Part 2 - Jazz Analysis

All Of Me - Lester Young and Teddy Wilson (1956)
Listen to All of Me

The Period? Swing, though we're starting to feel the push toward a new, different sound, known as bebop

Who wrote it? I don't know, and quite frankly, it's not as important in Jazz to know who wrote the piece, but rather who is performing it. [nb: internet search later tells me the authors are Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons. Credit where credit is due.]

Who's performing it? I have seven different renditions of All of Me: Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker with Lennie Tristano, Oscar Peterson and his Trio, and the one I'll be using, featuring Lester young on Tenor Saxophone and Teddy Wilson on piano. Something else about jazz that bears mentioning: there is also a drummer as well as a bassist, but as I don't have the CD with me, they remain anonymous, destined for the back seat. [nb: found out later they're named Jo Jones and Gene Ramey].

Seven different recordings? Aren't they all the same? Absolutely not. 3 feature a vocalist, 4 are purely instrumental. Two of the vocalists are female, one male, one of the instrumental versions features the piano, two the saxophone, and one an equal mixture.

The song itself is simple enough. The lyrics, for those arrangements that have lyrics, are as follows (with minor variations by verse and by performer):

All of Me / Why not take all of me
Can't you see / I'm no good without you
Take my lips / I wanna lose them
Take my arms / I'll never use them

Your goodbye/ Left me with eyes that cried
How can I / Get along without you
You took the part / That once was my heart
So why not / Take all of me

The general form of a Swing instrumental piece is a fairly straightforward statement of the verse, or in other words, the main theme. Then a solo instrument plays, with minimal accompaniment, a variation of that theme. Next comes another variation, either by the same instrument or a different one. More variations follow, until the piece reaches a climax, sometimes pushed along by the drummer, who gets a solo of his own. Then the whole ensemble repeats the theme, and the piece ends.

For the most part, and unlike classical theme & variations pieces, the harmonic structure of the theme stays the same, or in other words, does not modulate, or in still other words, does not change keys.

Boring, right? No! The reason seven different recordings can all play the same harmonic structure and yet be completely different is that the set of instruments is variable, and most importantly to understanding jazz, the melody, rhythm, and to some extent, the harmony are all improvised. How is it possible for everyone to make something up at the same time and not create pure chaos? Because the rhythm of that theme forms the backbone of the piece (and soloists stretch this rhythm, but never break out of it), and as I mentioned before, the harmonic structure remains intact. Thus, soloists can make up their own melody, and are indeed encouraged to do so, but the skeleton is always the same. The key, then, to enjoying jazz music is understanding the skeleton in order to appreciate the individual and ensemble talent of the musicians. So,

Push Play! Here it is

0:01-:08 - The drummer is giving us the tempo (or speed) of the piece, and at the same time telling us that it should be counted in 4s. So -
1-2-3-4, (2)-2-3-4, (3)-2-3-4, (4)-2-3-4 / (5)-2-3-4, (6)-2-3-4, (7)-2-3-4, (8)-2-3-4

Each group of 1-2-3-4s is called a measure, and we see that the music splits into groups of 4 measures. So, the drummer beats out two groups of these 4 measures, and on the last measure of the second group, or phrase, the piano leads us into the piece.

From now on, listen for the fact that the emphasis of the beats come on the 2nd and 4th count. This is the rhythmic basis for all jazz and popular music, as opposed to classical, which does not follow a strict rule, but usually emphasizes the 1st and 3rd count.

:08-:23 - The saxophone plays the first half of the verse in 16 measures, or 4 phrases of 4 measures. If you listen for it, each phrase is clearly separate, with a statement by the saxophone, and then a sort of answer by the piano. Think call and response, like you find in gospel music or kids' songs (who wears short shorts. WE WEAR SHORT SHORTS!!!)

:24-:39- The saxophone plays the second half of the verse, in another set of 16 measures, always in 4 groups. We see here, in this first minute, a full statement of the verse. It takes 32 measures and 8 phrases. Now, look back up at the lyrics. How many lines are there? 8, one line for each phrase.

So, now that we know that we're always working in 4s - 4 counts to a measure, 4 x 2 phrases to a verse - we have the rhythmic skeleton mapped out. It becomes easier to listen to what the soloist is cooking.

:40-1:12 - Another verse by the saxophone, this time with less intervention from the piano. The bass and drums continue to propel the rhythm, making sure we don't get lost when the saxophone stretches it a little.

1:12-1:44 - Another verse. Notice how each verse takes 32 seconds? You can literally set your watch to the rhythm, with one measure per second.

1:45 - 2:17 - The piano gets a verse, and the structure remains the same
2:18 - 2:50 - Another piano verse, different from the last
2:51-3:21 - A 3rd piano verse, still 32 seconds long

3:22-3:25 - The saxophone begins to play the verse
3:26-3:29 - But the drums break in and interrupt
3:29-3:33 - The sax persists in trying to play that theme
3:34-3:37 - And the drummer won't let him
3:37-3:41 - Another shot
3:42-3:45 - Drummer says no
3:45-3:48 - One last go
3:49-3:52 - Drummer insists

This device is called trading fours, where the main soloist plays four measures, the drummer responds in 4 measures, and back and forth. Guess how many times they trade 4s? 4.

3:53-4:25 - Saxophone gets a verse
4:26-4:54 - The saxophone plays it one last time, but instead of finishing normally, the last 16 seconds are a kind of finale.

And that's it, in a nutshell. So what is it that makes Jazz so special? The same verse is repeated over and over again, everything about the rhythm is plain jane, with 4-square phrases and no variation in the count (no 3s, no 5s). Many of you have heard (or heard of) the piece Take 5. What's so alluring about this piece? The fact that it counts 5 to a measure instead of 4. Big whoop. So why do we listen?

The reason lies in individual performance, and within the performance, the soloist's ability to improvise. The soloist must think, on the spot, of multiple different and unique ways to express the theme, and each repetition has to build off of the others, but never break out of the rhythmic and harmonic skeleton.

At the same time, the accompanying instruments (in this piece drums, bass, and piano) must all support the soloist, anticipate his creative impulse to pause, play loudly, explode, and so on, and at the same time provide an interesting layer of their own. This is why I love listening through all that jazz (if you'll excuse the expression) to that bassist, plucking his dear heart out but always reaching for interesting notes that dovetail with the harmonic skeleton but don't beat it into our heads too predictably. Only the drums have a somewhat limited creative scope, as they must keep everyone in line, and this is why we start to hear a much more active drum kit in bebop and later jazz: besides filling the necessity of keeping that skeleton in our minds amidst all that beeping and bopping by playing in a more pronounced fashion, they also fulfill their own desire to get in on that sweet improvisational action.

We have similar performance considerations in jazz ensemble music to those we find in classical. How's the drummer at keeping rhythm? Was the bassist too soft? How's Teddy Wilson at piano (answer: awesome)? Do they play well together? Are they better at certain parts of the verse? How do these selected instruments go together? What kinds of colors do they achieve? And so on.

Next we could get into the actual solos, see how the improvisational mind works, analyze the notes played to see where they fit in with the harmonic structure, on what beats the key harmonic notes fall, why this is so, etc., but doing so would be outside the scope of this exercise, and outside the realm of what is possible for me, as I don't know what notes are being played, and would need them on paper in order to analyze them.