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Soft Winds 21 October 1939 (“Camel Caravan”)

Also:
Transcriptions of the other three versions of Soft Winds have now joined the previously published master take.

Soft Winds 22 November 1939 (alternate take)

Soft Winds 13 April 1940 (“Cocoanut Grove”)


May 12, 2019
		*Soft Winds*



		The recordings of Charlie Christian’s composition, *Soft Winds*, consisted of a 4-bar guitar chord intro (piano intro on the first version), theme, solo by clarinet, solo by vibes with backing CC boogie riffs, theme, and an 6 to 8-bar guitar tag – no guitar solos, per se, but Charles’ contribution is exquisite and essential throughout.
		This is the transcription of the master studio take:
		Soft Winds 22 November 1939

		Transcriptions Index

Audio clips have been added for Honeysuckle Rose (Columbia) and Dinah (“Camel Caravan”).

Honeysuckle Rose 22 November 1939

Dinah 16 December 1939

The tablatures of both tunes, which had been transcribed before the turn of the century past, have been updated.


April 17, 2019
		*Benny’s Bugle*


		The blues Benny’s Bugle was first recorded by the sextet during a long, multiple-tune, multiple-take, Columbia studio session in NYC. These are transcriptions of the six takes from that 7 November 1940 date:

		take 1 Benny’s Bugle CO 29030-v take 2 Benny’s Bugle CO 29030-W take 3 Benny’s Bugle CO 29030-X take 4 Benny’s Bugle CO 29030-y take 5 Benny’s Bugle CO 29030-Z take 6 Benny’s Bugle CO 29030-1



		There were also two recorded radio broadcasts of Benny’s Bugle that originated from Manhattan:

		Benny’s Bugle 19 Nov 1940 “The Make Believe Ballroom” Benny’s Bugle 28 May 1941 “Monte Proser Dance Carnival”


		Transcriptions Index

Bob Hecht is your host on the Charlie Christian podcast Solo Flight on his Joys of Jazz series. A link to this superlative site has been added to our Links page.

Solo Flight – the podcast The Joys of Jazz

““With Christian, the guitar found its jazz voice!”


March 13, 2019

	*A Smo-o-o-oth One*

	Charlie Christian was recorded jamming on A Smo-o-o-oth One on March 13th of 1941. A studio recording session took place later that day during which the tune was cut for release by Columbia Records. These are transcriptions of those three takes:

		take one	CO 29942-X	first take

		take two	CO 29942-1	alternate take

		take three	CO 29942-2	master take




	Transcriptions Index


February 25, 2019

	Royal Garden Blues Transcriptions

	Three takes of *Royal Garden Blues* were recorded on this Columbia studio session. Charlie Christian gets two 8-bar solos on each take, each one preceded by a 4-bar refrain by the ensemble. The guitar solos are followed by various riffing choruses which are also documented in the transcriptions.

	take one	CO 29028-2

	take two	CO 29028-3

	take three	CO 29028-1	master take

	These three versions were the only ones ever recorded of CC on this tune. Audio clips are provided of all the guitar solos and of the one piano highlight that appears only on the master take.



	Transcriptions Index

Essential Jazz Guitar, Joe Charupakorn’s transcriptions book containing Charlie Christian’s Flying’ Home studio master take, has been added to the Clive Downs Bibliography. Nicely done transcription with conventional tab and interesting analysis of the solo, and with a CD of the author’s re-creation of the music.


February 10, 2019

		Mid-Winter Presentation:



		Transcriptions and, for the first time, sound-clips of exclusive airchecks of two songs that were never recorded in the studio. They come from near the peripheries of Charlie Christian’s recording career – 1939 and 1941. Not only are they close thematically and alphabetic neighbors, each was recorded only once. On both songs Charles sticks pretty much to the melody on his solo and makes it unforgettable.

		South of the Border November 18, 1939



		Song of the Islands April 28, 1941



		Transcriptions Index


January 27, 2019

		Recorded in Hollywood at the beginning of the summer of 1940 and long neglected by Charlie Christian discographers, *Li’l Boy Love* is a fine song that deserves wider recognition. Great arrangement, pleasing lyrics, marvelous singer, and top-notch musicians in the band. Charles gets an 8-bar bridge for his solo on two of the takes. This would be the last studio date before a four-month hiatus in the sextet’s and band’s activities.

		Li’l Boy Love WCO 26982 B

		Li’l Boy Love WCO 26982 A master take



		Transcriptions Index


January 16, 2019

	16 January 1941 RCA Studios, Manhattan	In January 1941 Charlie Christian participated in a two-day recording ‘marathon’ that included three separate sessions. It started with an extraordinarily long Columbia engagement that involved first the sextet then went into the next morning when he supported The Charioteers for four songs before regrouping with the sextet for another tune. Charles concluded the sessions on 16 January with an RCA studio date that consisted of two tunes with The Metronome All Star Band – *One O’Clock Jump* was the last piece he recorded during those gigs. One O’Clock Jump was released on the Victor label the following month together with the other tune recorded at this later session.

		One O’Clock Jump 16 January 1941



		Transcriptions Index


December 31, 2018

		On New Year’s Eve 1939 the band was at The Waldorf-Astoria for the evening’s celebration. The sextet was recorded playing *Till Tom Special* that night on a “Fitch Bandwagon” radio broadcast.

		Meanwhile outside The Waldorf at Times Square

		A few weeks later on 7 February 1940, they recorded *Till Tom Special* for Columbia. The 78 was released the following month with Gone With “What” Wind as the flip.



		These are the transcriptions of Charlie Christian’s participation on Till Tom on those two sessions.

		Till Tom Special 31 December 1939 Till Tom Special 7 February 1940

		Transcriptions Index


Entrance Awning at Minton’s Playhouse	*I Got Rhythm* George Gershwin	Windy City Marquee not Monroe’s nor Harlem nor even New York
*Down on Teddy’s Hill* Charlie Christian Minton’s Playhouse May 1941	125th Street – looking West from 7th Avenue	*Guy’s Got to Go* Charlie Christian Monroe’s Uptown House May 1941

	Transcriptions Index

December 11, 2018

	*Six Appeal* was recorded nine times with Charlie Christian on guitar: three airchecks and six studio takes (one is a false start with no CC solo). Three different pianists appear on the tune: Johnny Guarnieri is on a couple of radio broadcasts, Dudley Brooks is on the studio takes, and Milt Raskin is on the last session – only Guarnieri solos. The last aircheck took place with the later septet (Seven Appeal?) where tenor sax and trumpet replace the vibes – the trumpet doesn’t get a solo. These are the transcriptions of Charlie Christian’s solos and riffs on the nine versions.

	Columbia 35553	4 June 1940 “Peacock Court” Mark Hopkins Hotel San Francisco 11 June 1940 WBS, Hollywood take 1: WCO 26940 y (breakdown) 11 June 1940 WBS, Hollywood take 2: WCO 26940 B 11 June 1940 WBS, Hollywood take 3: WCO 26940 z (false start) 11 June 1940 WBS, Hollywood take 4: WCO 26940 C 11 June 1940 WBS, Hollywood take 5: WCO 26940 x (breakdown) 11 June 1940 WBS, Hollywood take 6: WCO 26940 A (master) 22 June 1940 “Catalina Casino” Santa Catalina Island 3 March 1941 “What’s New? – The Old Gold Show” Manhattan	Odeon O-26922

		Transcriptions Index



	While uploading the files to the internet some Six Appeal online lessons (for those who prefer conventional picking) popped up: Part 1 & Part 2

	Also a bunch of YouTube stuff like this one by Mark Zabel. Some good, some not so good.


December 1, 2018

	There were three more available versions of *Wholly Cats* recorded after the five studio takes of 7 November, all radio broadcasts from NYC.

	WHOLLY	CATS

	Here are those transcriptions:

	November 19, 1940 Martin Block’s “The Make Believe Ball Room” February 10, 1941 Lorillard Tobacco’s “What’s New? – The Old Gold Show” April 7, 1941 Lorillard Tobacco’s “What’s New? – The Old Gold Show”

	Transcriptions Page


		Charlie Christian was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the state’s highest honor, on Thursday, November 15, 2018 in Tulsa. Accepting on behalf of Charles were Freddy Jenkins (CC’s only surviving relative) and Anita Arnold (executive director of BLAC Inc). Class of 2018 Ceremony Award Also see June 10, 2018 announcement below.


November 7, 2018

	November 7, 1940 Basie, Cootie, Charles	Columbia Recording Studios Manhattan Thursday recording session of November 7, 1940 Benny Goodman and his Sextet: Charlie Christian, Georgie Auld, Benny Goodman, Cootie Williams, Count Basie, Artie Bernstein, Harry Jaeger Wholly Cats six takes

take 1	Wholly Cats	CO 29027-W

take 2	Wholly Cats	CO 29027-X


take 3	Wholly Cats	CO 29027-Y

take 4	Wholly Cats	CO 29027-z	breakdown – theme only, no solo

take 5	Wholly Cats	CO 29027-1	master take

take 6	Wholly Cats	CO 29027-2	alternate take



go to Transcriptions main page


October 24, 2018

		The Shawn Salmon doctoral dissertation has been added to the Solos Bibliography. All of the transcribed examples in Dr Salmon’s document have been identified and cataloged for easy reference by musicologist Clive Downs. Submitted in December 2011, it was descriptively titled “Imitation, Assimilation, and Innovation: Charlie Christian’s Influence on Wes Montgomery’s Improvisational Style in His Early Recordings (1957-1960)” and in addition to Introduction, Bibliography, and Discography it consists of 206 pages with the following chapters:

	Chapter 1: Biographical History and Musical Development of Charlie Christian Chapter 2: Biographical History and Musical Development of Wes Montgomery Chapter 3: Stylistic Traits of Charlie Christian Over Dominant-Seventh Harmonies Chapter 4: Stylistic Traits of Wes Montgomery Influenced by Charlie Christian Chapter 5: Conclusion

		Go to [ and scroll down to Lazzini ] Solos Bibliography Musical Analysis Bibliography

		The essay is available online here. Also see this.


October 14, 2018

	Seventy-eight years ago, on 4 October 1940, Charlie Christian had just returned to New York City after a 2½-month vacation ‘back home’ since the band had disbanded in mid-July. His first recording gig was not with the Goodman sextet but with crooner Eddy Howard and an ad hoc band led by Teddy Wilson.

	Of the four romantic-pop songs laid down that day, only two contained meaningful CC participation – brief but significant:
	Star Dust CO 28795-1 Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams CO 28797-1


October 6, 2018
	On 7 February 1940 Count Basie and Charlie Christian put together this riff-based, blues composition and recorded it at the Columbia studio with the sextet. It was titled Gone with “What” Wind by Columbia/Goodman and released in March to cash in on the name of the wildly popular movie “Gone with the Wind” released three months earlier.

	Here are transcriptions of the two takes from the studio date plus four other versions recorded from radio broadcasts:
	Gone with “What” Wind 1 February 7, 1940 WCO 46495 A 2 February 7, 1940 WCO 46495 B (master take) 3 March 19, 1940 “The Cocoanut Grove” Ambassador Hotel. L.A. 4 April 6, 1940 “The Cocoanut Grove” Ambassador Hotel. L.A. 5 November 4, 1940 Democratic Presidential Campaign Rally, MSG 6 February 19, 1941 “America in Swingtime”

	go to Transcriptions main page


September 25, 2018
	Seventy-nine years ago this month Charlie Christian made some significant chord contributions on a couple of recordings. Charles had just arrived on the national scene the prior month and was asked to participate on a Lionel Hampton studio date. He also appeared at a gig with the sextet at the Orpheum Theater in St. Paul that was broadcast and recorded off the air. Here are transcriptions of two tunes from those dates:	11 September 1939

ca 23 September 1939	*One Sweet Letter from You* 11 September 1939 Victor recording studio

	*Opus ½* 23 September 1939 Orpheum Theater, St. Paul


September 9, 2018

	Blue Note Records recording session of 5 February 1941 at Reeves Sounds in Manhattan.

		Transcriptions from this studio recording session were published 18 years ago on this website: both takes of the illustrious Profoundly Blue. The other three tunes from that session – all of which were recorded in only one take – remained ineffectually in our “vaults” until now. All are 12-bar Blues.

			Jammin’ in Four Edmond Hall Blues Celestial Express


			These three transcripts complete the publication on this site of the entire session.

			Transcriptions Pages

August 16, 2018

The following major work on Charlie Christian has been added to the Clive Downs Bibliographies:

This 91-page treatise by Cesare Lazzini was submitted to the Istituto Superiore di Studi “Pietro Mascagni” – Livorno in February 2013

Charlie Christian: il pragmatismo in musica

subtitled Viaggio nella vita e nello stile di Charlie Christian, it contains a solid biography and gives an in-depth analysis of some of Charles’ solos with transcribed excerpts of the music.

There are four numbered chapters along with an introduction, methods and intent, conclusions, and a bibliography:

1. Biography

2. Style

3. Analysis

4. Towards Bebop

Istituto Musicali Mascagni

Go to [ and scroll down to Lazzini ]

Musical Analysis Bibliography

The essay is available online here.

July 29, 2018

Charlie Christian’s 102^nd

A couple of new tunes that are now well-known were first recorded in November 1939: Shivers on the “Camel Caravan” radio show and the other, Seven Come Eleven, about two weeks later at a recording studio. The next month, the broadcast tune was recorded at the studio and both tunes were issued the following month back-to-back on a 78-rpm Columbia record.

Transcriptions of both tunes are published today along with the other recorded versions.

Caravan”

Seven Come Eleven	Columbia studio	November 22, 1939

Seven Come Eleven	November 25, 1939

Seven Come Eleven	Mark Hopkins Hotel	May 28, 1940

Shivers	“Camel Caravan”	November 4, 1939

Shivers	Columbia breakdown	December 20, 1939

Shivers	Columbia master take	December 20, 1939

To further commemorate today’s special occasion, complete transcriptions (minus guitar tab) of Charlie Christian’s entire participation on the 78-issued versions of those tunes are also being published.

Columbia 35349 released January 18, 1940:

	Seven Come Eleven	WCO 26286 A	November 22, 1939

	Shivers	WCO 26354 A	December 20, 1939


July 4, 2018				1939 - 1940

	Transcriptions of all five versions (four radio broadcasts and a rejected Columbia studio take) of *AC-DC Current*, an extemporaneous Christian-Hampton composition from fairly early in Charles’ recording career:
	AC-DC CURRENT
		1 2 3 4 5	October 14, 1939 November 27, 1939 December 2, 1939 December 20, 1939 June 30, 1940


June 19, 2018

	*Flying Home* was recorded three times during the “What’s New? - The Old Gold Show” which broadcast the band every Monday between 10 February and 5 May in 1941 on the WJZ radio station. One rendition was recorded on the first day of the program, another was recorded a month later, and the third on the last day of that engagement. These are the transcriptions of Charlie Christian’s solos in those three moments in time. 10 February 1941 Flying Home 10 March 1941 Flying Home 5 May 1941 Flying Home These three transcripts complete the publication on this website of all twelve available versions of Flying Home. Transcriptions Pages

June 10, 2018
	OKLAHOMA HALL OF FAME Charles (Charlie) Henry Christian will be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame on November 15, 2018. The ceremony will be held in Tulsa where Christian will join other inductees including Ralph Ellison, Will Rogers, and Jim Thorpe; more recently, Vicki Miles-LaGrange and Russell Perry, both of Oklahoma City. Induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame is Oklahoma’s highest honor.

	CC photos courtesy of your host, LV https://nondoc.com/2018/05/17/charlie-christian-entering-oklahoma-hall-of-fame/ Charlie Christian will be this year’s only posthumous inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. (In 2000, the rules were changed to allow for posthumous nominations)
	Charles was previously inducted into various “Halls”:
	1966	“Down Beat Hall of Fame”
	1981	“Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame”
	1989	“Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame”
	1990	“Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”
	2002	“Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame”
	2007	“Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame”
	2013	“The VG [Vintage Guitar magazine] Hall of Fame”

2018
Charlie Christian International Music Festival
Organized by BLAC, Inc.

The Charlie Christian International Music Festival is a melodious two-day event that highlights and honors the musical contributions of the jazz guitar legend, Charlie Christian. The event features top-notch performances by jazz, blues, contemporary, Western and old-school gospel musicians. Jam sessions, delicious food, arts & crafts, battle of the bands and more in the Deep Deuce District in Oklahoma City.

May 12, 2018

These five transcriptions complete the publication on this site of the eight available recordings of Flying Home that Charlie Christian recorded with his original sextet. They include a studio date, two concerts, and two radio broadcasts. The line-up includes Hampton, Goodman, Henderson, Bernstein, Fatool except, on the 1940 date, Guarnieri replaces the original pianist. Each and every solo is unique and each and every one is a marvel.

The three previously posted versions of Charles’ composition were two airchecks (one being his first-ever recording) and the studio master take of Flying Home.

Monday, 2 October 1939
Columbia Studios, NYC
V-Disc released as:

Homeward Bound

Terra do Brasil

Homeward Bound

Friday, 6 October 1939
ASCAP 25th Anniversary Concert
Carnegie Hall, NYC

Flying Home

Monday, 16 October 1939
“Empire Room”
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, NYC

Flying Home

Sunday, 24 December 1939
“From Spirituals to Swing”
Carnegie Hall, NYC

Flying Home

Monday, 15 January 1940
Shortwave Broadcast to Scandinavia
NBC Radio City Studios, NYC

Flying Home

May 1, 2018

Transcriptions from 1939

As this most incomparable year came to a close, the last week was a fairly busy one for Charlie Christian.

Sunday, 24 December 1939, started it off with the “From Spirituals to Swing” concert at Carnegie Hall where he played with a couple of groups as well as with the regular sextet. Charles was recorded soloing on seven diverse tunes at this evening’s concert including Way Down Yonder in New Orleans with the “Kansas City Six.”

During the week, the sextet had three gigs at the Empire Room of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel that went unrecorded. The week ended, 30 December 1939, with the band’s final Saturday night on “The Camel Caravan” show broadcast from the NBC Radio City Studios in which Pick-a-Rib was the only sextet tune that was recorded.

Sunday, 24 December 1939
“From Spirituals to Swing”
Carnegie Hall

Way Down Yonder in New Orleans

Solo

Saturday, 30 December 1939
“Camel Caravan”
NBC Radio City Studios

Pick-a-Rib

Theme riffs, Solo, Closing riffs


1939 New York World’s Fair	25 February 1939 Left – Center – Right Chrysler Building – Radio City Studios at RCA Building – Carnegie Hall Far distance New York World’s Fair, Queens, due to open in 2 months	1939 The Camel Caravan

15 Dec 1939

25 Aug 1939

2 Mar 1939

22 Apr 1939; CC&BD - mutual admiration

3 Nov 1939

Outbreak of World War II

April 17, 2018

October 28, 1940
try-out rehearsal at the Columbia Recording Studios in NYC

A ‘dream team’ is assembled to rehearse four tunes with the thought of forming the new eight-man ‘sextet’ that never happened.

These are transcriptions of two takes of Dickie’s Dream and the only take of a blues named Wholly Cats from that session:

Go directly to each transcription title page:

Take 1 – Charlie’s Dream

Take 2 – Lester’s Dream

Take 1 – Wholly Cats

Or go to Transcriptions main page

28 October 1940

April 16, 2018

I Can’t Give You Anything But Love was the sole survivor from a long sextet recording session held on 19 December 1940 that included pianist Kenny Kersey. Here are transcriptions of Charlie Christian’s solos from three takes of that tune:

Go directly to each transcription title page:

I Can’t Give You Anything But Love   first take     (-3)

I Can’t Give You Anything But Love   second take   (-2)

I Can’t Give You Anything But Love   third (master) take   (-1)

Or

go to Transcriptions main page

Columbia 78 released December 18, 1944
b/w Fiesta in Blue

March 17, 2018

September 24, 1939 at the “Harlem Breakfast Club” in Minneapolis.

Jerry Newhouse transported Charlie Christian and tenor saxist Jerry Jerome from their week-long gig at the Orpheum Theater in St. Paul to the after-hours club across the river for a jam with two local musicians, pianist Frankie Hines and bassist Oscar Pettiford. Here are transcriptions of some of Charles’ solos chronicled on Newhouse’s recordings.

Go directly to each transcription title page:

Take 1 – I Got Rhythm

Take 2 – I Got Rhythm

Or go to Transcriptions main page

Minneapolis
1939

March 13, 2018

March 13,1941, Columbia Recording Studios, New York City.
Charlie Christian, with four other members of the ‘sextet,’ was awaiting the arrival of the bassist and clarinet player for a recording session. As they set up their recording equipment, the engineers caught the fantastic music being created while the musicians were riffin’ around.

Here are transcriptions of Charles’ exploits at the beginning of that impromptu recording.

Go directly to each transcription title page:

Riffin’ Around

A Smo-o-o-oth One

Or go to Transcriptions main page

Riffin’ Around
13 March 1941

RIP Russ Solomon
(September 22, 1925 – March 4, 2018)
Founder of Tower Records
Sunset Blvd store was the source of many rare Charlie Christian LPs in the early 1970s

February 25, 2018

December 24, 1939
“From Spiritual to Swing” concert
Carnegie Hall

Oh, Lady Be Good

Transcriptions of Charles’ solos on all three solo choruses and the final chorus

Go to Oh, Lady Be Good

Or go to Transcriptions main page

The New York Times

February 7, 2018

On this day, 78 years ago, Charlie Christian was taking part in Metronome’s annual gathering of the magazine’s poll winners. This one was recorded by Columbia Records. One tune was played by the “Metronome All Star Band” (14 pieces) on which Charles only appeared on rhythm guitar. The other selection was a blues played by the “Metronome All Star Nine” on which Charles took a 12-bar solo on each of three takes of All Star Strut. We now have transcriptions to all three.

Go directly to each transcription title page:

All Star Strut   master take     (A)

All Star Strut   alternate take   (B)

All Star Strut   breakdown

Or

go to Transcriptions main page

released February 1940
b/w King Porter Stomp

January 27, 2018

This special day of memories brings transcriptions of all five bridges of Memories of You.
All are from 1939. The first and last versions listed have not been published before.

Go directly to each transcription title page:

Memories of You   October 7, 1939   “Camel Caravan” broadcast

Memories of You   October 23, 1939     “Empire Room” Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

Memories of You   November 22, 1939     Columbia studio master take (A)

Memories of You   November 22, 1939     Columbia studio alternate take (B)

Memories of You   December 24, 1939     “From Spirituals to Swing” Carnegie Hall concert

Or
go to Transcriptions main page

January 3, 2018

Solography → Transcriptions Link

We kick off the new year with the addition of a handy epigrammatic feature to the Solography section. Tunes that have a transcription published on this site are now marked with a ♫ symbol to the right of the title in the Solography. A mouse-click on the the tune title will beam the catalyst to the corresponding transcription title page in the Transcriptions section.

Go to Solography

Tunes → Transcriptions Link

The Tune Title Index is also linked to tunes that have a transcription published on this site and are now marked with a ♫ symbol immediately below the tune title. Click on the the tune title.

Go to Tune Title Index

December 31, 2017

Topping off the year we have two brand new transcriptions

From the extraordinary informal session recorded prior to a Columbia recording date, an extraordinary solo that deserves greater recognition. A transcription of this tune has never been published before:

Go to “I Hadn’t Anyone Till You” (13 Mar 1941) transcription page

Transcriptions of this tune have been published before but never with the actual tab as executed by Charlie Christian:

Go to “I Never Knew” (28 Oct 1940) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

December 26, 2017

Charlie Christian Transcription Pages

With the dispatch of Rose Room, Stompin’ at the Savoy, and Topsy this month, a nearly year-long project has been completed. All of the transcriptions published on this site have been updated using the latest digital technology to review the recordings of Charlie Christian’s solos.

Some of the charts had been transcribed more than forty years ago from noisy analog sources that were not suitable for easy manipulation. Still, a few of the recordings were so poorly done that it was difficult to discern Charles’ guitar from the source noise and background clamor but most recordings were commercially done and easily heard. The accuracy of the transcriptions has been improved with very satisfying results.

As additional transcriptions are uploaded to this site the music sheets will be evaluated prior to preparation for publication.

Go to Transcriptions main page

November 26, 2017

A book containing a chapter featuring Charlie Christian has recently come to our attention:

This 312-page book by Andrew S. Berish was published by The University of Chicago Press on 15 April 2012

Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams

is subtitled Place, Mobility, and Race in Jazz of the 1930s and '40s which gives a good clue as to the subject matter – travel, race, music. There are four chapters, along with an introduction and conclusion, with Chapter Four being “Travels with Charlie Christian: Between Region and Nation.” The other three chapters focus on white bandleader Jan Garber, black bandleader Duke Ellington, white saxophonist Charlie Barnet.

Evidently a meaningful treatise of scholarly writings (originated as dissertation) on musical and cultural life in the United States during the swing era. Includes significant musicological analyses of the artists’ recordings.

Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams: Place, Mobility, and Race in Jazz of the 1930s and '40s
by Andrew S. Berish (professor at the University of South Florida)
hardcover/softcover book (6x9") also available as e-book
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Cloth ISBN: 9780226044941
Paper ISBN: 9780226044958
E-book ISBN: 9780226044965

Recommended by Engineer/Guitarist Byron Towle of ByTone Amps.

Go to [ and scroll down to Berish]

Musical Analysis Bibliography

October 6, 2017

The transcriptions of both broadcast versions of Charlie Christian’s guitar concerto Solo Flight are now on site:

Go to “Solo Flight” (3 Mar 1941) transcription page

Go to “Solo Flight” (June 1941) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

The transcriptions of both studio versions of Solo Flight have been digitally reviewed and revised:

Go to “Solo Flight” (4 Mar 1941 - master) transcription page

Go to “Solo Flight” (4 Mar 1941 - alternate) transcription page

also: All five recordings of Honeysuckle Rose have been reassessed digitally and the transcriptions updated.
see Transcriptions

September 9, 2017

Downs Bibliography update:

This 192-page book of guitar transcriptions by Paul Silbergleit was published by Hal Leonard in November 2015:

25 Great Jazz Guitar Solos

Along with those of two dozen other guitarists including Django, Wes, and Kenny Burrell, the book contains a transcription of one of Charles’ I Found a New Baby solos.

Includes standard notation and tablature; also provides the innovation of online audio with speed and pitch control.

A well produced collection that holds more than just transcriptions.

25 Great Jazz Guitar Solos
by Paul Silbergleit
softcover book (9x12") with online audio demonstrations
Publisher: Hal Leonard
ISBN: 9781458453938
UPC: 884088656416

Go to Solos Bibliography section. [ Scroll down to Silbergleit ]

also: Description of Dennis Schütze’s excellent thesis, which has been listed in the solos bibliography since publication, has been added to the Musical Analysis Bibliography.

Go to Musical Analysis Bibliography [ Scroll down to Schütze ]

August 16, 2017

The transcription of Charlie Christian’s solo and interlude on the completed version of “Untitled Tune” is up:

Go to “Untitled Tune” (completed take) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

See also “Untitled Tune” (breakdown) transcription page

July 29, 2017

101st anniversary of Charlie Christian’s birth

also: The recordings of the Sheik foursome have been reassessed digitally and the transcriptions are updated. see Transcriptions

July 1, 2017
Downs Bibliography update:

Yasushi Kuboki’s second CC book was released by Ritter Music (Tokyo) on 16 September 2016:

The Legend of Charlie Christian
Contains transcriptions, all with guitar tablature, of eight CC solos; musical analysis of solos; solography; plus five other chapters.

Text in Japanese

The Legend of Charlie Christian
by Yasushi Kuboki
softcover with CD
Ritter Music
ISBN: 9784845628599

Go to Solos Bibliography section. [ Scroll down to Kuboki (2016) ]

Go to Musical Analysis Bibliography [ Scroll down to Kuboki ]

nota bene: The transcriptions of both takes of I Surrender, Dear have been re-done. see Transcriptions

June 19, 2017

The two takes of Charlie Christian’s winsome solos on As Long as I Live are now on site:

Go to “As Long as I Live” (master) transcription page

Go to “As Long as I Live” (alt. take) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

May 12, 2017

Grand Slam was released, as Boy Meets Goy (on a couple of issues it was later titled Boy Meets Girl), on 78-rpm the month following its recording. Through the years, it has been reissued frequently, by far most often by its more suitable title. However, the alternate take remained in Columbia’s vaults (now Sony’s) for 62 years before it was issued in the 4-CD “Gibson guitar amp” box set – so far it’s been released only on this set or its one reissue. Now, 15 years after its box-set release, the transcription of the much neglected edition is finally being added to this site. We present the documented Grand Slam, take A:

Go to “Grand Slam” (alt. take) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

The master take of Grand Slam has also been digitally reviewed and the transcript was given an up-date
(Chip Henderson has also transcribed and published both takes – see the Clive Downs Solos Bibliography)

May 6, 2017

A couple of years ago, Joe Weidlich published an appealing book entitled
Trading Licks: Charlie Christian & T-Bone Walker
analyzing the musical commonality of the electric jazz guitarist and the electric blues guitarist. Charted examples are provided. Included are over a dozen transcriptions – some complete, some are just riffs, all with tab – of CC’s solos. A CD with 83 selected audio examples is also included.
Attractive, interesting, and enjoyable.

Trading Licks: Charlie Christian & T-Bone Walker
by Joseph Weidlich
116-page softcover with CD
Centerstream Publications ($24.99)
ISBN: 978-1-57424-314-7
UPC: 8 88680 05936 1

Go to Musical Analysis Bibliography [ Scroll down to Weidlich ]

Go to Solos Bibliography section. [ Scroll down to Weidlich ]

April 25, 2017

Tea for Two at The Harlem Breakfast Club

Initially transcribed 36 years ago from tape taken from Jerry Newhouse’s original recordings using archaic playback equipment of the time, Charles’ intro and solo on Tea for Two have now been revised by an substantially more experienced transcriber and re-posted to this site. The recently issued Uptown “Electric” CD was used along with current audio software for the revised edition. Unfortunately, Uptown has been “cleaned up” to such a digital extreme that the Masters of Jazz (volume 9) CD had to also be referenced to make sense of some of the solo passages. The MoJ disc sounds much like Jerry’s original. Both CD’s are somewhat high pitched, by the way.

Go to “Tea for Two” transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

April 17, 2017

Charlie Christian’s Flying Home was about to become one of most popular and most recorded tune in the sextet’s repertoire. The first time it was recorded was at The Hollywood Bowl on the the first “Camel Caravan” radio program Charles had participated in after joining the sextet. This second recording of the tune was taken three weeks later on another of the “Camel Caravan” weekly radio broadcasts – this time performed in a radio studio in Manhattan during a break from an unrecorded week-long gig at the memorable 1939 New York World’s Fair.

A transcription of Charles’ second Flying Home solo is here:

Go to “Flying Home” (9 Sep 1939) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

April 16, 2017

CHARLES CHRISTIAN DEBUTS AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL

Only three days after his audition, Charlie Christian found himself sitting in the limelight at the legendary amphitheater up in the Hollywood Hills with the famous sign looming behind and a huge audience in front of him. The sextet had supplanted the band on stage and was about to perform the guitarist’s own composition, Flying Home, on the air. One can only speculate as to whatever anxiety the unassuming young man may have felt on his first formal gig in the “big time” but if there had been any trepidation present it must have vanished at the sound of the first note of music. Charles was an absolute marvel – the consummate musician in complete command of his domain.

A transcription of Charles’ first recorded solo is presented here:

Go to “Flying Home” (19 Aug 1939) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

March 17, 2017

Another tune from the “America in Swingtime” program broadcast by WNYC on February 19, 1941 was Flying Home which followed immediately after the Rose Room fragment that I added to the transcription pages three months ago. This version of Flying Home contains five choruses instead of the usual four and has never been released in any format.

Charles was in exceptional form at this radio studio American Music Festival session and takes a brilliant full-chorus solo, one of the best on this oft-recorded sextet piece.

Go to “Flying Home” (19 Feb 1941) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

February 25, 2017

The five-page transcription of the epical Rose Room studio jam from 13 March 1941 has been revised. The standard notation has only been changed in a couple of places – the fingering has been adjusted in several places on each page. The original transcription had been initially taken from vinyl about thirty-five years ago. Obviously much has changed in recording and playback technology since then.

Nothing compares to listening to a Charlie Christian solo on a 78-rpm record … but when it comes to transcribing a solo you just can’t beat digital. Even though the warmth and true sonority of the analog music is lost, almost all the clicks, hiss, and crackle have been eliminated by taking the master straight to digital format.

Playback manipulation is where the huge advantage comes in though. Gone are the days when, if you wanted to listen closely to a passage at a reduced speed, the only realistic option was cutting the speed in half but having to also lower the pitch an octave. That’s how the previously uploaded Rose Room transcription had been taken – off a Blu-Disc LP. Either the turntable could be run at half speed (if equipped with 16 2/3-rpm) and recorded at that speed or the recorder could be run at half speed on playback. Then the reel-to-reel tape had to be laboriously played and rewound to an inexact position over and over again – back and forth … .

Now, with our digital paraphernalia, various playback speeds are available while retaining the same pitch – and replaying a selection is instantaneous and precise. Delightful. One can now concentrate on the task at hand. It also helps to have thirty-five years of further experience in transcribing and playing CC.

A shame that the beautiful musicality of the fast-spinning shellac record wasn’t retained with the conversion to the digital configuration.

Go to “Rose Room” transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

February 5, 2017

'Round about September of last year, a significant book on Charles was published with complete transcriptions of solos from studio and live performances including “comparisons of solos from multiple takes and sessions.”

Charlie Christian: Selected Solos from the Father of Modern Jazz Guitar

Guitarist/educator Chip Henderson has compiled/translated 37 versions of tunes recorded by Charlie Christian of which eleven had not been published commercially before. These transcriptions are on a par with the best that have been previously done. This a most worthy manuscript – a bargain, actually, for such a vast enterprising endeavor.

Guitar tabs are included with all the transcriptions – in standard fingering which the author dubs a “chord grip” approach which in essence is the modus operandi of most guitar soloists since the advent; he also states that he believes the fingerings presented are “the ones Charlie used.” Notations and tabs are all well done.

(A snide aside for the cognoscenti: This by-the-book fingering method is definitely best for a tutorial – we certainly don't want to scare off the beginner with any of Charles’ wild and daunting self-taught manipulations flying all over the fretboard.)

Transcribed titles:

As Long As I Live (2 versions)
Benny's Bugle (8 versions)
Flying Home (5 versions)
Gone with 'What' Wind (4 versions)
Good Enough to Keep (6 versions)
Grand Slam (2 versions)
Honeysuckle Rose (2 versions)
I Found a New Baby (2 versions)
Rose Room (3 versions)
The Sheik of Araby (3 versions)

Charlie Christian: Selected Solos from the Father of Modern Jazz Guitar

Compiled/Transcribed by Chip Henderson

104 pp soft cover

Van Nuys: Alfred Music
ISBN: 978-1470633493
Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.8 inches

The esteemed musicologist Clive Downs has updated the Bibliography section accordingly:

Go to Musical Analysis Bibliography [ Scroll down to Henderson ]

Go to Solos Bibliography section. [ Scroll down to Henderson ]

[ Your host had added some reference notes in the Analysis of Solos sub-section to facilitate the identification of the various renditions ]

December 7, 2016

“America in Swingtime” featuring Benny Goodman and his Sextet was broadcast by WNYC on February 19, 1941 as part of the radio station's American Music Festival. Fortunately, most of the program was recorded and stored in the New York City Municipal Archives. Four years ago it was publicly re-broadcast for the first time since the original airing.

The recording started at the tail end of “Rose Room” with Charlie Christian concluding his solo. A transcription of that five-bar solo fragment has been added to the Transcriptions Section.

Go to “Rose Room” transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

October 6, 2016

There was one other noteworthy release during our seven year absence – a CD issued in July 2011 that presents, for the first time, 17 of Jerry Newhouse’s memorable recordings just as he originally recorded them on location or from broadcasts:

“Charlie Christian — Electric”
Uptown Records UPCD 27.63

Total Time is listed as 54:48; includes an exceptional 28-page booklet with very few typos and no major gaffes (I suppose Auld and Jerome do share a resemblance). Only quibble that I would have is that, in the booklet, too much is made of Charles’ slight association with western swing – an exaggeration that has appeared in a couple of other publications as well.

There are no new CC solos here that haven't been issued previously, but this release has, finally, all the tracks accurately set. Highly recommended.

cover photo: 22 September 1940 – sittin’-in with Harlan Leonard’s band
Lincoln Hall, Kansas City, en route to NYC

“New digital transfers from the Original Newhouse Acetates.”

UPTOWN "Flashback Series"		UPCD 27.63	CD	USA	2011		56:36
	CHARLIE CHRISTIAN — ELECTRIC				Original JERRY NEWHOUSE Recordings
	CHARLIE CHRISTIAN QUARTET / 1939 AFTER HOURS JAM SESSION
1	TEA FOR TWO				4:54	[Jam]	SEPTEMBER 24, 1939
2	STAR DUST				5:44	[Jam]	SEPTEMBER 24, 1939
3	I GOT RHYTHM	[Take 2]			3:34	[Jam]	SEPTEMBER 24, 1939
4	I GOT RHYTHM	[Take 1]			3:33	[Jam]	SEPTEMBER 24, 1939
	BENNY GOODMAN SEXTET / 1939-1940 BROADCASTS
5	FLYING HOME				3:06	[Aircheck]	AUGUST 19, 1939
6	MEMORIES OF YOU				3:16	[Aircheck]	OCTOBER 7, 1939
7	AC-DC CURRENT				2:38	[Aircheck]	OCTOBER 14, 1939
8	FLYING HOME				3:11	[Aircheck]	OCTOBER 16, 1939
9	SHIVERS				2:53	[Aircheck]	NOVEMBER 4, 1939
10	SEVEN COME ELEVEN (ROAST TURKEY STOMP)				2:43	[Aircheck]	NOVEMBER 25, 1939
11	AC-DC CURRENT				2:29	[Aircheck]	NOVEMBER 27, 1939
12	AC-DC CURRENT				2:18	[Aircheck]	DECEMBER 2, 1939
13	DINAH				3:06	[Aircheck]	DECEMBER 16, 1939
14	GONE WITH "WHAT" WIND				3:34	[Aircheck]	MARCH 19, 1940
15	THE SHEIK OF ARABY				3:58	[Aircheck]	APRIL 12, 1940
16	THE SHEIK OF ARABY			< complete Newhouse recording >	2:49	[Aircheck]	APRIL 26, 1940
17	SIX APPEAL				2:44	[Aircheck]	JUNE 22, 1940

Outstanding work. This is how such priceless historic music should always be conveyed to the public. Highest recommendation for the presentation of the music.

September 25, 2016

The Photo Gallery has been given a momentous, long-overdue update

Number of photos increased by ~ 44% !

Go to Photo Gallery

September 15, 2016

Updates to the Musical Analysis subsection of the bibliographies by noted author and musicologist Clive Downs
describing recent works by:

• Roberto Colombo

• Marcello Piras

• Shawn Salmon

Go to Musical Analysis Bibliography

September 9, 2016

Goodman’s private collection was bequeathed to the Yale University Music Library and, since the late 1980s, the library had been issuing and reissuing items that were recorded between the mid-1950s and the mid-1980s so the release of these recordings from an entirely different era was rather unexpected.

An essential release that kinda got lost in the shuffle during our relocation was a two-CD set containing two previously unissued recordings from a radio broadcast featuring Charlie Christian with the Sextet:

JANUARY 15, 1940 Shortwave Broadcast to Scandinavia NBC Radio Network, NYC

Benny Goodman Sextet: Charlie Christian, Benny Goodman-clt, Lionel Hampton-vib,
Johnny Guarnieri-p, Artie Bernstein-b, Nick Fatool-d.

FLYING HOME

theme w/ ens – 16, 8 bars (clt brk),
♪ 32-bar solo,
chord accents behind vib – 16, 8 bars + riffs on brk,
riffs w/ ens – 16, 8 bars (clt brk).

STAR DUST

♪ 32-bar solo.

Yale Archives, Vol. 11-12: NBC Broadcast Recordings Jazz Heritage Society 5291134:			It was also released as part of a box set The Complete Yale Music Archives Musical Heritage Society 1410253:


A couple of years later the double-CD was reissued as Yale Archives, Vols. 11 & 12: NBC Broadcast Recordings, 1936-1943 Jazz Heritage Society 5262997:			The U.K. version was volume five on Nimbus NI 2734/35:

These were the only two titles recorded on this date and, as far as I know, there’s no other place to get these two recordings.

There is also a third CC track on here: Gone With What Draft (Feb 24, 1941 – previously released and readily available).

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Jazz Heritage Society for a few more CD details

September 5, 2016

A recent CD release:

First Star of the Electric Guitar
Last year brought a CD of interest: Charlie Christian 'live' listing a couple of titles that were not known to be in his repertoire. Turns out that Charles is not even on 20% of the tracks. Cute idea to show what the Goodman sextet sounded like with guitarists prior to his arrival on the scene: Track one has a typically good guitar solo by Leonard Ware followed by three tracks with the western-swing picking of George Rose. It definitely succeeds in demonstrating how the sextet’s rinky-dink sound was instantly transported to an entirely new era by Charlie Christian…but two tracks certainly would have sufficed, especially since not all of those tracks even have a guitar solo. Then there's Ain’t Misbehavin’ which is a guest showcase for Louis Armstrong exclusively (this makes 25% of the CD tracks without a CC solo) – at least Charles can be prominently heard on rhythm guitar on this one. Reckon it had to be included so that Armstrong's name could be used, top of the list, on the cover. As to the most intriguing title on the roster: track 16 – “Honeysuckle Rose Jam” clocking in at 5:14. Well, it is a jam alright but it's on Oh, Lady Be Good from the Christmas Eve concert, and the reason it's listed with that time is that it's been hacked down even more than before. The liner notes read “The version included here has been edited to better showcase the brilliant guitar work of Christian throughout.” That’s all well and good and we should find no offense in that statement … but we would expect that surely a copy of this recording could have been tracked down that did not have Charles’ third chorus already edited out! One can’t hardly showcase someone's brilliant work when a big chunk of the solo is chopped off, can one? By the way, the other choruses that were removed also took out almost all of Charles’ rhythm guitar work on the tune. Here’s a graphic of the surgery: spliced recording (then click on UP if you wish to compare with other versions) All of the CC tracks are from broadcasts or concerts prior to the long summer-of-1940 break halfway through his career with the Goodman sextet. Attractive packaging, nice booklet with a rare photo of the sextet at the Catalina Casino; and First Star of the Electric Guitar has a nice ring to it. Good idea but poor execution where it really counts though. A shame since this imprint has put out a lot of very good stuff in the past. Someone didn’t do their homework this time, Wayne. Can't recommend this one even though it has two legitimate titles that are very rarely issued. It’s one more CC CD that leaves you scratching your head – What the …
	Oh, Lady Be Good is here on two tracks, one with CC, one without
Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Mr. Music for a few more details on this CD

August 31, 2016

The Bibliographies sections have been updated to include items released during our hiatus.

Among those are entries for works by:

Jan Evensmo – a significant update of his innovative CC Solography from the 1970s. Essential.

Roberto G. Colombo – in-depth book on Charles: Il Chitarrista di Jazz.

Koji Ishizawa – some solo transcriptions.

Go to Bibliographies section.

For Evensmo, go to Solographies subsection.

Colombo
Good Read
Best enjoyed if fluent in the Italian language,
in music, and in philosophy

August 5, 2016

Instated:

“ 78-rpm Records ”

A brand new section detailing the Charlie Christian singles from the early days

Go to 78-rpm Records

Bonham, Texas sign
Bonham, Texas sign

July 29, 2016 Charlie Christian’s 100^th Birthday Anniversary

“Solo Flight: The Charlie Christian Legacy”

* website reactivated *

now located at the alluvium of the Superstition Mountains with our own unique internet domain name

you might like to scan the Chronology page to view some of the activities since last we met
and the Links page for the NPR centennial broadcast and a special podcast from London (interview in Spanish, music in Music)

INTERMISSION

January 2009

“Solo Flight: The Charlie Christian Web Site”

* temporarily inactivated *

Shut down due to relocation from the Chihuahuan Desert to the Sonoran Desert
(the same ISP Web service is not available at the new location)

August 12, 2008

The BG alternate takes CD released by Riki Parth’s (RP) Neatwork label (Austria) has been added to the Solography/Discography sections:

Benny Goodman: The Alternative Takes, Vol. 4
(1939-1940)

Neatwork RP 2067

There hadn’t been much urgency in listing this CD due to the spotty history of prior releases by the label and this one is no exception. For the period covered by this CD, there are four alternate takes that are not included:

October 2, 1939            Flying Home (aka Homeward Bound)
November 22, 1939      Soft Winds
April 10, 1940               I Surrender, Dear
April 10, 1940               Grand Slam

Curiously, two snippets of I Surrender, Dear are included but not the complete alternate take.

There have been some inquiries received about the contents of this CD so here it is. The last six CC tracks recorded in April 1940 list the date that the matrix number was assigned rather than the recording date. There are seven additional tracks at the end of the disc dating from 1933 thru 1938. This was one of the last releases by the label and it doesn’t look like there are any more coming.

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section:

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Neatwork RP 2067

Neatwork BG alternative takes CD

July 29, 2008 Charlie Christian’s 92^nd Birthday Anniversary

The “Chronology” section has been updated to include events of the past year.

Go to Chronology page

One of those events was telecast by an OKC station and here’s a clip of the tribute from a couple of months ago:

Go to JALC Hall of Fame celebration

July 4, 2008

Updated the Biographical Bibliography page to include recent Charlie Christian DVDs:

Go to Video and Film

June 30, 2008

Coming up next month:

The 2008 Charlie Christian International Music Festival

July 30 through August 2, 2008

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

July 30th (Wednesday): Jam Session at the Bricktown Brewery at 7:30 pm
July 31st (Thursday): Battle of the Bands at the Bricktown Brewery at 7:30 pm
August 1st (Friday): The Jazz Explosion at the Rose State Performing Arts Center at 7:30 pm
August 2nd (Saturday): Outdoor Street Festival (great ethnic food & music workshops) on Reno Avenue
Cultural Tours: Visit the “Deep Deuce” area where Charlie Christian grew up and played!

produced by: Charlie Christian Productions

for additional information call BLAC Inc (405) 524-3800

May 2, 2008

A transcription of Charlie Christian’s eight-bar solo break on “I’m Confessin’” has been added to the Transcriptions Section along with Comments & Analyses. This is from a studio session on December 20, 1939 and the only known take of this tune.

Go to “I’m Confessin’” transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

April 21, 2008

Galaxy Music Ltd (The Netherlands) CD aircheck compilation:

Charly Christian and The Benny Goodman Sextet

Galaxy 3899442

Contains 16 tracks (one with the full orchestra) of broadcasts in chronological order and, except for the packaging, is identical to a 1993 CD reissue on Archives of Jazz 380123 2.

Discographical information on the insert is minimal, listing only the tune title and the recording time. Full details have been entered in the Solography and Discography sections on this site:

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Galaxy 3899442

(This CD is listed on several on-line sites misleadingly entitled “At The Rose Room New York 1939” — it’s not a recommended release — the fidelity is not at all good and there are very loud pops on three tracks)

Galaxy 3899442

Also added were discographical data on a double-CD issued by Frémeaux & Associés (France) containing only three tracks with Charlie Christian on board with the sextet. Details have been entered in the Solography and Discography sections: Benny Goodman—The Quintessence, catalog number FA 244.

February 17, 2008

Updated the Links page:

Go to Links

February 2, 2008

Last month, Shinko Music Entertainment published a book featuring Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt:

Jazz Guitar Book, Vol. 16

ISBN 978-4-401-63169-8, 130 pages, 7x10 inches, soft cover.
Published quarterly (more or less) for ¥ 2,100 (approximately $20⁰⁰).
Standard music notation with tablature, solo analyses (all in Japanese).

The Charlie Christian section has two complete solo transcriptions and thirteen extracted phrases.

Transcription titles are identified in the Bibliographies section.

Shinko Music

November 15, 2007

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (New York) recently published a book by Dunstan Prial entitled

The Producer: John Hammond and The Soul of American Music.

It's a biography of John Hammond; 347 pages which includes about a dozen pages on Charlie Christian and several mentions of CC throughout the book. [ISBN 0-374-11304-1]

April 26, 2007

Coming up next month:

The 2007 Charlie Christian International Jazz Festival

May 31 (Thursday) through June 10 (Sunday), 2007

in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Dedication ceremony of the renaming of Byers Avenue to Charlie Christian Avenue
will be on June 5th at 3:00 pm

produced by: Charlie Christian Productions

for additional information call BLAC Inc (405) 524-3800

April 14, 2007

Updated the Links page:

Go to Links

March 13, 2007

Here are two recent Charlie Christian releases from Europe:

This 2-CD set was released two months ago
by the French label Le chant du monde:

Charlie Christian—Blues in B

Le Chant du Monde 274 1459.60

Contains 40 tracks with recordings from Columbia, Blue Note, RCA, and Vocalion as well as jam sessions, radio broadcasts, a studio rehearsal, and a concert.

The 10-page booklet is written in both English and French. The discographical information in the booklet appears to have been taken from this site.

(Listed as “Blues in Le” on amazon.com — due to the style of the cursive script on the cover)

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section:

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Le Chant du Monde
(It is listed under “L” not “C”)

274 1459.60

This single CD was released about a year ago on the well-known label by Disconforme S.L. which is based in Spain but licensed in Andorra for copyright convenience:

Charlie Christian: The Genius of the Electric Guitar
[that title yet one more time]

Definitive DRCD11288

Contains 19 tracks with recordings from Columbia, two tracks from the studio jam (the two usual ones), and three tracks from the jam sessions at Minton’s.

The 8-page booklet is written in English. The discographical information in the booklet were taken from my site, as was the single photograph. Included are copies of Charles’ birth and death certificates — probably also from this site.

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section:

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Definitive DRCD11288

DRCD11288

December 9, 2006

On 5 December 2006, a street in the Bricktown section of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was renamed:

“Charlie Christian Avenue”

Previously it was the part of Byers Avenue that was north of Interstate 40 and the North Canadian River which separated the two disconnected sections of Byers; between Lincoln Blvd and Geary Ave, running from Reno Ave to 2nd St.
Next to where Charles’ Douglass High School once stood.

For more information go to The Oklahoman

October 2, 2006

Transcriptions of Charlie Christian’s 32-bar solos on “The Sheik of Araby” which were recorded at The Cocoanut Grove nightclub from broadcasts on 12 & 26 April 1940 have been added along with Comments & Analyses.

Go to “The Sheik of Araby” 12 April 1940 transcription page

Go to “The Sheik of Araby” 26 April 1940 transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

September 15, 2006

Transcriptions of Charlie Christian’s intros, verses, solos, and fours from the master and alternate takes (three pages of each) of “The Sheik of Araby” which were recorded in Hollywood on 3 April 1940 have been added to the Transcriptions Section along with Comments & Analyses.
          — 16-bar verse intro
          — 32-bar solo
          — two 4-bar solos (trading fours on final chorus)

Go to “The Sheik of Araby” Master Take A transcription page

Go to “The Sheik of Araby” Alternate Take B transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

September 7, 2006

Transcriptions of Charlie Christian’s solos on the master and alternate takes of “I Surrender, Dear” which was recorded in Hollywood on 10 April 1940 have been added to the Transcriptions Section along with Comments & Analyses.

Go to “I Surrender, Dear” Master Take B transcription page

Go to “I Surrender, Dear” Alternate Take A transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

August 29, 2006

Comments & Analysis have been added to the “Honeysuckle Rose (Up on Teddy’s Hill)” seven-page transcription.
Tablature has been changed to reflect CC’s actual fingering.

Go to “Honeysuckle Rose ” May 1941 transcription pages

Or go to Transcriptions main page

July 29, 2006 Charlie Christian’s 90^th Birthday Anniversary

For this year’s anniversary Clive Downs has contributed three recent publications to the Bibliography section:

New items in Clive Downs’ Biographical (section 1) Bibliography
— Goins & McKinney (2005) – “A Biography of Charlie Christian:
      Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing”
      440-page hardcover book
        (see March 7, 2005 below)

New items in Clive Downs’ Musical Analysis (section 3) Bibliography
— Ayeroff (2005) – “Swing to Bop:
      The Music of Charlie Christian, Pioneer of the Electric Guitar”
      237-page softcover book
      with 2-CD demo
        (see November 26, 2005 below)
— Dochtermann (2005) – “The Charlie Christian Method”
      44-page softcover book with CD demo

New items in Clive Downs’ Notated Solos Bibliography
— Dochtermann (2005) – 10 partial or complete transcriptions

CC Method

May 31, 2006

A reminder regarding next week:

The 2006 Charlie Christian International Jazz Festival

June 6 (Tuesday) through June 11 (Sunday), 2006

at Bricktown in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

produced by: Charlie Christian Productions

for more information call BLAC Inc (405) 524-3800

May 8, 2006

The 4-CD box set Charlie Christian: The Genius of the Electric Guitar (Columbia/Legacy C4K 65564) originally released in 2002 has been selected by Christopher Porterfield as one of the “7 GREATEST JAZZ CDS” — in the 15 May issue of Time magazine.

An excerpt from page 66:

“In the years B.C. (Before Christian), the jazz guitar was mostly a rhythm instrument. In his hands, it emerged as a brilliantly lyrical solo voice, one that echoes in virtually every electric guitarist who has followed. Christian’s death from tuberculosis at 25 made him one of jazz’s greatest might-have-beens. This four-disc package—largely his 1939-41 appearances as a precocious star of Benny Goodman’s combos—proves that he was one of jazz’s greatest, period.”

C4K 65564

January 25, 2006

A new session with Charlie Christian on rhythm guitar has been added to this site. Charles recorded four tunes for the Columbia label on 16 January 1941 with vocal group The Charioteers. Walter Page (bass) and Jo Jones (drums) were also enlisted for the session. James Sherman, one of The Charioteers, is on piano.

Scott Wenzel, producer for Mosaic Records, discovered the session documented in the Columbia ledgers at Sony.

Go to Solography and scroll down to January 16, 1941

January 5, 2006

A transcription of Charlie Christian’s intro & solo on “Honeysuckle Rose” broadcast from the Catalina Casino in June of 1940 has been added to the Transcriptions Section along with Comments & Analysis.

The three other takes of “Honeysuckle Rose” with the sextet & orchestra get Comments & Analysis and CC tablature.

Go to “Honeysuckle Rose” 22 November 1939 transcription page

Go to “Honeysuckle Rose” 24 December 1939 transcription page

Go to “Honeysuckle Rose” 22 June 1940 transcription page

Go to “Honeysuckle Rose” 19 November 1940 transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

December 23, 2005

The Annual Charlie Christian International Jazz Festival

June 8 - 11, 2006

Bricktown - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

produced by: Charlie Christian Productions

for more information call BLAC INC (405) 524-3800

December 10, 2005

Both takes of “Profoundly Blue” get the Comments & Analysis and CC tablature treatment this time.
Four-bar chord intros and three-chorus blues solos by Charles on each take.

Go to “Profoundly Blue” (master take) transcription page

Go to “Profoundly Blue” (alternate take) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

December 5, 2005

Nocturne (France) has released a 2-CD, long-book compilation from some of the same people that brought you the Masters of Jazz (Media 7) series:

Charlie Christian

BD Jazz JZBD022

Contains 31 tracks (one of the tracks contains six tunes from a studio jam) with recordings from Columbia and Blue Note, jam sessions, a studio rehearsal, and a concert.

The 32-page booklet contains an amusing bande dessinï¿½e (comic strip) biography of Charlie Christian albeit neither historically nor politically correct. The discographical information in the booklet was taken from my site. Nocturne provides a web page at BD Jazz JZBD022.

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section:

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to BD Jazz

Jampur Fraize

November 26, 2005

Mel Bay Publications has just published an excellent book of solo transcriptions and analyses by Stan Ayeroff. There are 39 transcriptions of solos that Charlie Christian recorded with the Goodman sextet, at the “Spirituals to Swing” concert, the “Profoundly Blue” session for Blue Note, and jam sessions at the Harlem Breakfast Club, Minton’s, and Monroe’s.

The first part of the book has basic to advanced guitar instructions. The second part has the analyses along with solo transcriptions with labels identifying each solo analysis. The third part has the same 39 transcriptions with string and finger markers replacing the analysis labels. The author wishes to encourage the reading of standard music notation therefore no tablature is included.

Transcriptions:
Ad-Lib Blues, Good Morning Blues, Guy’s Got to Go, Honeysuckle Rose I, Honeysuckle Rose II, Honeysuckle Rose III, I Got Rhythm, I Never Knew, I’m Confessin, I Found a New Baby I, I Found a New Baby II, Ida Sweet as Apple Cider, Jamming in Four, Lips Flips, Oh Lady Be Good (complete 3 choruses + bridge), On the Alamo, Paging the Devil, Poor Butterfly, Profoundly Blue I, Profoundly Blue II, Riffin’ Around (!), Rose Room I, Rose Room II, Rose Room III, Royal Garden Blues I, Royal Garden Blues II, Royal Garden Blues III, Swing to Bop, The Sheik of Araby I, The Sheik of Araby II, The Sheik of Araby III, Tea for Two, These Foolish Things I, These Foolish Things II, These Foolish Things III, Untitled Tune I, Untitled Tune II, Up on Teddy’s Hill, Way Down Yonder in New Orleans.

This is the second book on Charlie Christian that Ayeroff has written. The first had 20 transcriptions, 14 of which are also included in the new book. The transcriptions in both books are very similar but not identical.

Go to Solos Bibliography
scroll down to Ayeroff (2005)
for list of transcriptions (section 1)
for description of each transcription (section 2)

Swing to Bop: The Music of Charlie Christian

by Stan Ayeroff

ISBN 0-7866-7319-2, 240 pages, 9x12 inches, standard music notation, playing instructions with some fretboard diagram grids, detailed solo analysis, transcriptions with left-hand finger indicators.

Two demo CDs are included with slow and fast versions of each transcription recorded by the author.

Additional information is at Mel Bay Publications.

Best price available is at Guitar Gallery Music.

Swing to Bop

November 17, 2005

The tracks in the Proper box set mentioned below (October 28) have now been entered in the Solography and Discography sections. The 44-page illustrated booklet contains a short biography and commentary on the tunes by Joop Visser and a complete discography. However, “I Found a New Baby” is listed as the master take (1) on disc 2, track 14 but is actually the alternate take (2) and “Soft Winds” on disc 3, track 8 is in fact “AC-DC Current” from a week earlier (Visser also mentions it as “Soft Winds” in the notes).

The selections could be been better—what is the point of including three versions of “Gone with What Draft” and “Star Dust”? And surely they could have found something other than “Li’l Boy Love.”

Charlie Christian: The Original Guitar Genius is nicely packaged but at least one track had some sound distortion.

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to ProperBox 98

October 28, 2005

Proper Music (UK) will release a 4-CD box set compilation on
October 31:

Charlie Christian: The Original Guitar Genius

ProperBox 98

Contains 84 tracks with studio recordings from Columbia, Blue Note, and one from RCA on the first two discs and live sessions on the third and fourth discs.

The discographical information in the booklet was taken from my site. Full details will be entered in the Solography and Discography sections as soon as I can verify the takes. [done—see Nov 17 entry above]

Proper Music provides a discography and track listing: ProperBox 98

Thanks to musicologist Fer Urbina for alerting me to this item

The Original Guitar Genius

September 28, 2005

Centerstream has just published a solo analysis book:

The Guitar Chord Shapes of Charlie Christian

by Joseph Weidlich

ISBN 1-57424-149-4, 96 pages, 9x12 inches, standard music notation, some tablature, chord diagram grids, solo analyses.
A 93-track, computer-generated, demo CD is included.

Joe Weidlich: “The purpose of this book is to present some of the common licks often used by Charlie Christian in the basic chord shapes of F, D and A…”

No actual solos transcriptions are notated — only 1- to 4-bar unidentified phrases, each with a short analysis.

Centerstream Publications is distributed by Hal Leonard.

Coincidently released within days of a CC biography
(see 7 March 2005 entry below).

details forthcoming here in the Musical Analysis Bibliography

Guitar Chord Shapes

July 29, 2005 Charlie Christian’s 89^th Birthday Anniversary

The two-chorus solo transcription of “Star Dust” from the Harlem Breakfast Club has been reviewed using 24-bit technology and revised.

Go to Star Dust transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

Yet another pointless European CD compilation, The Best of Charlie Christian, was released a last month by Chestnut Music Traders Ltd. Fourteen tracks from the Columbia studios (all masters), three jams (one incomplete), and two Vocalion master takes.

Chestnut

Maybe about a third of the tracks might be considered “the best of,” but the rest are questionable. It includes two songs (Four Day Creep & Hard Time Blues) that have CC playing obbligati for 12 bars behind blues singer Ida Cox—hardly “the best of.” Track 4 is an orchestral recording of Stompin’ at the Savoy that does not even include Charlie Christian—it’s erroniously listed as being recorded at Minton’s. Two-thirds of Topsy is missing—only CC’s first solo is here. Short liner notes; neither recording dates nor matrices are provided. Track sequencing appears to be random, as are the selections. Definitely avoid this one.

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Chestnut CN1003

June 8, 2005

20th Annual Charlie Christian International Jazz Festival

June 9 - 12, 2005

Bricktown - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

produced by: Charlie Christian Productions

for more information call BLAC, INC. (405) 524-3800

April 16, 2005

A “Chronology” page containing an outline of Charlie Christian’s life and some additional posthumous events (from his birth to the present) has been added to this site:

Go to Chronology page

March 21, 2005

Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to the master take of “These Foolish Things” and new transcriptions of the alternate take and a breakdown are now up to complement the master.
Four-bar chord intros and eight-bar solos by CC (only the intro survived the breakdown).

Go to “These Foolish Things” (alternate take) transcription page

Go to “These Foolish Things” (breakdown) transcription page

Go to “These Foolish Things” (master take) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

March 14, 2005

“Poor Butterfly” and “On the Alamo” both sit on A/B/A/C structures and on both Charlie Christian takes his 8-bar solo on the ‘A’ section. Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to both versions of “Poor Butterfly” and the sole take of “On the Alamo” transcriptions.

Go to “On the Alamo” transcription page

Go to “Poor Butterfly” (studio version) transcription page

Go to “Poor Butterfly” (live version) transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

March 7, 2005

The final draft was completed a couple of weeks ago and is now at the publishing house.

A BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLIE CHRISTIAN: JAZZ GUITAR’S KING OF SWING
by Wayne E. Goins & Craig R. McKinney

Seventeen chapters, 440 pages, indexed, with bibliography
forward by jazz author Lewis Porter
to be published by The Edwin Mellen Press
on 30 September 2005
ISBN: 0-7734-6091-8

Finally, after more than sixty years, a definitive publication on Charlie Christian will be in print.

Go to the Edwin Mellen Press website to see description, reviews, table of contents

(Disclosure: this monumental and memorable project was undertaken in association with LeoValdes, your site host
—see October 22, 2004 below.)

February 28, 2005

The “Kansas City Six” played two blues at the “From Spirituals to Swing” concert of 1939. Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to both “Good Morning Blues” & “Paging the Devil”solo transcriptions.

Go to “Good Morning Blues” transcription page

Go to “Paging the Devil” transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

February 21, 2005

Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to the “Haven’t Named It Yet” solo transcription.

Go to “Haven’t Named It Yet” transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

February 7, 2005

Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to the solo transcription of

“Stompin’ at the Savoy” (June 1941 aircheck).

Go to Stompin’ at the Savoy transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

January 17, 2005

Another strange CD compilation, Charlie Christian, was released a couple of months ago by Sony France on the “Guitar & Bass” series of their Sony Music Media label. Sixteen tracks from the Columbia studios. Some are masters and some are alternate takes plus one track from the 28 October 1940 rehearsal with Lester Young. Most curious are the last two tracks: a breakdown of “Gone with What Draft” is included along with a complete alternate take of the same tune with the same CC eight-bar “written” cadenza; that’s followed by a fourteen minute track of a rehearsal of “Benny’s Bugle” with all the chatter and false starts.

Sony Music Media

The “Guitar & Bass” that appears on the image is actually on the plastic slip cover. The short liner notes are in French and neither recording dates nor matrices are provided.

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Sony Music Media SMM 517115 2

December 21, 2004

New items in Clive Downs’ Biographical (section 1) Bibliography
— Broadbent (2003) – “Charlie Christian” – magazine article
— Christian (2005) – “Guitarmen, Wake Up and Pluck” – magazine reprint
— Goins (2004) – “Searching for Charlie Christian” – two-part magazine article
— Wheelwright (2003) – “I Found Charlie’s ES-150” – magazine article
— Woodard (2003) – “Charlie Christian” – magazine article
New item in Clive Downs’ Discography (section 2) Bibliography
— Rust (1982) – “Jazz Records 1897-1942”
New items in Clive Downs’ Musical Analysis (section 3) Bibliography
— Aledorf (2003) – “Charlie Christian: A Step-by-Step Breakdown…” – Video DVD
— Fox (2002) – “The Magic Christian” – magazine article
— Hansen (1998) – “Tutorial, Solos, Licks” – website: tutorial
— Valdes (2002) – “Charlie Christian Transcriptions” – website: comments & analyses

New items in Clive Downs’ Notated Solos Bibliography
— GuitarOne (2002) – Seven Come Eleven transcription
— GuitarOne (2004) – Flying Home transcription
— Hal Leonard (2003) – 8 partial or complete demonstrations on DVD
— Rossi (2003) – Rose Room transcription

December 12, 2004

Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to the solo transcription (six + three-choruses) of the renowned “Topsy” (aka “Swing to Bop”) — for the first time anywhere, the tab shows how Charlie Christian actually played it.

Go to Topsy transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

October 28, 2004

A rather odd two-CD Charlie Christian compilation, AC / DC Current, was released this month by the Italian company Comet Records on their Universe (UV 129/2) label. The 40 tracks were obviously taken from the 98 tracks in the 2002 Columbia/Legacy four-CD box set, The Genius of the Electric Guitar, but it’s hard to figure out the reasoning behind the selections.

The producers may have been trying to include only the master takes plus the Columbia studio jam but they left out a couple of masters and included several alternate takes. Along with the master, four additional takes of “Gone with What Draft” are included—this is the tune that has the same CC eight-bar “written” cadenza on all takes. The same holds for the alternate take of “A Smo-o-o-oth One”—almost identical short CC solos on both takes. It would have been much better if those alternates had been excluded to make room for the five tracks from the Columbia studio rehearsal session with Lester Young. The alternate take of “I Found a New Baby” is included instead of the master—no doubt because it’s erroneously labeled in the Columbia/Legacy set.

UV 129

The packaging is kinda nifty though. It’s like a small hard-cover book with a dozen pages listing the tunes, personnel, dates, and locations and with six photos. The discs clip on to the inside front and back covers (there’s an additional photo behind each disc). That’s much better than the Columbia/Legacy set which looks fine on the shelf but is impractically designed for handling and has a hard-to-read booklet.

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Universe UV 129/2

October 22, 2004

THE DEFINITIVE WORK ON THE MUSIC AND LIFE OF CHARLIE CHRISTIAN TO BE PUBLISHED NEXT YEAR:

Wayne Goins, Director of Jazz at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, is co-authoring two definitive books on Charlie Christian.

Goins, along with his colleague and co-author Craig McKinney from Topeka, Kansas, will be releasing a lengthy biography; Goins, along with his colleague and co-author Leo Valdes [your host] from El Paso, Texas, will be releasing a discography of the recordings and a chronology of the life of Charlie Christian.

Goins, McKinney and Valdes are collaborating on both volumes and have made numerous trips to Oklahoma City to get the record straight. They have worked very closely with the Christian / Downey family, as well as other participants in the city who sat for interviews. Anita Arnold, Director of the Black Liberated Arts Center in Oklahoma City, has been highly instrumental in gathering sources for the project and continues to be an integral part of the team.

We are all very excited about the ongoing project, which will present to the many Charlie Christian fans around the world a treasure trove of original and previously unreleased material on the incredible life and times of Charlie Christian, to be published by Mellen Press in 2005. Included in these books will be never-before-published photos, original biographical material, an up-to-date chronology and discography, and exclusive interviews with Margretta Lorraine Downey, Billie Jean Christian, Clarence Christian, Leroy Parks, Herb Ellis, Abe Bolar, Leslie Sheffield, Henry Butler, and many others.

For a preview of things to come, you can read two extensive pieces that Dr. Goins has already written on Charlie Christian, featured in Jazz Improv Magazine (“Searching for Charlie Christian” –Vol. 4, Number 4, and “Searching for Charlie Christian, Part II” –Vol. 5, Number 1).
[see the 29 September 2004 entry below]

October 5, 2004

The second installment of “Searching for Charlie Christian” has just been published in the Autumn 2004 issue of
Jazz Improv Magazine (Vol. 5, Number 1). Part II is a feature article written by Dr. Wayne Goins further describing
the research done this year for a forthcoming book on Charles.
[see September 29, 2004, for a description of the first article]

It also has a short essay in memory of Billie Jean Johnson, Charlie Christian's only child.
[see July 21, 2004, below]

Highly recommended!

Available at bookstores for only $12.95 ($17.95 in Canada) for the magazine and a CD.
[I am not affiliated with the magazine]

Go to the Jazz Improv website to see the cover or

To order go to the Jazz Improv Order Form

October 2, 2004

Here's a transcription of Charlie Christian’s solo on his own composition “Flying Home” —from his first studio recording with the sextet, 65 years ago today.

Two events prompted me to place a “Flying Home” transcription on this site at this time:
—The passing of Illinois Jacquet a couple of months ago.
    (He was best known for his 1943 solo on this tune with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and remained so to this day.)
—And the publication of a tablature transcription of this 1939 master take in the July 2004 issue of Guitar One magazine.
    (Hal Leonard also published it in a book last year entitled Charlie Christian: The Definitive Collection—both contain
    the theme, solo, chords, and riffs.)

Complete with comments, analysis, and tablature to reflect CC’s actual fingering.
There’s a link there to Garry Hansen’s site which contains a standard-fingering tab for comparison.
[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation as to the fingering]

Go to Flying Home transcription

Or go to Transcriptions main page

September 29, 2004

The Summer 2004 issue of Jazz Improv Magazine (Vol. 4, Number 4) features a nine-page article
by Dr. Wayne Goins entitled “Searching for Charlie Christian.”

About half of the article recounts research done in Oklahoma City for a forthcoming book on Charles.
The other half is a CC biography expertly crafted from my Chronology (which is described on the home page of this site).
[If you read this article, please note that I first heard Charlie Christian when I was living in Greenville, South Carolina, not Greenville, Texas]

Highly recommended!

Available at bookstores for only $12.95 ($17.95 in Canada) for the magazine and a CD.
[I am not affiliated with the magazine]

Go to the Jazz Improv website to see the cover or

To order go to the Jazz Improv Order Form

August 19, 2004

On this date, 65 years ago, Charlie Christian began his short recording career that immediately had an unbelievable influence on the jazz scene.

A “Calendar of Events” page containing 21 monthly calendars documenting his activities during that period has been added to this site:

August 1939 through July 1940 and October 1940 through June 1940.

Go to Calendar of Events page

July 29, 2004 Charlie Christian’s 88^th Birthday Anniversary

Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to the four-chorus “Rose Room” solo transcription.
[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation]

Go to Rose Room transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

July 19, 2004

It is with a very heavy heart that I must report the passing of a wonderful friend and a grand lady, Billie Jean Christian Johnson, on the afternoon of Monday, July 19, at her home in Oklahoma City. She was Charlie Christian’s only child and daughter of Margretta Lorraine Christian Downey; born on December 23, 1932. Our thoughts and prayers are with her mother and family. May she rest in peace forever. Thank you, Billie, with all my love, we’ll never forget you.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM, Monday, July 26, at Greater Cleaves Memorial, 1609 NE 48th Street, Oklahoma City.

July 12, 2004

Clive Downs has contributed another excellent book review of a book on Charlie Christian which was published last year:
— A revised edition of Peter Broadbent’s Charlie Christian: Solo Flight –
The Story of the Seminal Electric Guitarist

Go to Book-Video Reviews

[The first edition of Broadbent’s book was reviewed by your host in 1997. Some of the errors pointed out in that review have been corrected, some remain, and some have disappeared. The configuration of the second edition has been revamped completely making the book less reader-friendly than the first.]

May 25, 2004

Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to both takes of the studio recordings of the “Solo Flight ” transcriptions.
[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation]

Go to Solo Flight – master take transcription page

Go to Solo Flight – alternate take transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

April 30, 2004

Charlie Christian International Jazz Festival

June 1 - 5, 2004

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

contact: Charlie Christian Productions

March 12, 2004

Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to the “Blues in B” transcription.
[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation]

Go to Blues in B transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

February 29, 2004

A significant addition to Clive Downs’ Notated Solos Bibliography:

— Dennis Schütze (2003) – Der Jazzgitarrist Charlie Christian:
Studien zu musikalischen Gestaltung anhand von Transkription der Columbia Studioaufnahmen
von 1939 bis 1941.

Roughly translated, the title reads something like: The jazz guitarist Charlie Christian: Studies in musical arrangements based on transcriptions of Columbia studio recordings from 1939 to 1941. This thesis includes transcriptions of solos from 52 different recordings plus leadsheets with intros, themes, riffs, and the like. This is a major work with analyses and commentary on a lot of different CC stuff. Clive’s entry deals only with the transcriptions but there’ll be more to come at a later date.

February 20, 2004

Essential reading for all Charlie Christian fans!

Noted musicologist Clive Downs has contributed two definitive reviews of recently published CC transcription books:
— Wolf Marshall (2002) – The Best of Charlie Christian
— Hal Leonard (2003) – Charlie Christian: The Definitive Collection

Go to Book-Video Reviews

Clive Downs’ Notated Solos Bibliography has been updated:
— Hal Leonard (2003) – Charlie Christian: The Definitive Collection

February 9, 2004

Comments & Analysis and CC tablature have been added to the “Tea for Two” transcription.
[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation]

Go to Tea for Two transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

The second installment of Craig McKinney’s Charlie Christian biography is now on Garry Hansen’s site:
Charlie Christian: Legend of the Jazz Guitar.
[see the January 9 entry below]

January 9, 2004

Craig McKinney’s early biography of Charlie Christian is finally being publicly released.
A year before Charles’ brother Clarence “It” Christian passed away in 1979, Craig interviewed him extensively on two different occasions. This is the engaging and informative draft he wrote at the time based largely on those interviews.

The first installment of the 25-year-old draft has been posted on Garry Hansen’s site: Charlie Christian:
Legend of the Jazz Guitar:

Charlie Christian: Musician by Craig R. McKinney

December 20, 2003

Added an “Unissued Charlie Christian Recordings” page.

While I was at it, also listed the Unissued on Masters of Jazz after the volume 9 review.

December 5, 2003

This transcription documents a never-released version of “Stompin’ at the Savoy” from an aircheck.
Charlie Christian plays chords, an 8-bar solo, and riffs on a one-chorus broadcast sign-off.

Go to Stompin’ at the Savoy transcription

Or go to Transcriptions main page

November 20, 2003

Comments & analysis and CC tablature have been added to the “Dinah” transcription.
[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation]

Go to Dinah transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

October 15, 2003

Next year’s “Charlie Christian Jazz Festival” is scheduled for June 1 - 5, 2004
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

September 18, 2003

Two more versions of “Rose Room” get the C&A / CC tab treatment.
[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation]

Go to Rose Room (28 October 1939) transcription

Go to Rose Room (6 June 1941) transcription

Or go to Transcriptions main page

August 23, 2003

For the past several months now, a bootleg CD version of “The Harlem Jazz Scene—1941”
(originally on the 1957 LP Esoteric ES-548) has been popping up here and there.
It’s on Blue Moon Discs 008 entitled Charlie Christian — New York • 5-15-41
and has been included in the Discography section on this site.

July 29, 2003 Charlie Christian’s 87^th Birthday Anniversary

Today “Star Dust” gets the comments & analysis and CC tablature treatment.

[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation]

Go to Star Dust transcription page

Or go to Transcriptions main page

July 10, 2003

51st Annual DownBeat Critics Poll

Charlie Christian: The Genius of the Electric Guitar was voted a close runner-up to John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme for Reissue of the Year.
The CC 4-CD set received 144 votes, just behind the winner’s 154 votes—all other reissues received less than 35 votes.
The poll results will appear in the August 2003 issue of DownBeat magazine.

June 23, 2003

The Seventh Annual Jazz Journalists Association’s Jazz Awards

Sony’s Charlie Christian 4-CD deluxe set was nominated for the Historical Box Set of the Year award.

Category 6 — Historical Box Set of the Year:
• Charlie Christian: The Genius of the Electric Guitar    (Columbia Legacy)
• Complete Miles Davis at Montreux   (Columbia Legacy/Warner Bros Switzerland)
• Grant Green: Retrospective   (Blue Note)
• The Classic Columbia and Okeh Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang Recordings    (Mosaic)
• The Herbie Hancock Box   (Columbia Legacy)

Winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 25 from 4 to 7 p.m. at a cocktail/supper party awards event at
B. B. King’s Blues Club and Grill, 245 W. 42nd St., NYC. For ticket info and event details see Jazz Journalists Awards.

[ June 25: Charlie Christian: The Genius of the Electric Guitar won the Historical Box Set of the Year award ]

May 17, 2003

Commentary has been added to both versions of “I Found a New Baby” and the tablature has been modified to reflect
CC’s actual fingering.
There’s also a link to Garry Hansen’s site which contains a standard-fingering tab for comparison.

Go to I Found a New Baby (master take) transcription

Go to I Found a New Baby (alternate take) transcription

Or go to Transcriptions main page

A CD entitled Stardust–Tea for Two… was issued recently by Warner Music France.
It contains a curious selection of 21 tunes—all have been previously released.
A listing of the CC tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Warner Music France

April 30, 2003

New items in Clive Downs’ Biographical (section 1) Bibliography
— Broadbent (2002) – “His Life” – CD booklet notes
— Paul (2002) – “My Friend, Charlie Christian” – CD booklet notes
New items in Clive Downs’ Musical Analysis (section 3) Bibliography
— Downs (2002) – “Metric Displacement in the Improvisation of Charlie Christian”
— Marshall (2002) – “The Best of Charlie Christian”
— Marshall (2002) – “Charlie Christian Guitar Lesson” – website

New item in Clive Downs’ Notated Solos Bibliography
— Downs (2002) – 18 partial or complete transcriptions

A CD entitled The Very Best of Electric Guitar Genius Charlie Christian was recently issued on the
Going for a Song (UK) label.
It contains the same 23 tunes that were released in 1990 on the Giants of Jazz CD 53049, Charlie Christian:
Genius of Electric Guitar, albeit in a different sequence.
A listing of the CC tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Going for a Song

March 10, 2003

I have added commentary to the first two versions of “Rose Room” and modified the
tablature to reflect CC’s actual fingering.
There’s a link there to Garry Hansen’s site which contains a standard-fingering tab for comparison.

Go to Rose Room (2 October 1939) transcription

Go to Rose Room (9 October 1939) transcription

Or go to Transcriptions main page

Also added a link to Allan Sutherland’s Jazz Sessionographies on the Links page.

Go to Links

February 10, 2003

This transcription documents one of Charlie Christian’s more popular tunes: “Breakfast Feud”
(with tablature showing CC’s actual fingering).
Charles gets two choruses (less 4 bars, but the tune has a 4-bar tag) on this alternate take which has his
best solo on this particular blues.
There’s a link there to Garry Hansen’s site which contains a standard-fingering tab for comparison.

Go to Breakfast Feud transcription

Or go to Transcriptions main page

February 2, 2003

This time “Grand Slam” gets the comments and modified tablature to reflect CC’s actual fingering.
I have linked to Garry Hansen’s site so that you can view the standard-fingering tab for comparison.
[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation as to what’s goin’ on]

Go to Grand Slam transcription

Or go to Transcriptions main page

January 27, 2003

I have added some commentary to “Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider” and modified the tablature to more closely
reflect CC’s actual fingering.
The standard-fingering tab has been retained (probably temporarily) in case anyone wants to make a comparison.
[see the March 7, 2002 entry below for a brief explanation as to what’s goin’ on]

Go to Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider transcription

Or go to Transcriptions main page

January 21, 2003

For what it’s worth: On January 7, 2003, the National Academy Of Recording Arts & Sciences announced the
final nominations list for the 45th Annual GRAMMY Awards for recordings released during the eligibility year
October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2002.

Sony’s Charlie Christian 4-CD deluxe set was one of the nominees:
      Field 25 — Historical
      Category 86 — Best Historical Album
      •   Artie Shaw: Self Portrait
             Orrin Keepnews, compilation producer; Dennis Ferrante, mastering engineer   [Bluebird]
      •   The Complete OKeh And Brunswick Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer and Jack Teagarden Sessions (1924-36)
             Scott Wenzel, compilation producer; Andreas Meyer & Doug Pomeroy, mastering engineers   [Mosaic Records]
      •   Dylan Thomas: The Caedmon Collection
             Rick Harris & David Nolan, compilation producers; Leslie Mona-Mathus, mastering engineer   [Caedmon Records]
      • Charlie Christian: The Genius Of The Electric Guitar
          Michael Brooks & Michael Cuscuna, compilation producers;
          Seth Foster, Ken Robertson & Mark Wilder, mastering engineers
          [Columbia/Legacy Recordings]
      •   Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues: The Worlds Of Charley Patton
             Dean Blackwood, compilation producer; David Glasser, Christopher King & Matt Sandoski, mastering engineers [Revenant Records]

The 45th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on February 23 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and will be telecast on CBS from 8-11:30 p.m. (ET/PT) in High Definition TV and 5.1 Surround Sound, marking the first broadcast of any major awards show using this caliber of technology.

[ February 23: Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues: The Worlds Of Charley Patton won the Best Historical Album award ]

January 10, 2003

The March 2003 issue of Vintage Guitar magazine
will feature Charlie Christian.

Vintage Guitar: "This month, we tell the story of Charlie Christian, the man who made the electric guitar more than just a background instrument. Plus, the story of how one collector scored Christian's ES-250."

Of most interest to this site is:

“I Found Charlie’s ES-250!”
By Lynn Wheelwright

Gibson ES-250, serial number 96030,
and amp EH-150, serial number 12706,
were shipped to Chas Christian on 19 April 1940.

This is the first guitar CC received from Gibson — verified by the serial number and a side grain comparison.

January 2, 2003

The Annual Review of Jazz Studies 11: 2000-2001, a double issue covering two years, was published about
six weeks ago.
Articles in the eleventh volume of this excellent series present important technical analyses of four major figures:
      • Booker Little
      • Charlie Christian
      • Herbie Hancock
      • Miles Davis
In addition to the usual photo gallery, there are seven book reviews that, collectively, span the history of the music,
including reviews of books on John Coltrane and Mary Lou Williams.

Of special interest to this site, of course, is Clive Downs’ thirty-page chapter entitled
“Metric Displacement in the Improvisation of Charlie Christian.”
A superb study on the phrasing and rhythmic elements of CCs solos, it is a historical first.
Highly recommended.

The table of contents can be viewed at Annual Review of Jazz Studies 11

December 9, 2002

New sections have been added to the Links page:
— Audio/Video Sites
— CD Reviews Sites
— Foreign Language Sites

Also added two more links in existing sections on the Links page:
— “Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame” under the Biographical Sites
— “What’s Hot with Jazz Guitar” under the Jazz Guitar Sites

Go to Links

A CD entitled Toots Mondello: Complete Orchestra & Best Sideman Recordings
was released a couple of weeks ago.
— “Featuring the Complete Recordings of Toots Modello & His Orchestra”
— “Plus Nine of His Best Recordings with Benny Goodman & Others 1936-1940”
— “Includes the Bands of Claude Thornhill, Ziggy Elman and Dick McDonough”

It contains only three tracks with Charlie Christian (on rhythm guitar only – no solos),
however, it’s the best Mondello CD ever issued. (25 tracks; TT=71:11)

The CD is available at Vintage Music Productions (catalog # VMP 0111)

Down Beat’s “Best CDs of 2002” are featured in the January 2003 issue:
— Sony’s 4-CD set is included in the nine “5-Star Masterpieces” (five new issues & four reissues)
— JSP Records’ 4-CD set is listed under “4ï¿½-Star Reviews”

November 14, 2002

The Reissues section of Down Beat’s December issue features reviews of Sony’s as well as JSP’s recent 4-CD sets.
Both are on a two/thirds-page review by Ted Panken — 5 stars and 4ï¿½ stars, respectively.

November 7, 2002

New items in Clive Downs’ Notated Solos Bibliography:
— Guitar World (2002) – “Flying Home: Charlie Christian” – “Flying Home” (2 Oct 1939 – take A)
— Hal Leonard (2001) – Jazz Guitar Bible – “Seven Come Eleven” (22 Nov 1939)
— Mairants (2002) – The Great Jazz Guitarists, Part 1 (revised versions of 3 previously published transcriptions)
— Marshall (2002) – The Best of Charlie Christian (15 transcriptions w/ analyses & CD)

October 28, 2002

Past Perfect released this boxed single-CD on their “Silver Line” series (Germany) sometime during the past year.
This CD has 21 tracks of often-issued Columbia studio recordings.
It’s featured on this page only because of the nice packaging.

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN WITH BENNY GOODMAN • LIONEL HAMPTON • COUNT BASIE — SEVEN COME ELEVEN

Past Perfect 205798-203

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Past Perfect 205798-203

October 20, 2002

All the data on the Solography & Discography sections have been updated for Sony’s 4-CD set,
CHARLIE CHRISTIAN: THE GENIUS OF THE ELECTRIC GUITAR,
on Columbia/Legacy C4K 65564.
(Sony’s promo set, AC4K 65564 has also been listed because it was widely circulated and has a
slightly different track content.)

As previously mentioned, the master and alternate takes of I Found a New Baby on disc three are incorrectly listed.
In addition, unless all previous releases and discographies are wrong, the matrix suffixes for Royal Garden Blues
(disc 2, tracks 22 & 23) and I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (disc 3, tracks 13 & 14) are reversed in the booklet.

One change was made to the matrix suffixes on this site — the five Breakfast Feud complete takes of 19 December 1940 now match the suffixes listed on the Sony set, and I have assigned suffixes (x, y, z) to the breakdown takes to more easily differentiate between the three. Previously, the suffixes used here were based on those published in Jan Evensmo’s 1970s discography — unfortunately, none of the other discographies agree with anyone else’s. Sony’s new take numbers were not those originally assigned by Columbia, but they are logical and are not in conflict with Russ Connor’s discography.

As always, comments (and proof-reading help) are welcome.

September 24, 2002

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN: THE GENIUS OF THE ELECTRIC GUITAR was released today
on Columbia/Legacy C4K 65564.
[see June 24, 2002, below for a brief review of Sony’s promo set]
I have no additional comments to add at this time other than to say that Sony did replace the duplicate Grand Slam on the promo set with a previously unissued alternate take. Also, for some strange reason, they incorrectly switched the master and alternate takes of I Found a New Baby on disc three of the deluxe set (they had it right on their June advance CD set). The packaging is aesthetically great but not very practical. I was forewarned so I had no problem, but be careful when you first pick it up ’cause the bottom could drop out with all the contents—clue-in your friends when you show it off.

C4K 65564

A listing of the tracks on this deluxe set can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Columbia C4K 65564

The October issue of Guitar Player and the November issue of GuitarOne have articles on CC, interviews with guitarists, reviews of the deluxe set, and transcriptions of CC’s solos (excerpts on the former, complete Seven Come Eleven on the latter).

Charlie Christian will be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame on October 8, 2002, at the Muskogee Civic Center in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
[CC was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in June of 1989 at the Greenwood Cultural Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.]

September 15, 2002

Fernando Ortiz de Urbina has graciously provided an English translation of his review of the two Definitive Records
4-CD sets. The review was originally published in Spanish in the July/August 2001 issue of Cuadernos de Jazz.

His review is in the CD Reviews section following my own comments on the sets.

Go to CD Reviews

Last month I neglected to mention a CD, Charlie Christian: The Original Guitar Hero (CK 86834), that Sony has scheduled for release on the same day (24 September 2002) as their deluxe 4-CD box set. This is a budget-priced CD containing only 8 tracks—I don’t quite understand Sony’s logic in this, but it’s got a nice cover.
          1. Seven Come Eleven
          2. Wholly Cats
          3. Good Enough To Keep (Air Mail Special) (Alternate Take) < previously unissued >
          4. Flying Home (First Alternate Take)
          5. Boy Meets Goy (Grand Slam)
          6. Benny’s Bugle
          7. Gone With What Wind (Alternate Take)
          8. Breakfast Feud

CK 86834

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Columbia CK 86834

Coincidently, JSP Records is also planning to release a 4-CD set on 24 September 2002,
also with 8 Charlie Christian tracks, entitled Benny Goodman.
A listing of the CC tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to JSP911

New items in Clive Downs’ Biographical (section 1) Bibliography
— Hoefer (2001) – Hot Box: Thelonious Monk in the ’40s
— Jackson (2002) – Ralph Ellison Emergence of Genius
— Murray (1994) – Never Grow Old: Robert Johnson, Charlie Christian and the Meteorite Syndrome
— Proper Records (2002) – T-Bone Walker: The Original Source
— Sales (2001) – I Wanted to Make It Better: Monk at the Blackhawk
New items in Clive Downs’ Musical Analysis (section 3) Bibliography
— Stewart (1976) – A Tribute to Charlie Christian
— Vogel (1993) – Masters of Jazz Guitar

August 13, 2002

A recent Sony press release has apparently changed the release date of their 4-CD box set to a week later:
24 September 2002.
To whet your anticipation, I’m putting up a transcription of one of the previously unissued tracks included in the set
which is listed as UNTITLED TUNE.
Charlie Christian gets only one chorus (12 bars) but, on this breakdown take, it is an excellent solo.
The box set also includes a complete take of this tune but CC’s solo is not as good as on the breakdown.

Go to “Untitled Tune” transcription

There are cursory reviews of the upcoming Sony box set in the September issues of Guitar World and Jazz Times.

C4K 65564

July 29, 2002 A special treat for Charles’ 86^th Birthday Anniversary

This transcription documents a never-released blues that is simply called THE BLUES.
Charlie Christian gets two choruses on which may be his best blues solo with the sextet.

Go to “The Blues” transcription

July 11, 2002

Sony is in the process of replacing the duplicate GRAND SLAM master take in their forthcoming 4-CD box set
with an actual alternate take.
[see June 24, 2002 below]

July 3, 2002

JSP Records (England) is also issuing a 4-CD box set. This one has 68 tracks with a U.S. release date of August 13, 2002.
CHARLIE CHRISTIAN: FIRST MASTER OF THE ELECTRIC GUITAR

JSP909

The set is subtitled Selected Broadcasts & Jam Sessions, Remastered and contains airchecks, both Carnegie Hall concerts (October 6 & December 24, 1939), and jams (Harlem Breakfast Club & Minton’s/Monroe’s):
— All tracks have been previously released
— The set is virtually identical to the Definitive 4-CD Live set released last year (see April 7, 2001 below) but
      with one additional track:
            South of the Border (18 Nov 39)
— Previously released tunes from live dates that are not included here (nor in the Definitive set) are:
            Rose Room (28 Oct 39)
            Poor Butterfly (28 Oct 39)
            Gone with ‘What’ Wind (19 Feb 41)
            Stompin’ at the Savoy (8 May 41)
            Stompin’ at the Savoy (June 41)
— To my ears, the sound quality is not as good as the Definitive set

A listing of the tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to JSP909

June 24, 2002

September 17, 2002 has been announced as the scheduled release date for
Columbia/Legacy C4K 65564, Sony’s 24-bit, 98-track, 4-CD box set:

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN: THE GENIUS OF THE ELECTRIC GUITAR

C4K 65564

The set contains all of the Columbia studio sessions that Charles recorded with the Goodman band, septet, and sextet
and with the Metronome All Star Nine, plus the October 28, 1940 rehearsal and the March 13, 1941 jam session:
— Included are never-before-released tracks of:
            Breakfast Feud (19 Dec 40) – 2 false starts with no CC solos (7 total tracks)
            Good Enough to Keep (11 Jun 40) – 2 unreleased takes with solos (3 total)
            Grand Slam (10 Apr 40) – 1 additional track, but it’s the same master take (2 total)
            I Surrender, Dear (10 Apr 40) – 3 additional tracks; one alternate with solo,
                  two breakdowns with no solos (4 total)
            Li’l Boy Love (25 Jun 40) – 1 alternate take with solo (2 total)
            Poor Butterfly (3 Apr 40) – 1 false start, no solo (2 total)
            The Sheik of Araby (3 Apr 40) – 1 alternate take with solo (2 total)
            Six Appeal (11 Jun 40) – 5 additional tracks; two alternate takes and two breakdowns with solos,
                  a false start with no solo (6 total)
            These Foolish Things (11 Jun 40) – 2 additional tracks; one alternate with CC intro and solo,
                  a false start with intro only (3 total)
— Plus:
            two previously unissued takes of an untitled tune from 3 April 1940 (one of the tracks is a breakdown but it
            includes CC’s solo)
      [All of the new material is from the World Broadcasting System recordings in Hollywood,
      except for the Breakfast Feud false starts]
— Not included:
            the Columbia session CC recorded with Teddy Wilson and singer Eddy Howard
            an unissued breakdown of Gone with What Draft and one of I Can’t Give You Anything but Love

A listing of the tracks on the advance promotional set can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Columbia AC4K 65564

June 1, 2002

Three-page transcription of “Stompin’ at the Savoy” (aka “Lips Flips” & “On with Charlie Christian”)
— Jam session recorded at Monroe’s “Uptown House” with 2½-chorus Charlie Christian solo

May 4, 2002

Classics Records (France) is well known for reissuing jazz recordings whose copyright has expired—50 years in Europe—and a policy of releasing all of the master takes of selected jazz musicians in chronological order. Last year the label began a similar R&B series. The Classics catalog which began in 1990 contains almost 1300 CDs—all still in print.

The label is also commonly known as The Chronogical (sic) Classics. “The Chronogical” was actually intended to be the first part of the CD title but is not used as such on their jazz issues. The label chose long ago not to correct the spelling on their booklet covers.

With the release of Benny Goodman and his Orchestra: 1941, Vol. 2 a couple of weeks ago, Classics Records has now issued all of the master takes that Charlie Christian recorded with the Goodman sextet, septet, and orchestra. Most surprising is the inclusion of a couple of tracks recorded in the Columbia studio during a quintet jam led by CC which did not include Goodman. Several other tracks on these six CDs may not technically be masters since they were not originally issued on 78-rpm but were released over a decade later on LP:

Benny Goodman and his Orchestra: 1939, Vol. 2 Classics 1064

“STAR DUST”      2 Oct 39      (WCO 26134 A)
      Master take released on 78-rpm only as a disc-jockey promotional copy;
      released in 1951 on LP and EP.

“AC-DC CURRENT” 20 Dec 39 (WCO 26355 A)
Master take first released in 1951 on LP and EP.

“I’M CONFESSIN’” 20 Dec 39 (WCO 26356 A)
Rejected master, not released until 1979 on LP.

Benny Goodman and his Orchestra: 1939-1940 Classics 1098

Benny Goodman and his Orchestra: 1940 Classics 1131

“I Can’t Love You Any More”      10 Apr 40      (WCO 26739 A)
      Rejected master. The tune was recorded again on 30 Apr 40 for release.
      (CC on rhythm guitar only—on both dates.)

“GOOD ENOUGH TO KEEP”      11 Jun 40      (WCO 26942)
      Rejected take. The tune was recorded again on 13 Mar 41 for release
      (later issued as “Air Mail Special”).

Benny Goodman and his Orchestra: 1940-1941 Classics 1154

“BREAKFAST FEUD” 19 Dec 40 (CO 29259-1)
Rejected master. The tune was recorded again on 15 Jan 41 for release.

“GONE WITH WHAT DRAFT”      19 Dec 40      (CO 29261-1)
      Rejected master released only as a disc-jockey promotional copy.
      The tune was recorded again on 15 Jan 41 for release.
      (Renamed “Gilly” in 1951 for release on LP.)

Benny Goodman and his Orchestra: 1941 Classics 1202

Benny Goodman and his Orchestra: 1941, Vol. 2 Classics 1236

“BLUES IN B” 13 Mar 41

“WAITIN’ FOR BENNY” 13 Mar 41

These two tracks were part of the jam session mentioned above—first released in 1955 on LP.
(The complete jam was released in 1981 on LP.)

[ Not included in this series are two tunes that were issued on 78-rpm in the U.S. These were alternate takes and correctly omitted from this Classics series:
      “FLYING HOME”      2 Oct 39      (WCO 26132 B)
            Released on V-Disc VD 731 as “Homeward Bound.”
      “WHOLLY CATS”      7 Nov 40      (CO 29027-2)
            Inadvertently released on some copies of Columbia 35810—the same catalog number as was the master take -1. ]

A listing of the CC tracks can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Classics

April 16, 2002

Eight-page transcription of the 12 May 1941 “Stompin’ at the Savoy”
— Jam session recorded at Minton’s Playhouse:
            Theme
            Three-chorus Charlie Christian solo
            Three-chorus Charlie Christian solo
            Out chorus

March 28, 2002

New items in Clive Downs’ Biographical (section 1) Bibliography
— Porter (2001) – Jazz Country: Ralph Ellison in America
— Sohmer (1997) – Liner notes to Jazz Band EBCD 2139-2 Camel Caravan Shows
— Watts (1994) – Heroism and the Black Intellectual
New item in Clive Downs’ Musical Analysis (section 3) Bibliography
— Clark (1998) – How to Play and Compose Like the World’s Greatest Guitarists

New items and revision in Clive Downs’ Notated Solos Bibliography
— Sokolow (1999) – “Honeysuckle Rose” (22 Nov 1939 & 19 Nov 1940)
— Spring (1980) – additional details on the partial transcriptions

March 7, 2002

I have added some commentary to “Ad-Lib Blues” and modified the tablature to more closely reflect CC’s actual fingering.

While transcribing the new “Gone W‘W’W” last month, it reminded me of this other mid-tempo blues in C which brought me to contemplate the tabs that are up on this site. In the past, I have been reluctant to reveal the secrets to Charles’ left hand but recently I’ve been leaning more and more towards showing that on the later-posted transcriptions. I plan to go back to the earlier-posted xcripts and modify the tabs as time permits—and probably add some comments as well.

Go to Ad-Lib Blues

February 27, 2002

Transcription of the long-lost “Stompin’ at the Savoy”
— Jam session recorded 8 May 1941 at Minton’s Playhouse
— Released for the first-time-ever less than 4 months ago on the Masters of Jazz label
— Nine choruses of Charlie Christian transcribed:
            1 chorus of guitar riffs on the trumpet solo
            2-chorus guitar solo
            10 bars of guitar chords on the alto sax solo
            5 choruses of guitar stuff on the collective improv

I’ve added some comments & analysis to this transcription—at the end of the “cover sheet.” I’m really not very fond of technical analyses so it’s mostly just comments. I believe that the transcriptions themselves provide pretty much all of the analysis that’s needed: musicians can figure out what CC is playing from the standard notation; the chord names directly above the tablature indicate where Charles is changing chords on his solo; and guitarists can get a good idea from the tab what he is doing on the fretboard. A bunch of long, drawn-out scholarly verbiage is not all that necessary.

CD review of the Encore CD A Tour de Force: The Small Groups—Live! described below (February 16, 2002)

The review is in the CD Reviews section:

Go to CD Reviews

February 16, 2002

A couple of months ago, Encore Records released a double-CD with two never-before-released CC tracks
from the “America in Swingtime” broadcast of February 19, 1941. Unfortunately, only one of the two tunes has a CC solo.
— “Gone with ‘What’ Wind” has a 2-chorus blues solo equal to his other solos on that tune + the usual riffs
— “The Sheik of Araby” has CC on rhythm guitar only
— There are two other CC tracks here that have been previously issued (although the liner notes say they have not):
“AC-DC Current” (2 Dec 39) & “Gone With What Draft” (24 Feb 41)
— plus 34 other tracks by various BG small groups recorded live

Benny Goodman — A Tour de Force: The Small Groups—Live! 1937-1972 Encore 7001

Go to Albums Index to see track listing (scroll down to Encore)

Go to CD Reviews for a review of the four tracks

December 25, 2001

More Photos: added photo # 32 and the two certificates & five photos near the bottom of the page

Go to Photo Gallery

Transcription of the “Tea for Two” intro & two solos
— 8-bar chord intro
— two 32-bar choruses on the first solo
— one 32-bar chorus on the second solo
— from the Harlem Breakfast Club jam session in Minneapolis
— the only available recording of Charles on this tune
— originally published in Solo Flight: The Charlie Christian Newsletter # 3, now with revised tablature

Go to “Tea for Two”

A new section has been added to this site: Book-Video Reviews
Originally published in the Solo Flight newsletters,
the reviews have been revised and updated and are now consolidated on one page.

Go to Book-Video Reviews

A most curious Charlie Christian CD was released earlier this month:
            Radioland • 1939-1941 on Fuel 2000 Records 302 061 167 2
Judging from the title, I expected a bunch of radio broadcasts—there’s not a single aircheck on it.
— 16 tracks with a total time of 68:50
            6 studio takes
            5 tracks from jam sessions
            4 tunes from a concert
            1 studio rehearsal
— includes two tunes on which CC does not solo
— three tracks featuring vocals
— no new items that haven’t been released on CD before
Weird selections for a compilation, but it has good sound,
the speed seems to have been adjusted to the correct pitch,
and it includes a rare issue of the complete “Oh, Lady Be Good.”
(Some on-line-store ads list four titles that are not on the CD and don’t list two that are.)

Go to Albums Index to see track listing (scroll down to Fuel 2000)

December 20, 2001

CD review on the recently released Masters of Jazz Charlie Christian • Volume 9
— includes 3 tracks that have never been released before
— many other very rare recordings
— 20-page booklet in French and English with full discography, five photos
— total time of 1 hour, 16 minutes, 55 seconds on 17 tracks

The review is in the CD Reviews section:

Go to CD Reviews

Volume 9 is available at:

Clifford Records
10 rue du Faisan
67000 Strasbourg, France
Tel : 33 (0)3 88 36 47 07
Fax : 33 (0)3 88 36 88 47
<jazzclifford@aol.com>

December 15, 2001

New items in Clive Downs’ Biographical (section 1) Bibliography
— Driggs (1978) – Liner notes to Jazz Archives LP JA-42 Lester Young and Charlie Christian 1939-1940
— Ellison (1995) – Living with Music
— Ellison (2001) – My Strength Comes from Louis Armstrong
— Patoski (1993) – Caught in the Crossfire
— Perry (1978) – Noel Boggs
— Ponzio (1995) – Blue Monk: Portrait de Thelonious Monk
— Scanlon (1996) – The Joy of Jazz: Swing Era, 1939-1947
New item in Clive Downs’ Musical Analysis (section 3) Bibliography
— Finkleman (unpublished) – The Style of Charlie Christian in the Context of His Contemporaries

New items and revision in Clive Downs’ Notated Solos Bibliography
— Guitar Player (April 2000) – “Rose Room” (2 Oct 1939)
— Hal Leonard (2000) – “Seven Come Eleven” (22 Nov 1939)
— Marshall (2000) – “Honeysuckle Rose” (22 Nov 1939)
— Spring (1990) – revised details on partial transcriptions

November 9, 2001

The Masters of Jazz Charlie Christian • Volume 9 • 1939-1941 was finally released last week (in France)
— Contains 17 tracks that were omitted from the initial eight volumes
— Includes three tracks – two airchecks and a jam – that have never been previously released in any format

Complete track listing can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Masters of Jazz MJCD 189

November 7, 2001

Transcription of “These Foolish Things” intro & solo
— 4-bar chord intro
— 8-bar bridge solo at a slow tempo
— first 6 bars of the solo are embellishments on the melody
— studio recording with the sextet – in Eb
— the only available recording of Charles on this tune

Go to “These Foolish Things”

October 28, 2001

Transcription of “On the Alamo” solo
— exquisite 8-bar solo in Eb at a relaxed, swingin’ slow tempo
— a studio recording with the septet
— the only available recording of Charles on this tune

Go to “On the Alamo”

October 21, 2001

Added some more features to the Tune Title Index
— Time & tempo of each tune, set to true pitch
— Key of each tune and a brief entry on location & personnel

Go to Tune Title Index

September 27, 2001

New items in Clive Downs’ Biographical (section 1) Bibliography
— Bryant (1998) – Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in L.A.
— Dahl (1999) – Morning Glory: Biography of Mary Lou Williams
— Firestone (1993) – Swing, Swing, Swing: Benny Goodman
— Greenhough (1947) – T-Bone Walker’s Story in His Own Words
— Patrick (1983) – Al Tinney, Monroe’s Uptown House, Emergence of Modern Jazz in Harlem
— Shepherd (2001) – “Jazz Information” periodical 1939-1940
New items in Clive Downs’ Musical Analysis (section 3) Bibliography
— Baker (1982) – Development and Roles of Guitar in Jazz to 1950
— Birkett (1994) – Inner Mechanisms of Jazz Improvisation
— Denny (1995) – Influence of Charlie Christian on Four Modern Jazz Guitarists
— Schwab (1998) – Charlie Christian and the Development of the Electric Guitar

New items in Clive Downs’ Notated Solos Bibliography
— Birkett (1994) – details two transcriptions
— Denny (1995) – details one transcription
— Schwab (1998) – details seven transcriptions

Updated the Links

Go to Links

September 7, 2001

The Masters of Jazz Charlie Christian • Volume 9 • 1939-1941 is now scheduled for release in October 2001.
— Contains 17 tracks that were omitted from the initial eight volumes.
— Includes three tracks – two airchecks and a jam – that have never been previously released in any format.

Complete track listing can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Masters of Jazz MJCD 189

Three days ago, Stardust Records released a CD entitled
Charlie Christian with the Benny Goodman Sextet: The Radio Broadcasts 1939-1941
— All tracks have been previously issued on both LP and CD.
      (It’s virtually a duplication of Archives of Jazz CD 380123, from which it was taken, minus one track.)
— The title implies much more than the 15 tracks (47 minutes) it contains.
      (That’s only 20% of the recorded broadcasts.)
— Initially, it appears to have been very nicely packaged but that’s not the case. First, you’ll need a magnifying glass
            to read the liner notes.
      Doesn’t matter much – there’s not much track info here. Only five of the broadcasts are dated and
            two of those dates are wrong.
— A sticker on the wrapper says that it’s re-mastered 24-bit on a gold disc, but I don’t hear any sonic
            improvement whatsoever.

Complete track listing can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Stardust CLP 1150-2

August 31, 2001

In anticipation of the impending release of the Masters of Jazz Charlie Christian, Volume 9,
posted info (but not the transcription yet)
on the 8 May 1941 version of “Stompin’ at the Savoy” recorded at Minton’s Playhouse.
— this jam session has never before been released in any format
— the transcription pages will be added to this site when the CD is released

Go to “Stompin’ at the Savoy” data sheet

July 29, 2001 Charlie Christian’s 85^th Birthday Anniversary

Transcription of “Haven’t Named It Yet” from the second Lionel Hampton recording session
— starts with sixteen-bar solo – all in Db swingin’ at a fast tempo
— then a trumpet solo on the bridge
— the last eight bars change chords at each measure – a great CC entrance, with diminished-7 runs in a couple of places

Go to “Haven’t Named It Yet” transcription

More Photos (photos # 61-65)

Go to Photo Gallery

New items in Clive Downs’ Biographical Bibliography
— Boyd (1998) – The Jazz of the Southwest: An Oral History of Western Swing
— Centlivre (2000) – “Charlie Was Something”: An Interview with Jerry Jerome
— Obrecht (2000) – Saunders King
— Shaughnessy (1993) – Les Paul: An American Original

One new item in Clive Downs’ Solos Bibliography
— Wise (2001) – Great Jazz and Blues Solos for Guitar – reprint of “Solo Flight” (take 1)

Catfish Records released a Charlie Christian CD this month: When Lights Are Low
— no new items – somewhat similar to The Genius of the Electric Guitar CD on Columbia
— 20 tracks with good sound
— all tracks recorded in Columbia studios plus one Victor

Go to Albums Index to see track listing

June 1, 2001

The Ida Cox sessions were released recently on the Document Records label
— 11 tracks from the two 31 October 1939 sessions
— replaces the out-of-print Affinity CD
— with the best sound yet

A review of this reissue is in the CD Reviews section.

Go to CD Reviews

Complete track listing can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Document DOCD-5651

Clive Downs has added some more entries to the Bibliographies:

Two new items in the Solos Bibliography
— Chapman (2000) – 16 bars from take 1 of “Solo Flight.”
— Guitar World (2001) – four-bar excerpts from two takes of “Breakfast Feud.”

Several more items in the Biographical Bibliography
— Bechtel (1998) – “Brad’s Page of Steel” (at internet site).
— Callendar & Cohen (1985) – “Unfinished Dream: The Musical World of Red Callendar.”
— Carr (1998) – “Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography.”
— Centlivre (2001) – “Revisiting Charlie Christian” (at internet site).
— Gillespie & Fraser (1982) – “To Be of Not to Bop: The Autobiography of Dizzy Gillespie.”
— Hampton & Haskins (1989) – “Hamp: An Autobiography.”
— Oliphant (1996) – “Texan Jazz.”
— O’Neal (1972) – Living Blues.
— Shaw (1977) – “52nd St.: The Street of Jazz.”
— Shipton (1999) – “Groovin’ High: The Life of Dizzy Gillespie.”
— Sudhalter (1999) – “Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz.”
— Townsend (1976) – “San Antonio Rose: The Life and Music of Bob Wills.”

Modified left-hand fingering on transcription of “Good Morning Blues”
— used a much cleaner and clearer recording this time

Go to “Good Morning Blues”

May 8, 2001

Transcription of the never-released version of “Stompin’ at the Savoy”
— 16 bars + 6 bars of the bridge before CC’s solo is accidentally cut off
— from the “Monte Proser Dance Carnival” at Madison Square Garden in June 1941
— this aircheck has never been released in any format

April 7, 2001

Two 4-CD sets were released in mid-March on the Definitive Records label at 24-bit resolution
— four CDs on Charlie Christian—Complete Studio Recordings
— four CDs on Charlie Christian—Complete Live Recordings
— a total of 7 hours, 51½ minutes on 140 tracks
— at a bargain price!

A review of this tandem is in the CD Reviews section.

Go to CD Reviews

Complete track listings for both sets can be viewed in the Albums Index of the Discography section.

Go to Albums Index and scroll down to Definitive DRCD11176 and DRCD11177

Clive Downs has added more entries to the Bibliographies:

Two new items in the Solos Bibliography
— GuitarOne (2001) – 5-page magazine article with a good CC solo transcription of “Solo Flight.”
— Sadie & Tyrrel (2001) – only has 3 previously published fragments of “Breakfast Feud.”

Several items in the Biographical Bibliography
— Collette, Buddy (2000) – “Jazz Generations: A Life in American Music and Society”
— Crow, Bill (1990) – “Jazz Anecdotes”
— Ellison, Ralph (1986) – “Going to the Territory”
— Epstein, Daniel (1999) – “Nat King Cole”
— Feather, Leonard (1986) – “The Jazz Years: Earwitness to an Era”
— Lester, James (1994) – “Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum”
— Waksman, Steve (1999) – “Playing with Sound: Charlie Christian, the Electric Guitar, and the Swing Era”

Also linked to the new Charlie Christian Discussion Group set up by Garry Hansen.

Go to The Charlie Christian Discussion Group

March 2, 2001

Transcriptions of both versions of “Poor Butterfly”
— 8-bar solos in the key of Ab
— one is from a studio session in Hollywood on April 3, 1940
— the other is a radio broadcast from the Cocoanut Grove in L.A. on April 27, 1940
— Charles takes a solo on the ‘A’ section in each version
— the aircheck has never been released in any format

Go to Poor Butterfly – studio take or Poor Butterfly – unissued aircheck

February 25, 2001

A new section has been added to this site: The Spliced Recordings
Originally published in the 1997 Solo Flight: The Charlie Christian Newsletter # 3,
the charts have been revised and updated and are now more accessible.

Go to The Spliced Recordings

February 18, 2001

Definitive Records will be releasing two Charlie Christian 4-CD sets soon:

Complete Studio Recordings (DRCD 11176) and Complete Live Recordings (DRCD 11177).

Of the first set, Definitive says: “Great first time tribute to the genius of electric guitar with all his session dates.”
Of the second: “All the concert and radio appearances of the genius of electric guitar.”

Good News: Definitive’s releases are 24-bit remasters.
Bad News: The first one is subtitled “Columbia, RCA Victor, Vocalion & Blue Note Master Takes” so it appears it’ll include only the master takes.

February 7, 2001

A recent update to the Discography included a 24-bit Japanese CD reissue from Sony Music Entertainment of
Charlie Christian: The Genius of the Electric Guitar that, because of the exceptional sonics, I should have
commented on at the time.
I have now added it to the CD Reviews.

Go to CD Reviews

January 1, 2001

Transcription of a blues with a septet that includes Lester Young – “Ad-Lib Blues”
— 12-bar blues in the key of C
— from a rehearsal at the Columbia Records studio
— Charles’ two-chorus solo starts off this blues
— transcription includes a false start in the key of Bb

Go to Ad-Lib Blues

Two items on T-Bone Walker’s friendship with Charles, in the Biographical Bibliography
— Dance (1997) – “Stormy Monday: The T-Bone Walker Story”
— Santelli (1994) – “The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia # 148;

A dozen updates to the Discography (mostly recent CD releases – no previously unissued tracks)

Go to Discography

Added a link to the “Swing & Jump Blues Guitar” tutorial site

Go to Links

December 10, 2000

Transcription of another excellent blues with the Kansas City Six – “Good Morning Blues”
— slow 12-bar blues in the key of F
— from the “Spirituals to Swing” Concert at Carnegie Hall
— Charles’ two-chorus solo again follows Lester Young’s solo

Go to Good Morning Blues

November 2, 2000

Clive Downs has added three more entries to the Bibliographies:

Two new items in the Solos Bibliography
— Kuboki (1995) – 85-page book with 18 very good CC solo transcriptions...some of the best published to date:
Recommended.
— Richardson (1996) – only a two-bar excerpt.

One item in the Biographical Bibliography
— Oliphant (1993) – 36-page article on “Eddie Durham and the Texas Contribution to Jazz History”

October 23, 2000

Transcriptions of both takes of another blues in the key of Eb – “Profoundly Blue” – a slow 12-bar blues
— from the famous “Profoundly Blue” session by the Edmond Hall Celeste Quartet, for Blue Note Records
— Guitar four-bar chord intro along with Israel Crosby’s bass
— Charles’ three-chorus solos on acoustic guitar
— Since this is essentially a guitar/bass duet, the bass lines are also included on these transcriptions

Go to Profoundly Blue – master take or Profoundly Blue – alternate take

Routine updates to the Discography (a dozen recent CD releases – no previously unissued tracks)

Go to Discography

September 2, 2000

Added transcription of another blues – “Paging the Devil” – a slow 12-bar blues in the key of Eb
— “From Spirituals to Swing” Concert at Carnegie Hall on Christmas Eve 1939
— Charles’ two-chorus solo with the Kansas City Six
(follows Lester Young’s 3-chorus solo; precedes Buck Clayton’s 2-chorus solo)

Go to Paging the Devil

August 19, 2000

Added transcription of “Grand Slam” – a 12-bar boogie
— eight-bar theme
— two-chorus blues solo

Go to Grand Slam

July 29, 2000 Charlie Christian’s 84^th Birthday Anniversary

Seven-page transcription of the “Honeysuckle Rose” ( “Up on Teddy’s Hill” ) jam from Minton’s Playhouse
— a four-chorus solo that starts out very relaxed but quickly builds up a full head of steam –
wonderful to listen to, transcribe, or play
— plus two choruses of riffs behind a trumpet solo
— and the swingin’est solo break that you’ll ever hear, on the out-chorus bridge –
explosive entrance, followed by unexpected phrasing

Go to Honeysuckle Rose (Up on Teddy’s Hill) – May 1941

More Photos (photos # 56-60)

Go to Photo Gallery

New item in Clive Downs’ Solos Bibliography
— Finkelman (1997) – a 30-page analysis of CC’s solos, with transcription excerpts from 32 different takes

Routine updates to the Discography (recent releases – no previously unissued tracks)

Go to Discography

There will be a three-hour evening Charlie Christian Birthday Broadcast Special today on WKCR-FM (New York) 89.9
including comprehensive musical and biographical commentary.
A five-hour special will be broadcast the following afternoon: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/wkcr/listen.html

June 26, 2000

There’s a very nice four-page biographical piece by Dan Morgenstern— “Charlie Christian: Swing to Bop and Beyond” —
in the August 2000 issue of Jazz Times. Includes a couple of photographs.
Jerry Jerome is quoted as having been recorded at a jam with CC in Milwaukee. That actually occurred at the
Harlem Breakfast Club in Minneapolis, the hometown of Jerry Newhouse who recorded the session
after a Goodman band gig in St. Paul.

In the same issue, there’s also a George Benson and Russell Malone interview where CC is mentioned a few times.
Some of the quotes:

GB: “...the fewer [fingers] you use, the more fluid you are. Django Reinhardt was the greatest technician, and he only had two fingers he could use on his left hand. Wes Montgomery was a three-finger player...”
< CC also was a two-finger soloist; usually three-fingered on chords >

RM: “...You’ve got to look at the guitar for what it is. You don’t blow into it, you caress it...”
GB: “Charlie Christian got us into that, but he was a rare bird, like Django, and everybody can’t do that.
The cats who can play with that speed and swing that hard are going to be rare dudes...”

June 19, 2000

Added a couple of items to the Links

Go to Links

Routine updates to the Discography (recent releases, but with no previously unissued tracks)

Go to Discography

May 8, 2000

Added two sextet versions of “Honeysuckle Rose”
from the “Spirituals to Swing” Carnegie Hall concert and an aircheck

Go to Honeysuckle Rose – 24 Dec 1939 or Honeysuckle Rose – 19 Nov 1940

Added the following items to Clive Downs’ Solos Bibliography
— Mairants (1996)
— Regent Music (1944)

Added the following item to Clive Downs’ Biographical Bibliography (section 3 - Musical Analysis)
— Johnzon & Oberg (1997)

April 3, 2000

Couldn't resist putting up transcriptions of CC’s remaining two versions of “Rose Room”

Go to Rose Room – 28 Oct 1939 or Rose Room – 6 Jun 1941

Updated the Links

Go to Links

March 13, 2000

Added Photos 44, 52-55

Go to Photo Gallery

Replaced Photo 38 with a much better reproduction

Also added some narrative to the main Transcription page

Go to Transcriptions

February 29, 2000

Revised the transcription of “Topsy” using a much cleaner recording than I had used previously

Go to Topsy

January 20, 2000

Clive Downs updated the Bibliographies:

Added the following items to the Solos Bibliography
— ten Boske (1989)
— Colombo (1994)
— Down Beat (1978)

Added the following items to the Musical Analysis Bibliography
— Betts (1996)
— ten Boske (1989)
— Colombo (1994)

Go to Musical Analysis Bibliography

December 25, 1999

A special gift for Christmas:

Added a transcription of Charlie Christian’s 4-chorus, pre-rehearsal jam on “Rose Room”

Go to Rose Room – 13 Mar 1941

December 20, 1999

For the First Anniversary of this site:

Added transcriptions of CC’s two most popular versions of “Rose Room”

Go to Rose Room – 2 Oct 1939 or Rose Room – 9 Oct 1939

Added a couple of items to the Solos Bibliography