Cécile McLorin Salvant (+pop/blues/jazz)

Who is Salvants jazz trio?

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”

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