Other recordings that are available and were not studio sessions include the second ‘Spirituals to Swing” concert put on by John Hammond on December 24, 1939, where Christian played with both Goodman’s band and the Kansas City Six.  There are also the ‘jam session’ recordings from Minton’s and Monroe’s, as well as the Jerry Jerome session in Minneapolis, which apparently took place at the Harlem Breakfast Club and was privately recorded.

Of the studio sessions, there are a number of originally non-released takes, namely the “rehearsal session” of October 28, 1940 with Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Basie, Freddie Greene, Walter Page and Jo Jones. There are also a couple of interesting recordings (“Blues in B” and “Waitin’ for Benny”), made by an engineer at Columbia, perhaps testing the equipment while the band was waiting for the “real” recording session to begin on March 13, 1941.

This leaves less than half of Christian’s output recorded in a standard studio situation.  Of these, the Goodman sessions and the standard studio situation. Of these, the Goodman sessions and the Metronome All-Star session of February 7, 1940 were recorded for Columbia.  The other Metronome session of January 16, 1941 was recorded for Victor; and the Lionel Hampton recordings were done for RCA.

******

REPERTOIRE

By far the most common chord progression that Christian improvises on is the twelve measure blues progression. This structure occurs with various titles, which are listed in Table 1 along with the title of other tunes that he plays. Included in the table are tempo ranges for each tune according to the following key:

F     –   fast, 240 quarter notes per minute or faster

MF –   medium fast; 184 to 240 quarter notes per minute

M   –    medium; 128 to 184 quarter notes per minute

MS –   medium slow; 92 to 128 quarter notes per minute

S    –    slow; less than 92 quarter notes per minute

Most of the tunes turn out to be medium fast with the next most common tempo range being medium; then medium slow; then slow; rarest of all is the fast tempo range.

In the fifty transcriptions found in the Appendix there is a large proportion of medium fast blues, reflecting that they are the most commonly recorded tunes ;and that they are also the most formulaic.  Since the main concern in this analysis is formulas the bulk of the examples are from these solos.

TABLE  1

FREQUENCY OF RECORDED TUNES AND THEIR TEMPO RANGE

CHAPTER 3 – CHRISTIAN’S STYLE

In discussing Christian’s style, I will first consider his sound – his consistent time feel and texture as well as his exploitation of the specific qualities of the electric guitar.  Unlike that of other Jazz guitarists at that time, for example Eddie Durham, Christian’s sound is legato with a swing eighth note time feel.  His use of double time and the full eighth note triplet is limited to specific functions, and so they occur infrequently, especially as compared to someone like Django Reinhardt.  Also, in comparison to Reinhardt, Christian rarely uses chords or octave doubling in his solos.

Secondly, I will discuss Christian’s “looseness” of phrasing and fluidity in his use of arpeggios.  Christian’s placement of his phrases in the time cycle is not strictly attached to the underlying harmonic framework and the length of his phrases varies considerably. He uses arpeggios less frequently than other guitarists of that era;  when he does use them, anticipation, pitch interpolation, and their placement in the framework give them flexibility.

Thirdly, I will discuss a quality of Christian’s playing that has been referred to as “drive.”  One factor that contributes to ‘drive” 1s his tendency to build momentum through the repetition of either single notes or short phrases before expanding them into a longer line.

SOUND

Christian’s texture is consistently made up of lines of single note swing eighths.  He sometimes uses double-stops, notably an octave doubling of the tonic of the key or the interval of a tritone between the lowered 10th and 6th degree of the key.  Occasionally he will play the tonic and fifth together as well.  Rarely does he use chords in his solos.  The main exception to this is his “improvisation” on “Stardust.”  Not only is this tune the only one where a chord solo predominates, but it is also one of the few examples when his “solo” is obviously worked out beforehand.  This is clear from the fact that the five renditions of this tune are almost exactly alike.  This consistency of texture on Christian’s part differs dramatically from the texture used by probably the most famous of Christian’s contemporaries, Django Reinhardt.  His solos contain not only single note lines but many double stop and chord passages.  Although Reinhardt does not use either the tritone or perfect fifth double stop that Christian uses, his use of octaves extends to the playing of entire lines and not just the repetition of the tonic of the key which is the usual case for Christian.²  Reinhardt also uses chords more extensively within solos, often near the end of a chorus.³

¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾
2.   Listen to “Blue Drag” (Paris: April 1935 mx 77285 or 77351)
3.   Listen to “The Sheik of Araby” (April 27, 1937 Paris mx OLA-1737-1)

Even though Reinhardt played acoustic guitar, his influence on Christian was such that Mary Osborne, a jazz guitarist who knew Christian in 1938, heard him play a note for note copy of Reinhardt’s solo on “St. Louis Blues.”⁴  Reinhardt characteristically used double time and lines of full eighth-note triplets, both of which differ considerably from Christian’s main swing eighth-note time feel.  There are exceptions however.  
         Christian can be heard to play even eighths,
often in the bridge of a tune like “Air Mail Special” (Mar 17, 1941: p. 105)⁵ or
in the middle of a line as in
“Good Enough to Keep” (Mar 13, 1941: p. 123) or
“Lester’s Dream” (Oct 28, 1940: p. 138).  
         Like Reinhardt, he also uses double time, though mostly in ballads like “Memories of You” (Oct 23, 1939: p. l39 and Nov 22, 1939: p. 140 ).
         He also uses the full eighth-note triplet sometimes as in
“Rose Room” (Oct 2, 1939: p. 144 ),
“As Long as I Live (Nov 7, 1940:  p. 107 ), or
“I Can’t Give You Anything... (Dec 19, 1940, mx 29620-1: p. 130 ). 

All of these examples use the full triplet over a dominant functioning chord enhancing the feeling of tension, which resolves when the tonic chord is reached by resuming the usual swing eighth-note feel.  But this use of double time feel and the full eighth-note triplet is not nearly as pervasive as it is in Reinhardt’s playing.  Compare Christian’s solo on the “Sheik of Araby” (April 12, 1940: p. 148) to Reinhardt’s (April 1937):  Generally Reinhardt is “notier” than Christian, and this may be due to the fact that Reinhardt played acoustic guitar and therefore did not have the sustained sound supplied by amplification.  As a result Reinhardt’s style is “guitaristic” with its abundance of tremolos and notes of short duration.  Christian’s on the other hand is very horn-like in its basic swing eighth time feel, legato sound and sustained notes.  It is interesting to note that Reinhardt did attempt to switch to electric guitar without too much success later in his career.  This is due, I think, to his not taking advantage of the specific features unique to the electric guitar, as Christian obviously did.

PHRASING

Even though there is a strong consistency of sound, time feel and texture in Christian’s playing, we still perceive a “looseness” in his playing that is manifested most clearly in the fluidity of his phrasing and flexibility in the use of arpeggios.  His phrasing can best be seen if we compare his improvisation on a blues to that of Eddie Durham.  Example 3 shows Durham’s solo on “Countless Blues” (September 8, 1938: mx 23422-1) and Christian’s solo on “Benny’s Bugle” (November 7, 1940, mx 29030-1: p. 108 ).  “Countless Blues” starts out with three phrases, all the same, one per measure, for the first three measures, and another phrase in the fourth measure.  At the fifth measure, when the harmony changes, a new phrase, very much like the first, again begins on beat one and lasts for the duration of measure five when a new idea is played starting on beat one of measure six.  The next phrase starts at the beginning of measure seven corresponding to a change in the harmony.  This occurs again at measure nine and at measure eleven.  The second chorus operates in much the same way.  

In comparing this solo to Christian’s on “Benny’s Bugle” the differences become apparent immediately. Christian begins his first phrase on beat two of the first measure and ends it on the last eighth note of measure two.  His next phrase starts on beat three of the fourth measure, anticipating the chord change by two beats, and continues on right through the harmonic changes to measure eight.  Measures nine and ten have their own phrase and measure eleven and twelve are left blank.  The second chorus is different again.  Although It starts on beat one with a long Bb, the next phrase starts on beat two of measure two.  The next starts on beat three of measure three and continues almost right to the end of the twelve measures with only a few resting places along the way.  Given the highly repetitious use of ideas to further delineate an already stiff phrase structure,  Durham’s solo sounds much less fluid, that is much more attached to the underlying harmonic structure than Christian’s, which also uses only a few ideas but in a more fluid manner.

ARPEGGIOS

The squareness of phrasing found in Durham’s solos can also be heard in “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” (September 8, 1938: mx 2342-1, see ex. 4): as the harmony changes so does the phrasing.  This solo also illustrates Durham’s reliance on arpeggios. For example, dominant chords are usually arpeggiated as ascending 9th or 13th chords – an idea Christian also uses.  This reliance accounts for his stiff phrasing since with each new chord, a new arpeggio (phrase) is called for.  Christian, on the other hand, is more “line” oriented.  He does use arpeggios, but he doesn’t rely on them as much as Durham, and as we shall see he processes them using rhythmic augmentation and pitch interpolation to a much greater degree.  Even when arpeggios are used without being processed their placement still shows the fluidity of phrasing which is so pervasive in Christian’s playing.  In “Memories of You” (October 23, 1939: p. 139) he starts his arpeggio on beat two, outlining the sixth of the chord by putting it at each end of the phrase.  When the chord changes in measure two, he waits until the second half of beat two to start his next phrase, which ends on beat 4 ½ with the eleventh of the chord.  The next phrase starts after beat two and ends on an ascending arpeggio emphasizing the sixth of the chord again.  The next phrase starts on beat four and ends on beat two, again with an arpeggio. We see here the use of arpeggios without stiff phrasing.

DRIVE

One aspect of Christian’s playing that may give the impression of drive is his tendency to repeat short phrases two or three times before continuing on into a longer line, thereby giving a certain momentum or tension to his solo. Short repeated phrases are not unique to Christian.  Reinhardt uses the same idea, for example, in “Dinah” (December 1934: mx 77161) both as a bridge across the first and second eight measure units in the second chorus, and in the first and twenty-fourth measures of that same chorus.  Christian uses this idea in a different way.  Rather than function as an idea in itself, it usually expands into a longer line. This repetition of the opening sounds of a larger line will be examined in more detail in the next chapter.

In “Good Enough to Keep” (March 13, 1941: p. 123), in the second eight measures, the opening figure is repeated in such a way as to create a cross rhythm of three quarter notes against four.  This entire group is repeated again.  Christian begins to repeat it again, but this time, the line continues into a longer line or formula, the details of which will be discussed in the next chapter.  In the same chorus, he uses the same strategy to start the last eight measures.  The root of the chord is repeated using dotted quarter notes ( a cross-rhythm of three against two; to create more interest he changes strings with each repeat.  The repeats end on beat three of the next measure in an ascending figure which is part of a commonly used formula in Christian’s playing.  This idea is repeated starting in the next measure but this time he varies the rhythm so that the tonics always fall off the beat.  Again on the third beat the ascending figure appears.  The third time this idea starts to repeat, the ascending formula enters immediately and completes its ascent. At that point it continues into another formula.

In “I Found a New Baby” (January 15, 1941: p. 132) the opening phrase is repeated three times; the fourth time it is extended higher by one note. The fifth time it continues up into a longer idea.  In the “I Got Rhythm” solo with Jerry Jerome (September 24, 1939 or early March, 1940: p. 133) the repeated opening phrase also serves to introduce a longer line.

The examples of this strategy are numerous. In most cases they function to introduce longer lines, usually one of the standard formulas to be discussed in the next chapter.  Besides introducing these formulas they often occur at the beginning of structural units in the time cycle.  Reinhardt’s repetitions do not function this way; the repetitions are usually more numerous, are not usually attached to one location in time cycle, and function as ideas in themselves rather than as a means of creating tension or momentum by delaying the onset of longer ideas.

Reinhardt, like other guitarists before him including Lonnie Johnson and Eddie Lang, often uses the melody as a basis for improvisation.  (“I’m Confessin’ That I Love You” (March 5, 1935, mx P-77243;  second eight measures of “Dinah,” December 1934.)  The only example of Christian using this strategy is found on the rendition of “Stardust” with Jerry Jerome.  This is also, as we recall, one of the very few examples of a solo obviously worked out beforehand and it is one of the few examples of a “chord” solo.  The other four versions of this solo and the second chorus of the Jerry Jerome version are almost exactly alike.  It is in the first chorus of the Jerry Jerome version that Christian is obviously using the melody as a basis for the improvisation.  Most often, though, Christian seems to rely more on formulas in his improvisations, as will be discussed in the next chapter.

CHAPTER 4 – TONIC FORMULAS

After I listened to Christian for some time it became clear to me that he uses formulas. By formulas I mean groups of notes that are similar, persistent, and that are variable in their appearances.  In order to analyze the substance of these formulas I compared them paradigmatically, thereby extracting their main features and range of variation, the details of which will be discussed in the next two chapters.  Since I am also interested in the environment of the formulas, I examined them in the larger context of the line and harmonic framework.  In this regard it is important to bear in mind that these formulas are best understood, in substance and in function, if seen in the context of the solo.  Therefore I have indicated where each of the following examples can be found in the appendix.

There are two main groups of formulas.  The first group to be considered in this chapter, usually occurs over tonic chords, the second group over non-tonic chords.  Each group has one descending formula, chromatic in nature, and one ascending formula, organized around an ascending arpeggio.  Both groups often contain rhythmic augmentation, interpolation and internal repetition.

The first formula of the tonic group is a descending line which becomes progressively less variable as it approaches what I call the “core” of the formula.  It often outlines an octave from the lowered tenth to the lowered third of the accompanying harmony, where it often changes direction. It can also contain the lowered seventh, and sixth of the chord. The second formula of the tonic group is a shorter ascending phrase from the root of the prevailing harmony up an octave.

< thirty-four pages with graphic examples omitted >

CHAPTER FIVE – NON-TONIC FORMULAS

The two formulas discussed in the previous chapter were the ones that most obviously caught my ear after listening to Christian for some time.  It struck me that both of these are mostly associated with tonic functioning harmony, so the question arose as to what he uses to deal with non-tonic harmony.  Up to that point I had noticed only that his lines sounded more chromatic when there was mostly dominant harmony.  Again, through paradigmatic comparison of those passages and through taking notice of similarities and differences to create typologies, certain major ideas started to emerge. Just as the first tonic formula clearly predominated in the blues, so these non-tonic formulas predominated In the bridges of tunes containing cycles of dominant chords, such as the bridge of “I Got Rhythm,” or that have relatively extended passages of dominant harmony such as “Honeysuckle Rose.”

The formulas that emerge here are rather different from the first tonic formula in that most are organized around a chromatic descent.  Furthermore they can use rhythmic diminution as opposed to augmentation to conform to their metrical constraints.  They are like the tonic functioning formulas in that some are ascending arpeggios;  they are sometimes prefixed consistently;  are metrically constrained;  can be processed through rhythmic augmentation;  and are constrained in their availability by harmony, although anticipation is an available device here as well.

As far as ascending arpeggios are concerned, there are three types.  The most common is an arpeggiation of a dominant chord starting from the third and ascending in thirds to the thirteenth.  The other two variations of this in that the arpeggio stops at the ninth of the chord.  Sometimes the tenth is substituted for the ninth.  All of these are usually found in swing eighths.

< twenty pages with graphic examples omitted >

SUMMARY

There are two different systems of formula groups depending on the requirements of the harmonic framework.  One set usually occurs over tonic harmony, the other over non-tonic harmony.  The first set, especially the first tonic formula, is more flexible in this way than the non-tonic formulas.  In both sets, descending formulas seem to be more extensive than ascending formulas.  Coherence of style is achieved through formulaic economy; only a few formulas cover a great deal of what Christian does.  Variation in these formulas is achieved through devices such as rhythmic augmentation and diminution, anticipation, interpolation and repetition.  These also help to account for the fluid phrasing that we experience in Christian’s soloing.  Besides harmony, metre puts constraints on the placement of the formulas with beats one and three being treated consistently differently than beats two and four.  Finally, there are a number of ways in which Christian creates tension.

(1)   Repetition – this can take the form of prolonging either the onset of the formula or its continuation.

(2)   The emphasis, through augmentation, repetition, and/or metric placement of a pitch that is a semitone higher than the chord tone to which it resolves.

(3)   The outlining of one harmony in the line that is different from the harmony of the moment in the underlying framework.

CHAPTER SIX

This chapter will deal with the general conditions that affect Christian’s use of formulas and some of their broader functions.  Faster tunes contain more formulaic activity than slower tunes.  More formulaic activity is found in tunes with which Christian is more familiar, than in tunes with which he is too familiar.  Tonic minor harmony is also a context where formulas, as we have been discussing them, are less frequent. Because there are two groups of formulas, one for tonic harmony and one for non-tonic harmony, they delineate the structure of a tune.  Christian uses formulas to move from note to note easily.  This accounts for their increased frequency on faster tunes.  It also creates areas of motion that he often uses to contrast with areas of less motion.  The third result of the note to note function of the formulas is has unusual phrasing.

Formulas, as we have been discussing them, rarely occur over tonic minor harmony.  It is here that Christian is most straightforward, dealing with this harmonic context mostly in terms of minor triad arpeggios or minor sixth arpeggios.  (“Memories of You” [p. 140])

The sixth of the minor chord is frequently emphasized.  (“Lester’s Dream” and “Charlie’s Dream” [pp. 116 & 138]).  Another note that receives emphasis is the eleventh.  (“Till Tom Special,” both transcribed versions [p. 156 and p. 157];  “Six Appeal” [p. 149]).  The emphasis of the thirteenth and the eleventh over the minor chord creates a tension that counterbalances the frequent use of minor triad arpeggios.  Formulas, as we have been discussing them up to this point, are not apparent in this situation.

Another situation where formulas are less frequent than usual is in tunes that have a slow tempo.  The reverse is also true:  fast tempo tunes make more than average use of formulas.  If we compare “Good Morning Blues” (p. 125) – a slow blues in F – to the May 28, 1941 version of “Benny’s Bugle” (p. 110) which is a fast blues in Bb, this becomes clear.  In “Good Morning Blues” there is something like the core in measure two, and the core proper in measure six.  Christian starts to double time in measure eight and he plays a non-tonic formula at measure nine. (descending arpeggio - 5th to 3rd fill in).  In measure ten the core appears once again.  The second chorus has something like the second tonic functioning formula in the third measure, and the core in double time at measure six.  Still in double time for measures seven and eight, something like the second formula appears. A non-tonic formula (tonic to lowered seventh) in double time occurs in measure nine and starting in measure ten, for the first time, we have the core with something like one of the prefixes.  In summary, we have four examples of the core: one in double time; one of the second tonic formula; two non-tonic formulas and only one tonic ‘formula that has a prefix.

The “Benny’s Bugle” solo is much more formulaic.  It starts with the repeated tonic opening of a type B prefix, then moves to the core and immediately into a second type B prefix and core - all within the first four measures.  A non-tonic formula appears in measure four which is followed by a type A prefix and core in measures seven and eight.  Practically all of the last three measures of this chorus are made up of repeating tonics which introduce another type B prefix and core at the beginning of the second chorus, which is followed by an embellished version of the prefix for the next two measures.  Starting at the end of measure four, a type A prefix is introduced and continues into the core.  Christian plays the core in measure ten and ends the solo with the second type of tonic formula with a rather elaborate interpolation preceding the upper tonic.  Altogether in these two choruses we have:  three examples of a type B prefix;  two examples of a type A prefix (all of which have a core);  the core by itself; an elaborated type B prefix;  and one example of the second type of tonic formula.  His reliance on formulas is much more frequent here than in “Good Morning Blues.”  It makes sense that he would be more formulaic in fast tunes than in slow tunes because the demands of performance at a high speed require more reliance on known material than new material.

Christian is also more formulaic on tunes with which he is familiar than on those which he recorded only once or twice.  Most of the blues, “Flying Home,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “I Got Rhythm” and “Air Mail Special,” are medium fast tunes, are recorded at least four times, and are generally more formulaic than “Dinah,” “ I Never Knew,” I Found a New Baby,” or “Ida,” which are also medium fast tunes but were only recorded once each and are less formulaic.

If we compare “Flying Home” (p.118 ), recorded ten times, to “Ida” (p. 131), recorded once, we see a substantial difference in formulaic activity.  In ‘Flying Home,” the first formula appears in the fourth measure with a chromatic descent from the fifth of the chord to the third, acting independently of an arpeggio.  This is a rare example of a formula which usually occurs over a non-tonic chord being used over tonic harmony.  The first phrase of the solo is emphasized by being repeated three times.  We also note that it contains a lowered seventh (Db) even though the underlying harmony does not contain it.  This sets up a dominant feeling in the line thereby making this formula seem appropriate.  Immediately following this, the second type of tonic formula appears to be followed in turn by an extended type D prefix and core.  The last three measures of this section are taken up by two type D prefixes and cores.  The bridge contains a non-tonic formula in measure two and a tonic formula appears in measure three.  Another non-tonic formula (extended descent to the lowered seventh) appears in measure six followed by another in measure seven (ascending arpeggio to the thirteenth).  The final eight measure section does not use any formulas until the fifth measure when two tonic formulas occur in succession.

“Ida” has two formulas in the first eight measures.  In measures three and four a descending dominant arpeggio occurs with the third to the tonic filled in.  This is followed by a descent to the lowered seventh.  When we get to the second eight measures the formulaic activity increases markedly.  This is not surprising since the harmonic framework is a cycle of fourths, a progression with which Christian has had much experience.  Formulas occur in the first three measures starting off with a descending arpeggio with a five to three fill-in.  The third measure has a scale from the lowered seventh which is extended to the tonic with a three to one fill-in.  This, in turn, is followed by a descent to the lowered seventh.  This also occurs in the final measure.  At the second chorus, formulaic activity is sparse once again with one tonic formula and one non-tonic formula (in measures two and three respectively) in the entire eight measure phrase.  The last eight measures become more formulaic with a five to three fill-in followed by a descent to the seventh, all over familiar harmonic territory.  As this is not a continuous cycle of fourths, the formulaic activity decreases with a descent from the fifth to the third in the fourth measure and one core in the fifth measure.

If we compare the results, we find that “Flying Home” has twice as many bars that contain formulaic activity as “Ida,” not counting the second eight measures of “Ida” which is familiar harmonic material.  I suggest that the reason Christian is more formulaic on more familiar tunes has to do with the note to note function of formulas.  Formulas enable Christian to move from note to note with ease, thereby freeing him to phrase in a comparatively unusual manner.  On a familiar tune he is more apt to take chances, e.g. to phrase the way he does by using formulas.  This relation between formulas and phrasing is reinforced if we look at “Good Morning Blues.”  It is a slow tune, less formulaic and therefore “squarer,” in its phrasing.

In considering how these formulas might relate to the time cycle, especially in dealing with the first formula, we may examine the blues progression.  Here we find that the first three measures usually contain at least one example of the first tonic formula, with the fourth measure usually signaling the upcoming harmonic change in measure five by emphasizing the lowered seventh degree of the tonic chord.  The fifth and sixth measures introduce new material by using one of the non-tonic formulas, usually the descending arpeggio with the fifth to the third filled in.  It is not unusual to have the first tonic formula start in measure six and continue on to measure nine and ten, where the non-tonic formulas appear again.  This time they can include ascending arpeggios, descending arpeggios with the third to the tonic filled in, and the descent to the lowered seventh;  in fact, every non-tonic formula except the one so conspicuous in measures four and five (descending arpeggio with a five to three fill-in).

This strategy, that is, using one set of formulas primarily for one kind of sound (tonic) and a second set for another (non-tonic) delineates the structure of most of his solos.  For example, the difference between the first four measures and the second four measures of the A section of “Honeysuckle Rose” both in the Minton’s version and the Goodman renditions are clearly outlined.  There is also a distinct difference between the bridges and A sections of “I Got Rhythm” through the use of separate sets of formulas.  Through all of this the first tonic formula can occur in a non-tonic situation, but not vice-versa.

After listening to Christian’s improvisations for a number of months one senses an alternation between areas of motion juxtaposed with areas of immobility.  Motion occurs when a lot of ground is covered in a short period of time.  The “ground” in this case means pitch material.  In the last eight measures of “Honeysuckle Rose” (p. 128) there are large leaps which outline a three beat figure, but there isn’t a lot of motion as defined above, because there are not a lot of different pitches being played.  This phrase evolves into a descending scale and then turns into the common tension creating device of emphasizing the pitch a semitone higher (Bbb) than the chord tone (Ab) to which it resolves.  Even though tension is created here, there is little motion.  In this example, as in others, it is precisely when tension or momentum is being built that motion is minimal.

Christian often juxtaposes areas of motion with areas of relative immobility.  The formulas are, for the most part motion oriented and often function to connect one comparatively motionless area to another.  Moreover, the placement of these areas in relation to the time cycle can be paradigmatic.  For example, in “Good Enough to Keep” (p. 123) each A section exhibits a strategy whereby there is a move from a relatively motionless area to one of motion.  Therefore formulas never start these sections.  This same pattern can be seen in “Stompin’ at the Savoy” (p. 151).  This pattern is not necessarily more common than any other;  nor am I saying that there always is a paradigmatic strategy, however these juxtapositions do occur often and the formulas make up the bulk of the motion areas.

Christian’s formulas enabled him to move from note to note easily.  This allowed him to improvise with unique phrasing.  As a result, Christian helped to point the direction for a new style of playing.

Because of Christian’s background in southwestern United States he exhibits a strong blues feeling in his line and a horn like quality in his sound.  This is not surprising since the southwest at that time had a strong blues tradition with singers like Jimmy Rushing, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Big Bill Broonzy emerging from that area.  It is also the area where saxophone players like Ben Webster, Herschel Evans, Charlie Parker, and especially Lester Young come from.  The details of these two influences on Christian, the blues and saxophone playing, requires further research, but by the time Christian is at the height of his career we hear him contributing to the emergence of a new style – bebop.

APPENDIX I – TRANSCRIPTIONS

All eighth notes are to be considered swing eighths unless specified by “s” which means “straight” or even eighths.  The mark “st” means “stretch” – Christian achieves the notated pitch by fingering a note below it and stretching the string.  Circled numbers refer to strings – the highest string is 1 or E.  Tempos are approximate since they do not stay absolutely rigid in all the solos.

Key signatures may not always be accurate because through a number of generations of copying, speeds may have changed due to dubbing from machine to machine.  Usually jazz players improvise in flat keys.  Although I suspect many of the sharp keys in the transcriptions, I cannot assume that they really are flat keys.  Johnny Guarnieri told me, in conversations I had with him in 1979, that playing in sharp keys was, in fact, not that uncommon at that time.  For example, it was Guarnieri who called the ‘Blues in B,’ knowing that it was not that unusual to do so.

All transcriptions were done by the author.

List of Transcriptions

< 64 pages of transcriptions + 10 pages of statistics omitted >

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A.   Published Transcriptions

Ayeroff, Stan. ed. Charlie Christian.
Jazz Masters, Music for Millions Series, Vol. 84,
New York: Consolidated Music Publishers, 1979.

Edmonds, Hank  &  Bob Prince. trans. The Swingingest’ Charley Christian.
New York: Chas. Colin Publishers. Thornwood Music
Publishing Co. 1958.

Fox, Dan. ed. The Art of the Jazz Guitar, Charlie Christian.
New York: Regent Music Corporation, 1964.

Lowe, Mundell. trans. in World’s Greatest Jazz Solos (Guitar).
Almo Publications 1978. p.42

Peterson, Jack. in Jazz Styles and Analysis: Guitar.
Chicago, Illinois: Downbeat Music Workshop Publication,
Mahler Publications 1979. pp. 20-23.

Takayanagi, Masayuki. supervision. Charlie Christian Jazz Improvisation.
Japan: Nichion Publications, 1975.

B.   Discographies

Callis, John. Charlie Christian, 1939 to 1941.
Lewisham, London: Middleton, 1978.

Evensmo, Jan. The Guitars of Charlie Christian,
Robert Norman, Oscar Aleman (in Europe).
Vol. IV of Jazz Solography Series. Norway, n.d.

Rust, Brian. Jazz Records, 1897-1942. Vol. 1 and II.
4th revised and enlarged edition. New Rochelle,
New York: Arlington House Publishers, 1978.

Tercinet, Alan. “Discographie-Charlie Christian.”
Jazz Hot, no. 355, November, 1978, pp. 25-29.

C.   Biographical Material

Blesh, Rudi. “Flying Home” in Combo U.S.A.
Philadelphia, New York, London: Book Company 1971. p. 161.

Ellison, Ralph. “The Charlie Christian Story” in Shadow and Act.
New York: Random House. 1964. p. 233.

Driggs, Franklin S. “Kansas City and the Southwest”
in Jazz. ed. Nat Hentoff and Albert J. McCarthy.
New York: Da Capo paperback. 3rd printing, 1973.

Guitar Player Magazine. Jazz Guitarists:
Collected Interviews from Guitar Player Magazine.
Saratoga, California: Guitar Player Productions, 1975.

Hammond, John. excerpt from his autobiography
John Hammond on Record in Jazz Journal no. 22
(winter 1978) pp. 39-40.

Russell, Ross. Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1971.

Shapiro, Nat and Hentoff, Nat ed. Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya.
New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1955.

Simon, Bill. “Charlie Christian” in The Jazz Makers.
Shapiro, Nat and Hentoff, Nat. ed. New York:
Da Capo paperback, 1979. p. 316.

Summerfield, Maurice J. The Jazz Guitar:
Its Evolution and Its Players.
Newcastle, Great Britain: Ashley Mark Publishing Co., 1978.

D.   Analysis

Becker, Judith. “Percussive Patterns in the Music of Mainland Southeast Asia,” Ethnomusicology, XII/2, (May 1968), pp. 173-191.

Becker, Judith. “The Anatomy of a Mode.” Ethnomusicology, XIII/2,
(May 1969), pp. 267-279.

Bird, Robert Atkinson. “Methods and Categories of Jazz Analysis:
A Critical Review of Five Approaches to Jazz History and Musical Analysis.”
M.A. thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1976.

Blum, Stephen. “An Ethnomusicologist’s Reflection on
‘Complexity’ and ‘Participation’ in Music.”
College Music Symposium, Journal of the College Music Society XVII/2,
(Fall 1977), p. 24.

Cogan, Robert and Escot, Pozzi. Sonic Design: The Nature of Sound and Music.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1976.

Collier, James Lincoln. The Making of Jazz: A Comprehensive History.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1978.

Gushee, Lawrence. “Musicology Rhymes with Ideology”
Arts and Society, (Summer, 1970)

Gushee, Lawrence. “Lester Young’s ‘Shoeshine Boy’.”
The Nineteenth-Century Origins of Jazz.
Paper presented at the 12th Congress of the
International Musicological Society, Berkeley, August 1977.

Nettl, Bruno Thoughts on Improvisation: A Comparative Approach,”
The Musical Quarterly, LX/1, (January 1974) p.1.

Nettl, Bruno and Riddle, Ronald. “Taqsim Nahawand:
A Study of Sixteen Performances of Jihad Racy.”
Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council, Vol. V, 1973.

Owens, Thomas. “Charlie Parker, Techniques of Improvisation”
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1974.

Tirro, Frank. “The Silent Theme Tradition in Jazz.”
The Musical Quarterly, LIII/3, (July 1967), p. 313-34.

Treitler, Leo. “‘Centonate’ Chant: Übles Flickwerk or E pluribus unus?”
Journal of the American Musicological Society, XXVIII,
(Spring 1975) p. 1-23.

Treitler, Leo. “Homer and Gregory:
The Transmission of Epic Poetry and Plainchant.”
The Musical Quarterly LX/3, (July 1974), p. 333-372.

Wang, Richard. “Jazz Circa 1945: A Confluence of Styles.”
The Musical Quarterly, LIX/4 (October 1973.), p. 531-546.

DISCOGRAPHY