Books And Records
Published: Fri, 09/01/23
I'm about nine episodes into Hickey's podcast so far, and am particularly delighted that he starts his history in 1938, the better to locate early sightings of such familiar rock essentials as the backbeat, the riff, and electrified instrumentation in genres like boogie woogie, big band jazz and western swing. It's a compelling approach, and one that has already hipped me to many records and artists I previously had only heard of, not actually listened to (viz., vocal groups like the Mills Brothers) while shedding surprising light on some artists I thought I knew my way around (I had no idea Louis Jordan got his start with the Chick Webb orchestra, recording hipster duets with a young Ella Fitzgerald, no less).
And while making his persuasive case for each record, Hickey discusses both the musicians and other people involved, their era and milieu, and various related recordings in considerable detail. Which is all to the good, and so absorbing that I am routinely surprised an episode is coming to an end after a mere twenty-five or thirty minutes. Initially, I did find myself wondering about the central premise more than a little – that all roads lead to rock 'n' roll, more or less. It seemed like selecting the evidence to suit the conclusion, implying that these various genres are not so much worthwhile on their own terms, but rather for what they contributed to the ultimate triumph of the one true music.
But I'm beginning to realize that in thinking that, I was perhaps doing Hickey a disservice. He seems an extremely thoughtful individual who clearly does his research, loves and admires the work he's discussing, and does an admirable job navigating the Scylla and Charybdis of racism and mysogyny awaiting anyone taking more than a cursory look into the culture and business of making music in twentieth century America. So maybe it's just my own hangup, as far as where all this is heading. There are certainly already plenty of people talking about how jazz, country and r&b continued develop as their own distinct genres, and when it comes to jazz in particular it is fascinating to see up close just how the slow morph from big band arrangements to smaller jump blues bands to early rock 'n' roll actually took place.
And as Nate Wilcox has pointed out more than once in his fine podcast, Let It Roll, Charlie Parker and Louis Jordan can be seen as a kind of definitive split in postwar jazz, with Parker's art-music aesthetic edging Jordan's more entertainment-oriented approach almost entirely out of the jazz canon. There's clearly an argument to be made that Jordan's more direct improvisation style, jive storytelling and stripped down, riff-oriented arrangements, while of no apparent use to the Bird-besotted jazz landscape of the early 1950s, was a major tributary to the rhythm and blues sound that, by the same era, was already rock 'n' roll in all but name only. So while more or less written off by jazzers of the bebop persuasion and beyond, Jordan in various ways inspired everyone from a young, sophisticated urban bluesman like B.B. King, to white musicians like Bill Haley, and no doubt had a lot to do with the sly humor and rock 'n' roll storytelling of songwriters like Chuck Berry and Leiber & Stoller as well. Depending on how you feel about rock music generally, you could do a lot worse in the legacy department.
--
Speaking of jazz and blues, later this month I'll be offering the first of three new Reliable Source workshops. This fall's series is all about minor blues: first, how to apply Freddie Green chords and chord substitutions to a minor blues chord progression; next, how to add swing and bebop licks to your minor blues soloing vocabulary, and finally, how to combine single-note and Kenny Burrell-style chord-melody licks while improvising on a minor blues.
Dates and details are coming soon; in the meantime, today's Youtube lesson will show you how to transform the first four bars of a twelve-bar minor blues using Freddie Green voicings. You can find it at the link below:
Expand Your Minor Blues Chord Vocabulary With These Freddie Green Chord Substitutions
More soon,
David
Whether you want to learn to improvise, play complete songs or just get your right-hand coordination together, the clear, organized lessons in the Fingerstyle Five membership can help you play better fingerstyle blues. Learn more and sign up at https://www.fretboardconfidential.com/