Show Me The Music

My anthology of modern music

Introduction

I met someone at a restaurant called ‘Tayim’ in The Rocks Sydney 2021. He was a waiter who tended tables and served food and wine in this Mediterranean/middle eastern style restaurant in which on this occasion my wife and I were celebrating 40 years of marriage.

It was a happy night and we spoke of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. It turned out that his partner was from Brazil and that she yearned to get back to Brazil to see her parents after a 2-year covid 19 enforced separations. We loved visiting Brazil some years earlier and as we recounted our experiences, we were somewhat surprized that he had very little knowledge of the country or its musical heritage. While this staggered me somewhat, I was not prepared for what happened next.

I mentioned that Jobim was one of the most influential composers of our time. He looked at me with startled eyes and clearly had no knowledge of Antonio Carlos Jobim. I explained that Jobim, of Portuguese decent, was the father of Bossa Nova and the composer of rhythmic music that epitomised Brazil in the 50’s. As he continued, I said that he would surely recognise Jobim music. I quoted ‘Girl from Ipanema’, ‘Wave’, ‘Desafinado’ (out of tune), and drew a total blank. Then it became clear to me that what I took for granted as an understanding of music was quite different to someone who was 30 years my junior.

It was a realisation that prompted me to write a book about music. It is not that I am an expert musician. Heavens to mercury, I cannot read a note of music. You see, I was born with talent that enables me to listen to a song a few times and then play it (albeit crudely) on the piano. Over the years I have refined my ability by playing small gigs and entertaining family and friends at charity and family events. My style is jazz/modern. My story encompasses worldwide experiences and what I did to interpret the music that I heard.

I grew up in the 1950’s and 1960’s when arguably modern music was at its most formative time.

At the age of 3, and as we entered the 1950’s, I went to a music teacher who gave me my first lessons on the piano. As a 3-year-old I was already showing an ability to memorise a song and reproduce it on the piano. The ability to hear and play quickly consumed my interest and learning to read music was difficult. I read the chart, memorised the tune, but could not read it precisely as written. I improvised and my teacher told my parents that I was not reading the music correctly. My interpretation was close to the chart but not precise.

Over time I have written many songs, but I have never had a lesson. These posts record my life experiences in music and how I used these to play music and to explore the world of music.

Someone said once that good music is good music whatever the genre. They also said that I wish I could do that, or I would love to be able to play the guitar or, piano or saxophone. Well maybe by reading this book you will gain the insight and inspiration to achieve your lifelong dream.

All the best to you and your dream.

Peter Cox

The forefathers of modern music

In my view the two people who most influenced the popular music of today were Cole Porter and George Gershwin. The influence of these two geniuses cannot be overstated. The chord progressions and musical construct of their music forms the bases of jazz/modern music.

Cole Porter

In addition to the classics ‘Night & Day’, and ‘Begin the Beguine’, and the sultry ‘Love for Sale’, Cole Porter wrote some quirky songs and most of his best material was penned in the late 20’s and 30’s. ‘Let’s Do it, Lets fall in love’ (1928), ‘Anything Goes’, ‘I get a kick out of you’ (1934), ‘I’ve got you under my skin’ (1936) were amongst the 100’s of songs that he wrote. Almost all his songs showed a fascination for love. No, more like an obsession with the artistry of love. K D Lang singing ‘Love for Sale’ in my view epitomised the interpretation of what Porter intended in his songs.

Porter used Paris as a baton for his inspirations and a canvas for his creations. He was there in the 1920’s and 1930’s. His notoriety in Paris was featured in the Woody Allen movie “Midnight in Paris”.

He was from a wealthy family, a graduate of Yale, was very extravagant and knew no boundaries. He unusually wrote both the music and lyrics for his songs. Paris in the 20’s, was a time that inspired ‘I Love Paris’, ‘C’est Manifique’, (1953) and ‘Ca C’est Lamour’ from the film “Les Girls”(1956). Porters songs spanned 4 decades and spawned films and musicals and jazz standards. ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ is my favourite.

Note the minor major transition in I’ve got you………under my skin. To me the use of a minor chord followed by a seventh chord is the perfect intro to a positive major. Make sense? Now think of all the songs that use this transition for effect. I could come up with hundreds.

George & Ira Gershwin

let’s have a quick look at “Porgy & Bess”. Gershwin wrote the opera in 1935. The 1959 movie version rocketed “Summertime” to world prominence. Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane were some famous names who recorded “Summertime”.

George and Ira Gershwin made an immense contribution to modern music. George died in 1937 at the age of 38. Ira lived to 90 something. Perhaps George Gershwin’s finest work was “Rhapsody in Blue” which he finished on a train at the last moment for band leader Paul Whiteman. It is a fusion of classical and Jazz genres.

Other Gershwin compositions that influenced me were “Embraceable You”, “You Cant Take That Away From Me”, and “S Wonderful”. The interpretations of their music by most of the world’s leading musicians are freely available on you tube or other distribution organisations. I will talk more about the interpreters of music later.

Gershwin was asked by Whiteman to write something that was more than classical. Gershwin who was unknown at the time, did not like the big band style of music but was challenged nevertheless and agreed to work on the project but gave no firm undertaking. Apparently, Whiteman advertised that a new star with a new music style would be featured at Whiteman’s upcoming concert. Gershwin in the meantime forgot about any impending dates and was forced to rush the composition over a week and eventually delivered a manuscript 2-3 days before the concert. “Rhapsody in Blue” was born on a train while being delivered to its commissioner. (There is some irony in these words)

“Rhapsody in Blue” was controversial when first released in 1924. It was not critically acclaimed by music purists. Its popularity lay then in the innovative style of Gershwin who synthesised classical music with jazz effects. Band leader Paul Whiteman pushed it, Ferde Grofe orchestrated it, and clarinettist Ross Gorman introduced the now distinguishable drawn out wailing on the clarinet. Remarkably this was put together hastily for the 1924 premier. It was and still is credited as the start of the jazz era in American music, and like the improvisation that is associated with jazz, it was (with Gershwins approval), tweaked all the way to the initial live performance.

‘Embraceable You’ was written in 1928 and featured in the movie “Girl Crazy” by Ginger Rogers in 1930. It became musically recognised when Bobby Hackett and his big band recorded a version in 1936. Perhaps the most memorable version (although its hard to go past Sinatra or Nat King Cole), was in 1946 when the legendary trumpeter Miles Davis, ably assisted by Charlie Parker on alto sax and others, recorded a beautiful version. (jazzstandards.com).

 The most recent version I heard professionally was in 2012 at the Sydney Opera House and performed by British conductor Bramwell Tovey. It was an improvisation that I am sure Gershwin would have found acceptable. To me Gershwin’s music was made for jazz and interpretation. On that night Tovey used a full symphonic orchestra with his piano solo’s to bring out the social acceptance of Gershwin’s music. It was a wonderful night, even though some musical purists chose to ‘tut tut’ the divergence from the written material. Such is jazz.

‘You Can’t Take That Away From Me’ was a hit for all the most unlikely of reasons. After “Porgy & Bess” in 1935, the Gershwin’s decided to focus on movies and musicals. “Shall we Dance” starring Rogers & Astaire had a smash hit in 1937 with the score including ‘Shall we dance’ and ‘lets call the whole thing off’. However, ‘You Can’t Take That Away From Me’ featuring a raspy but effective Fred Astaire, was the only song nominated for an academy award, and became a number 1 single for Astaire and many others. The song featured the emotional build of repeated notes approach in writing, (‘I’ve Got Rhythm’ and ‘A Foggy Day’). In fact, Gershwin had to repeat the notes so that Ira could fit his words into the score. George then weaved his magic to create a sophisticated harmonic progression that belies the simplicity of the chord structure. Tragically, George Gershwin died in July 1937 and did not live to see the success of his latest masterpieces (jazzstandards.com) .

I started playing this song as a young boy of 10. I was intrigued by the words.. “the way you wear your hat, the way you sip your tea, the memory of all that, no you cant take that away from me. The way you hold your knife, the way we danced till three, the way you changed my life, no you cant take that away from me” The words may be dated but it was a time when the world was stepping out after the war and the image of wealth and fine dining as portrayed by Hollywood was quite appealing. I used to play the song with rudimentary chord changes. Then I realised that Gershwin had written in places, a chord change every beat (you cant take that away) and (we may never, ever, ever meet). The song is fuller and more definitive with the beat-to-beat chord change, although if you are a musician, you will appreciate that this is very difficult to play. (get the music and try it. It is fascinating).

The Gershwin music continued into the 50’s as Ira released Georges previously written music with new lyrics. However, the Duo was not there, and the marketability of George was missed. It is ironical that the words in a song are what everyone remembers, but the music is what everyone sings. Just like Sammy Caan said to Sinatra. ‘Frank, you don’t sing the words like you say them, it is different’. Frank knew exactly to what he was referring. You use the music to sell the words. The genius of George was his ability to accommodate the words into his music to enhance their delivery. Ira without George was not quite the same.

Summary

I will continue this subject in future posts where I will examine the styles and influence of the crooners and interpreters, musicals, and the formative 60’s when modern music spread its wings. All of these were influences in my world of music.

I will show how I learned the piano and how you can also learn to play without reading music.

Look out for my posts for ‘Show Me The Music’

I would love to hear your comments on where I am headed with this.