Koko, Duke Ellington and his Orch. Swing

Question 1

What is the structure of the piece?

Answer 1

intro, 12 bar blues repeated 7 times with little variance, coda

Question 2

Instrumentation

Answer 2

Tom toms, trombone, trumpets, clari, double bass, piano

Question 3

How is the rhythmic ostinato presented?

Answer 3

tom tom leads in presenting rhythmic ostinatio and is then joined by the bari sax

Question 4

What cool sax thing happens in chorus 1?

Answer 4

The Bb to Cb shift is tricky on trombone, requires movement into the 7th position

Question 5

How is new timbre created in chorus 3?

Answer 5

Dalton continues to push the mute further into bell of trumpet to create new timmbre

Question 6

What texture is heard in all choruses?

Answer 6

Call and response antiphonal exchanges

Question 7

What kind of atmosphere is achieved and how is this done?

Answer 7

Highly charged jungle atmosphere created by instrumental voicing

Question 8

Where is the repeated tonic pedal?

Answer 8

On bari sax in intro

Question 9

Where do improvisations take place?

Answer 9

over the top of antiphonal exchanges

Question 10

What happens textrually in chorus 5?

Answer 10

solo plunger trumpet takes over the call rome in a higher register with the responses alternating between high and low exchange of reeds and trombones

Question 11

What happens textrually in chorus 6?

Answer 11

call and response replaced by pyramid effect involving whole band

Question 12

What happens in coda instead of repeating the ‘head’ section?

Answer 12

There is a pyramid-effect build up based on the call figure that brings the piece to the end

Question 13

What key is the piece in?

Answer 13

Eb minor throughout with no modulation

Question 14

What chord is unusual in chorus 1?

Answer 14

minor 6th

Question 15

What harmonic feature occurs in chorus 4?

Answer 15

bitonal chords in bars 37, 39 and 40. Treble played first then ‘fused’ together with the pedal

Question 16

What harmonic feature occurs in chorus 7?

Answer 16

Shining brass chords are answered by a descending figure in saxes

Question 17

Where can we hear jungle drums?

Answer 17

Intro and coda

Question 18

What kind of rhythmic pattern is woven into every phrase in chorus 1?

Answer 18

dominating ostinato rhythm patter is woven into every phrase

Question 19

What kind of mode is used in the melody?

Answer 19

Aeolian

Question 20

How can the melody be described in the intro?

Answer 20

trombone trio play parallel triads in a falling sequence . Progression starts on Gb major making a minor 7th Db against the Eb pedal

Question 21

What happens to the rhythm of the bari sax in chorus 1?

Answer 21

becomes a four note motif

Question 22

What notes does the solo begin with in chorus 1?

Answer 22

solo begins with Bb and Cb

Question 23

What happens to the riff from chorus 1 in chorus 2?

Answer 23

it is taken on by the saxes and answered by plunger muted brass punches

Question 24

What happens melodically in chorus 3?

Answer 24

Solo is constructed of Eb Gb Ab and Db and appears pentatonic but is not as the pitch bends and glissandi impart a microtonal chromaticism

Question 25

What is Duke Ellington’s solo like in chorus 4?

Answer 25

Percussive and virtuosic solo accompanied by modified call and response from previous solo. Use of whole tone flourishes and brittle clashes

Question 26

How has the importance of improvisation changed?

Answer 26

Much less emphasis placed on this now, music is mostly written down before playing, only two improvised solos in this piece

Question 27

Where is this piece from?

Answer 27

From Ellington’s unfinished opera “Boola” Evokes african sounds by blending elements of blues, rhythms of jazz and conventions of european harmony and instrumentation.