Topic: Jazz - Early
Brass instruments became more freely available to freedmen in New Orleans after the end of the Civil War. Jack Buerkle and Danny Baker suggested they were pawned when the military bands demobilized, and that the men who obtained them learned to play without any official tutoring. [1]
The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz suggested brass bands first were used in funerals sponsored by burial societies and other community groups. No rules existed on governing instrumentation: groups used whoever was available. [2] By World War I each instrument had an assigned role, but the Institute said jazz still was "mostly ensemble playing." [3] There were no vocalists.
Dixieland developed an enduring international following, and The Parson’s Sons still worked within its tradition when it played "Kumbaya" in a 2015 concert in Australia. The opening bars were influenced by Glenn Miller, then the two saxophones and trombone played the melody in parallel.
After the first verse, the tenor and alto saxes started the melody. The trombone soon joined them and they played together as they had in the introduction. They keyboard played the melody as a solo after the second verse. They were accompanied by a drum set and an electric bass that marked time.
It wasn’t clear who had decided the six men should appear with a vocalist, but it was obvious they didn’t often work together. Rather than perform as a group, they alternated parts and styles. The leader waved to Trude Aspeling when it was her turn. Between her verses she returned to standing by the right wall and directing the audience to clap to the music.
The audience began singing the "kumbaya" verse when the band was playing the introduction, and joined Aspeling, even before she invited them. This allowed Aspeling to skip phrases and let the audience carry the melody. Only the drums, bass, and keyboard accompanied her.
Aspeling used an amen ending. She repeated the last line slowly, with no instrumental accompaniment. The very last "kumbaya" was sung by the audience alone.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: Trude Aspeling
Vocal Group: audience
Instrumental Accompaniment: David Brainwood, keyboard; Harry Armstrong, alto sax; George Coward, tenor sax; Neville Quarmby, trombone
Rhythm Accompaniment: Peter Armstrong, drums; Philip Bloomfield, electric bass
Credits
None given
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: the leader said koom BY ah; Aspeling sang KOOM by Yah
Verses: praying, crying
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: open-ended
Verse Repetition Pattern: ABA
Ending: repeated last line once
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Time Signature: the leader counted 1-2-3-4 to begin
Basic Structure: alternated vocal and instrumental parts
Singing Style: little ornamentation; she began varying the melody on the last iteration.
Solo-Vocal Group Dynamics: the audience carried the melody
Instrumental Style: the trombone and saxophone played with a swing rhythm, but did not vary the melody. The keyboard player, as a soloist, was able to improvise more. As the Monk Instituted suggested, the drums acted as "time keeper." [4]
Notes on Performance
Occasion: Jazz in the Chapel concert, 12 April 2015. This was a common name for concert series on the internet, and I could not learn more about this particular one.
Location: church with white walls, a simple wooden cross on the left side of the back wall, and a religious painting in the center.
Microphones: none
Clothing: casual.
Notes on Movement
The drummer and keyboard player were seated; the rest stood. The leader turned towards others once in a while, but the rest stood facing the audience. They had music stands but did not turn pages.
Aspeling moved from the side of the church to the center, and back. She wasn’t stiff, but she only also didn’t step to the music. She used her arms to signal when the audience should sing. After her first verse she opened her arms wide to clap; after the second she raised them over her head and clapped as she brought them down.
Notes on Audience
Audience was seated on chairs. Many had white or gray hair. Some women began swaying gently when the band began. They applauded at the end, and sang the verses. They clapped when requested, but did not continue when they were singing.
Notes on Performers
The Parson’s Sons were a local group whose appearances in newspapers were noted when they did charity events. The month after this concert, they appeared again with Aspeling in a fund raiser for Syrian and Iraqi refugees. [5] In November 2016 they appeared with a local country singer in a benefit for spina bifida at the Bargo Baptist Church. [6]
Very little was available on the web about the musicians. The drummer, Peter Armstrong, was a country musician [7] based in Blackheath who taught guitar in a local music school. [8]
Aspeling was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Her parents migrated in the 1970s, to improve the lives of their children. She saw it as " an opportunity to do what she wanted and to be judged on merit rather than colour." [9]
She lived in Sydney, and all the places mentioned where the band appeared were in the nearby areas in New South Wales.
Availability
YouTube: uploaded by netPastor Henry on 20 April 2015.
End Notes
1. Jack V. Buerkle and Danny Barker. Bourbon Street Black. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. 14.
2. Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Style Sheet. "Pre-Jazz and the Brass Bands." Jazz in America website.
3. Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Style Sheet. "Early Jazz (Dixieland)." Jazz in America website.
4. Monk, Dixieland.
5. "Gospel Jazz Aids Refugees." Wollondilly [New South Wales] Advertiser website. 5 May 2015.
6. "Jazz Band Strums up Donation." Macarthur [New South Wales] Advertiser website. 20 November 2016.
7. Jazz Band.
8. "Peter Armstrong." Mitchell Conservatorium website, New South Wales.
9. "Songs of Struggle in Sydney." Greenleaf website. 16 February 1994.
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