Cécile McLorin Salvant (+pop/blues/jazz)

Who is Salvants jazz trio?

Aaron Diehl- piano

Lawrence Leathers- drums

Paul Sikivie- double bass

Trolley song - written for what film and singer

1944 “meet me in St Louis” Judy Garland

Trolley song - bpm and metre

≈145bpm, 4/4 metre

Trolley song - structure

32 bar song form with AABA refrain

Trolley song - what replaces the second bridge in Garlands original?

Piano solo (Aaron Diehl)

Trolley song - describe the rhythms

rhythmically complex, train-like drum rhythms, syncopation and cross rhythms

Trolley song - how does Salvant imitate Judy Garland

exaggerated vibrato and portamento, fluttering between “lost my heart instead”

Trolley song - vocal techniques

off pitch “buzz buzz buzz”, same pitch “clang clang clang”, word painting on “fell”, sustained consonants eg. “yen” “ten”

Trolley song - what happens at 2:25

Salvant has clearer diction and distinct “t” and consonant sounds, to match with change in accompaniment (more hi-hat dominated)

Trolley song - what key is it in and what key was the original

Salvant’s - Bb major, Judy Garland’s - A major

Wives and Lovers - who wrote the original and who sung it

Burt Bacharach and Hal David, sung by Jack Jones

Wives and Lovers - what is the original time signature, and what does Salvant change it to

original - 3/4 Salvant changes it to 4/4

Wives and Lovers - how long are the verses and in what phrasing

16 bars in 4 bar phrases

Wives and Lovers - how long is the chorus and in what phrasing

11 bars in two 4 bar phrases, and an irregular 3 bar phrase

Wives and Lovers - Salvants vocals

Range of tonal colour and decorations, eg. grace notes and auxilary notes

Wives and Lovers - words “dont” and “run” (vocals)

anticipation on “dont” and “run”. “dont” is louder and sudden, like a warning. “run” seems to be put on end of previous phrase, making it its own warning

Wives and Lovers - what is Salvants key in and what key is the original in

Salvants in C major, original in Eb major

Wives and Lovers - harmony

complex harmonies, with added note chords (often 5ths and 9ths), chord subsitutions. Pedal notes (often dominant pedals) and slash chords also frequent

What’s the matter now? - what is special about the instrumentals

early 20th century New Orleans style of accompaniment

What’s the matter now? - what happens to the chords during the chorus?

Stop chords at “whats the matter now”

What’s the matter now? - vocal technique at “whats the matter now”

vocal slide on “now”

What’s the matter now? - what scales is the melodic material based on

Bb blues scale, major 3rd also often used, giving it a pentatonic flavour

Whats’s the matter now? - what key is salvants version and the original in

both versions in Bb throughout whole piece

Le Mal de Vivre - who wrote the original and where were they from

Barbara, a famous French singer and actor

What does Le Mal de Vivre translate to?

“the pain of life”

Le Mal de Vivre - melody and vocals

melody rhythmically flexible, often reflecting natural rhythms of speech

Le Mal de Vivre - accompaniment

at very beginning vocals enter alone, then joined by simple piano accompaniment (block chord every bar). Piano accompaniment increases in complexity and bass and drums with brushes are added after verse 4

Le Mal de Vivre - what is significant about the keys of verses and choruses

verses and choruses are in unrelated keys (verses Fm, choruses Em) with no modulations between them, creating unsettling feel from abrupt change in key

Le Mal de Vivre - harmony

choruses and verses follow circle of fifths, using secondary dominants creating significant pull between one chord and the next (relentlessness of life).

several chords extended by 7ths or 9ths and some ar articulated in inversion

Le Mal de Vivre - what is the outro influence by and why

Heavily influence by Baroque, likely homage to Jacques Loussier who was a contemporary of Barbara

Le Mal de Vivre - outro

piece ends in a protracted plagal cadence, with an extended trill on piano and finally a tierce de picardie. Unexpected major chord is like light at the end of the tunnel - hope.

delta blues

from mississipi, delta

8-bar blues, intimate, guitar and harmonica (sometimes)

piedmont blues

virginia, florida, georgia

quicker, syncopated, rag-time, finger-picked guitar

texas blues

improvised guitar melodies, closer to jazz in swung rhythms

memphis blues

cheerful, syncopated style, suitable for dancing

name 5 early blues queens (1920s-30s)

Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Marion Harris

when did bebop first emerge

1940s

bebop performers

Dizzy Gilespi (trumpet), Charlie Parker (sax), Thelonious Monk

features of bebop

fast furious passages, improvisations, irregular phrases and accents, chromatic dissonant chords, “challenging” to listen to

what are the chords of rhythm changes

I - vi - ii - V (1,6,2,5)

where was Tin Pan Alley, and from roughly when

New York, early 20th century

examples of 1930s-40s big bands

• Old testament Count Basie band

• Bennie Goodman band (played clarinet)

• Tommy Doresey Orchestra (played trombone very high often)

• Duke Ellington orchestra

examples of 1950s-60s big bands

• New testament Basie Band

• Ellington orchestra (later)

• Nelson Riddle orchestra (Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald)