BtZ42/10: Cherokee

[ish mailian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf34QnykJJ0

On Sun, May 22, 2016 at 8:53 PM, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Another small bit. The "channel" to Cherokee means the bridge. It's
> challenging, especially at a fast tempo, because it modulates first to the
> key of B, then A, two not so easy keys to play in.
> One of my compatriots from cruise ship days, upon imbibing a few more than
> absolutely necessary pulls from the bottle, liked to intone, "Yeah, but can
> he play the fuckin' bridge to Cherokee?!"....
>
> Www.innergroovemusic.com
>
> On May 22, 2016, at 5:44 PM, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> This is a great observation Mark. Pynchon's writing is very "jazz-like", in
> the stream of consciousness, following up tangents, tying things in
> together, or not, being willing to give any idea the opportunity of
> development. I would say that that's an ideal, it doesn't mean it always
> works in practice. It's interesting to me that Pynchon and Keith Jarrett
> share the same birthday, two of the great followers of tangents in their
> respective arts.
>
> Www.innergroovemusic.com
>
> On May 22, 2016, at 5:13 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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" 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 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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