9w

Example of a novelty type song

Honeysuckle Rose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYA3caFNv LQ&feature=related

Oscar Peterson s version of Honeysuckle Rose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWnpazgI MLI&feature=related

Rogers and Hammerstein

 Richard Rodgers (1902 1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 1960) were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium. With Rodgers composing the music and Hammerstein writing the lyrics, five of their shows, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music, were outstanding successes. In all, among the many accolades that their shows (and their film versions) garnered were thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and two Grammys.

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

My Favorite Things
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eaGxLZrL uk&feature=related Julie Andrews from The Sound Of Music

My Favorite Things by John Coltrane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQsvMf8X 0FY

With McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, and Elvin Jones

The Brill Building

 The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the Manhattan borough of New York City, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It is famous for housing music industry offices and studios where some of the most popular American music tunes were written. The building has been described as "the most important generator of popular songs in the Western world."[3]

 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 50 s and the 60 s Vertically integrated in that songwriters could go from writing the song to having a hit using the resources within the building By 1962 the Brill Building contained 165 music businesses

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

 Among the hundreds of hits written by this group are "Yakety Yak" (Leiber-Stoller), "Save the Last Dance for Me" (Pomus-Shuman), "The Look of Love" (Bacharach-David), "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (Sedaka-Greenfield), "Devil in Disguise" (Giant-Baum-Kaye), "The LocoMotion" (Goffin-King), "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" (Mann-Weil) and "River Deep, Mountain High" (Spector-Greenwich-Barry).

 "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

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 and roll. Why would songs from the beginning of Rock and Roll to Today not fit into this categorization?

 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 Spears tunes. What makes a tune work in a jazz context and what makes it not worth the effort?