History of Jazz: Analysis of Popular Jazz Compositions and Vocal Styles

This article delves into the history of jazz by analyzing popular compositions like Potato Head Blues, Singing in the Blues, Livery Stable Blues, and Hotter than 'ell. It also explores the unique vocal styles of Ethel Waters and Eva Taylor. The article provides a detailed description of the structure, rhythm, and melody of each composition and how they contributed to the evolution of jazz music.

HISTORY OF JAZZ
“Potato Head Blues”was created by Louis Armstrong and it is believed to be one of his
best creations, it was recorded by him and his band “Hot Seven, while “Singing in the
Blues”was played by Frankie Trumbauer and his band or Orchestra.“Singing in the Blues” is one
of the most pure form of jazz music in the decade it was one of Trumbauer’s brilliant
composition, the tone of this composition is commanding and at the same time delicate.“Singing
in the Blues” starts with a soft tone with clarion indicating the type of lyricism that will be
followed after the clarion. Frank Trumbauer gets into his chorus, just giving a vague idea of the
nest lines. He playing the C-melody saxophone, has a soothing effect on the mind. Both
Trumbauner and Beiderbecke created a timeless musical piece which is relevant and loved by all
in this century as well. In the “Potato head Blues” the texture of the song is established in the
beginning of the song. Syncopation in the beginning of the song creates an inconsistency in the
tunes. There is a dramatic shift in the elements of the song. The continuance of timbre in the
composition through the use of trumpet captures the mind of the listeners, it is one of the brilliant
pieces of Louis Armstrong. Both the compositions have their own unique lyricism, and
Beiderbecke’s solo has much less level of intensity than the thundering trumpet sound of
Armstrong.
"Livery Stable Blues" is a 12 bar blues composed in the New Orleans Style beginning
with introduction of four bars, the three distinct themes, repeating each of them twice. The third
theme has trombone, using the clarinet and cornet the sounds of various barnyard animals are
imitated. After repeating the three themes the composition ends with one bar, this composition is
more polyphonic. On the other hand in “Hotter than ‘ell” the rhythm keeps on changing with
changes made in the G chord, it is based on another tune previously played by Henderson called
the “Yeah Man”. This composition has fast tempo and riff tunes having solos using clarinet,

HISTORY OF JAZZ
tenor and also using trumpet, it also has a shout chorus along with call and response between
brass and saxophones. This one is faster in rhythm and does not have a complicated polyphony,
this song has a much more syncopated rhythm and quite a lot of “swing”.
“I Got Rhythm” by Ethel Waters comprises of a more ‘jazz’ type of voice, it differs
from pitch of classical vocals, while “Cake Walking Babies from Home” by Eva Taylor
comprises of a lot more defined pitch. Judging the voices it can be said that Ethel Waters has a
trumpet like voice. This can be seen at the 1:55 moment of the song “I Got Rhythm” she
performed a small ‘scatting’ solo there, the growls which was evident in her voice sounded a lot
like the trumpets. This similarity between her voice and that of the trumpets became more
pronounced when she sang along with it. The energetic improvisational style of singing by Ethel
Waters is the preferred choice, her voice is perfect for jazz music.