Koko, Duke Ellington and his Orch. Swing Flashcards
What is the structure of the piece?
intro, 12 bar blues repeated 7 times with little variance, coda
Instrumentation
Tom toms, trombone, trumpets, clari, double bass, piano
How is the rhythmic ostinato presented?
tom tom leads in presenting rhythmic ostinatio and is then joined by the bari sax
What cool sax thing happens in chorus 1?
The Bb to Cb shift is tricky on trombone, requires movement into the 7th position
How is new timbre created in chorus 3?
Dalton continues to push the mute further into bell of trumpet to create new timmbre
What texture is heard in all choruses?
Call and response antiphonal exchanges
What kind of atmosphere is achieved and how is this done?
Highly charged jungle atmosphere created by instrumental voicing
Where is the repeated tonic pedal?
On bari sax in intro
Where do improvisations take place?
over the top of antiphonal exchanges
What happens textrually in chorus 5?
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
What happens textrually in chorus 6?
call and response replaced by pyramid effect involving whole band
What happens in coda instead of repeating the ‘head’ section?
There is a pyramid-effect build up based on the call figure that brings the piece to the end
What key is the piece in?
Eb minor throughout with no modulation
What chord is unusual in chorus 1?
minor 6th
What harmonic feature occurs in chorus 4?
bitonal chords in bars 37, 39 and 40. Treble played first then ‘fused’ together with the pedal
What harmonic feature occurs in chorus 7?
Shining brass chords are answered by a descending figure in saxes
Where can we hear jungle drums?
Intro and coda
What kind of rhythmic pattern is woven into every phrase in chorus 1?
dominating ostinato rhythm patter is woven into every phrase
What kind of mode is used in the melody?
Aeolian
How can the melody be described in the intro?
trombone trio play parallel triads in a falling sequence . Progression starts on Gb major making a minor 7th Db against the Eb pedal
What happens to the rhythm of the bari sax in chorus 1?
becomes a four note motif
What notes does the solo begin with in chorus 1?
solo begins with Bb and Cb
What happens to the riff from chorus 1 in chorus 2?
it is taken on by the saxes and answered by plunger muted brass punches
What happens melodically in chorus 3?
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
What is Duke Ellington’s solo like in chorus 4?
Percussive and virtuosic solo accompanied by modified call and response from previous solo. Use of whole tone flourishes and brittle clashes
How has the importance of improvisation changed?
Much less emphasis placed on this now, music is mostly written down before playing, only two improvised solos in this piece
Where is this piece from?
From Ellington’s unfinished opera “Boola” Evokes african sounds by blending elements of blues, rhythms of jazz and conventions of european harmony and instrumentation.
