 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-06-20 07:36
I've heard examples of dixieland. We have a dixieland piece in a community band that I'm in. And I was wondering if most of it is written out. It SOUNDS like each instrument is improving over one another and sounding great, but I'm wondering if it's just clever 'improve-style' composing with a break here or there for ACTUAL improv. Am I about correct on this?
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Rick Williams
Date: 2004-06-20 11:50
It depends. I play in a Dixieland group and the vast majority of our music is written out. That said, most of the music will have sections for improv. A good example of this is Livery Stables Blues which has two repeating sections, one marked ad-lib and the other marked as written on our arrangement.
Our group certainly isn't professional so we tend to stick pretty close to what is written down but the music lends itself to improvisation and with good musicians you can take a theme and run with it all over the place. Just listen to Pete Fountain with Basin Street Blues or Darktown Strutters Ball.
The fun part of Dixieland, for me at least, is that the clarinet is so prominant. The melody might easily be carried by the trombone or trumpet while the clarinet is dancing all over the place and then switch quickly to where the clarinet is carrying the melody with one of the other instruments adding accents. Unlike the way jazz has stripped the clarinet of its place; "if it ain't got a clarinet, it ain't Dixieland!"...BG
Out of curiosity, what is the piece and arrangment your community band plays?
Hope this helps.
RW
Best
Rick
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-06-20 14:14
Yes, Alexi, many "arrangements", compilations, some solos by well-known players are written out for us semi-pros, and more simplified for school Jazz/Dixie band playing. Some of the best groups, Preservation Hall, P F, Hirt, Doreen, Condon etc, etc, either know both the lead line and chords/key, ?order of perf.?, or like I did [4 + piece combo] have a list of tune names and playable keys to select from. The usual problem/question with "ballads" was "how does the bridge go". At times our vocalists would sing the bridges to us to "keep it going" and under control. We "weekend warriors" tried to produce "cool jazz" and 3 chord blues as well as others like One O'Clock, String, Stardust [in 5], my pianist never did get all of those chords right !! Ah memories ! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2004-06-20 22:51
Hi,
I had a church gig at a local Baptist church a few weeks ago. The choir needed a clarinet player for the John Rutter arrangement of the Saints go Marching In which has parts for trombone, clarinet, and rhythm. The notes were written out but I did not care much for the style (so I asked the director if it was OK to do a little ad libitum and she agreed). I kept things very close to the original though.
As all that have played that tune know, the chords are very simple but in the arrangement, there are three or four key changes as I recall. Very straight-forward though. IMHO, I believe my "spin" was much better than the written part as the written solo did not have a lot of the St. Louis/Chicago style dixieland feel that I normally play. The gig (sorry, the service) went great.
When I was working regularly with a Dixieland band some years ago (we worked one club every Wednesday night for 3 years), we had very few arrangements. The trombone player was a great arranger but for the most part, it was "arrangements while you wait" on the stand. All of us in the group had played with each other in that band as well as in other groups so we pretty much knew/sensed what was going to happen. Couple that familiarity with some of the typical dixieland cliches and styles and you have what can easily pass for an arrangement. The amazing thing though was what we did was pretty much repeatable at a later date ("hey, remember how we did .... two weeks ago ......).
IMHO good jazz/dixieland players usually have an incredible memory band of tunes previously played or heard and can do them pretty much on command. Music not often needed although a lead sheet and chords is always helpful.
HRL
Post Edited (2004-06-21 11:59)
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Author: allencole
Date: 2004-06-21 15:40
Dixieland can be entirely improvised, but this is primarily done by musicians who are intimate with the style, and who understand each instrument's role in the ensemble.
There are several sets of book available for 4 horns (generally an optional tenor sax) and three rhythm, and they may be advisable in cases where you have good musicians, but they aren't sufficiently familiar with the style or the repertoire. One is published by the same folks as the Hungry Five books, and another--possibly Zip Messner's--is availalbe from Hal Leonard.
An Army band in my area operates its dixieland unit in this way. Not terribly exciting to me, but it gets the job done--and apparently using Army arrangements as opposed to the commercial books already available.
The big bands are largely a result of writing out traditional jazz parts, and there is a pretty amusing movie about Red Nichols starring Danny Kaye in which the lead character's dream is to write down on paper the best dixieland performances so that they can be done over and over and over...
Kinda scary, but there you have it.
Allen Cole
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