11. Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra, “Riverboat Shuffle”

(Hoagy Carmichael-Dick Voynow)

 For use with Lesson #12.

 

Style: New York

Personnel: Bix Beiderbecke cornet, Don Murray clarinet, Frank Trumbauer C-melody saxophone, Stanley “Doc” Ryker alto saxophone, Bill Rank trombone, Irving Riskin piano, Eddie Lang guitar, Chauncey Morehouse drums. Recorded in 1927.

Issued on Okeh 40822.

Reissued on Columbia CK 45450, Naxos 8.120767, and Mosaic MD7-211 Disc 1.

The New York style of the late 1920s ushered in harmonic advancements and smoothed-out phrasing, integrated into carefully constructed arrangements that also leave room for ensemble improvisation. Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke possessed an unmistakable tone and an ear that was ahead of his time. His solo here is smooth, assured, harmonically adventurous, and unpredictable, employing a rip at 1:11 and half-valve technique at 1:08 and 1:16; the solo resolves on a major seventh instead of the tonic. Whole tones/augmented chords are heard in the piano break at 0:39 and the clarinet break at 0:49, and the guitar break at 0:11 outlines a minor six/nine chord. At 1:37 the trombone leaps octaves, a device frequently found in this style.

Sequence for this track

0:00 Ensemble intro, arranged (4 bars)

0:05 Verse: ensemble—8 bars arranged, 4 bars improvised, 4 bars arranged (breaks by guitar)

0:23 Chorus: ensemble, improvised (breaks by guitar, piano, clarinet, cornet)

0:59 Chorus: cornet solo (with cornet break; clarinet/trombone break at the end)

1:36 Verse: ensemble—8 bars arranged, 4 bars improvised, 4 bars arranged (breaks by trombone)

1:54 Chorus: clarinet solo (with clarinet break; ensemble break at the end)

2:30 Chorus: ensemble, improvised (breaks by cornet, alto, guitar, C-melody)

3:07 Variation of “doo-dop” ending (cornet fills the hole)

Bix Beiderbecke