BtZ42/10: Cherokee

[Mark Kohut]

Janos wites: Meanwhile, in 1939, Charlie Parker *did *find out, playing
"Cherokee" at a jam session, how to use the top notes of the chords "to
break up the melody" - an act of musical deconstruction, and, considering
"the lie" of the song, political. (And the very inception of modern jazz.)

And trying again to understand given my tin ear:
According to an interview Parker gave in the 1950s, one night in 1939 he
was playing "Cherokee
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_(Ray_Noble_song)>" in a jam session
with guitarist William "Biddy" Fleet when he hit upon a method for
developing his solos that enabled one of his main musical innovations. He
realized that the 12 semitones of the chromatic scale
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_scale> can lead melodically to any
key, breaking some of the confines of simpler jazz soloing.

I know nothing about music but these descriptive words sure sound like they
might be used about Pynchon's writing in Gravity's Rainbow. ....I
mean, musicians and appreciators..."breaking up the melody"...&..."can lead
melodically
to any key"........sound like how some of the flashbacks and side bits work
within all the 'semitones' of the whole chromatic scale that is GR.

On Sun, May 22, 2016 at 10:44 AM, János Széky <miksaapja at gmail.com> wrote:

> 63 (Viking)
>
> "Cherokee" (the song) was written by English expat Ray Noble in 1938.
>
> The lyrics go:
>
> "Sweet Indian maiden, since first I met you,
> I can't forget you, Cherokee sweetheart.
>
> Child of the prairie, your love keeps calling,
> My heart enthralling, Cherokee.
>
> Dreams of summertime, of lovertime gone by,
> Throng my memory so tenderly, and sigh. My
>
> Sweet Indian maiden, one day I'll hold you,
> In my arms fold you, Cherokee."
>
> Charlie Barnet's uptempo, high-spirited instrumental version, which seems
> to be the same that "comes wailing in from the dance floor below," reached
> #15 in the charts in September 1939.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnNUd7NzTMo
>
> The narrator calls it "one more lie about white crimes", referring, of
> course, to the Trail of Tears, arguably the closest thing to genocide in
> American history.
>
> Meanwhile, in 1939, Charlie Parker *did *find out, playing "Cherokee" at
> a jam session, how to use the top notes of the chords "to break up the
> melody" - an act of musical deconstruction, and, considering "the lie" of
> the song, political. (And the very inception of modern jazz.)
>
> "/His/ trip by'39, well begun" - he was an addict by then.
>
> So 64 (Viking): "the saxes downstair getting into some, oh really weird
> shit. . . ." That's shit in all three senses.
>
>
>
>
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