Music Monday Black Codes is an extended blues form that uses three different grooves—a quasi-New Orleans groove, Swing and a quasi-Latin groove. I say “quasi” because at that time we didn’t really know what we were playing. The initial bass line (letter B) is based on a New Orleans funk tune called Hey Pocky Way. The groove never really came off how I intended. In retrospect, I should’ve just called someone from New Orleans and said “Man, show me how to play this groove”. Melodically, I was inspired by James Black’s Magnolia Triangle. I introduce the melody (measure 11) and then I bring it back on the offbeat and elongate it (measure 19). Each phrase was on cue, that’s why sometimes there are an odd-numbered amount of bars between sections. As you can see, there is very little thematic material in Black Codes, but I tried to spread it around, so each time you hear them they have a different sound and effect. In measure 42, I use a specific rhythmic device where the horns play a 1/3 above the time. I learned this from checking out Charles Mingus who did it quite frequently. The introduction just came out of the types of rhythmic patterns that I was playing in my solos. Harmonically, if you look at the solo section you’ll understand what I mean by calling it an “extended blues”. We stay on the four chord longer than normal and it goes to C Minor rather than returning to F. The last four bars allude to the traditional V-IV turnaround, but of course, it’s in a different key than you would expect. After the solos, I tried to condense the entire song into just a few measures. I always try to create a lot of unity in my songs. The last two chords (measures 166 and 167) are the same chords from measure 51. The difference is that instead of the root movement going from B to C (as it is at measure 51), the root goes from F Sharp to F. Enjoy, Wynton
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 14:29:09 +0000
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