Limehouse Blues

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Sheet music from the 1920s

Limehouse Blues is a pop song whose music was written by Philip Braham in 1922 ; the text is by Douglas Furber . It was first called Breaker of Hearts before lyricist Furber suggested that it be renamed Limehouse Blues . The song became the jazz standard .

Subject and characteristics of the song

Limehouse has been a port in London since the Middle Ages . At the beginning of the 20th century , mainly members of the sub-proletariat lived in the district that belongs to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets . There was also a Chinese quarter there, which was also dealt with in contemporary literature, in which about 100 Chinese families lived. In particular, the film adaptation of Thomas Burke's book Limehouse Nights by David Wark Griffith ( Dreams Street and Broken Blossoms ) made the situation in the district more popular.

The lyrics of the song allude to the misery in this neighborhood: In Limehouse, where Orientals love to play / In Limehouse, where you can / Hear the Blues allday / Oh Limehouse Blues / I have the Limehouse blues. Nevertheless, the piece is by no means a real blues . Rather, this lament is "a fascinating combination of words, melody and harmonies in a pseudo-Chinese way."

The 32-bar song is written in the ABAC song form and (since 1924) in G major . The A parts have a Lydian opening; The harmonic development in the piece also has more to do with a Charleston than with a blues .

Use in the theater

The song appeared as Limehouse Blues on Teddie Gerrard and Jack Buchanan's show A to Z , which was performed in London. A revised version of the song was added to Charlot's Revue in 1924 , which was performed at the Prince of Wales Theater in London.

First recordings

The first recording comes from the Queen's Dance Orchestra in England, which was directed by Jack Hylton (and performed under his name from 1923). But this instrumental version was not very successful. The instrumental version was first performed in New York on February 24, 1924 by Paul Whiteman , "in F minor , in 2/4 time and moderately fast, more as a symphonic piece with jazz elements than as a jazz song." This performance was in the same concert, when Whiteman also conducted the Rhapsody in Blue .

With the lyrics by Douglas Furber, the song was first interpreted in America by Gertrude Lawrence , in the show Andre Charlot's Revue of 1924 . This show ran (parallel to the London performance) from January to September 1924 in 298 performances on Broadway . As a reaction to the Broadway success, American recordings of the Limehouse Blues were made . These hit the charts and turned out to be bestsellers:

Use as film music

The song gave its name to the crime film of the same name (1934) that Alexander Hall shot with George Raft and Anna May Wong . The song also found its way into music films such as Ziegfeld Follies (with Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer in Asian makeup), and Star! (with Julie Andrews , also in Asian makeup). In the anti-Soviet propaganda film GPU (1942) by Karl Ritter , the title was played by Freddie Brocksieper and his combo. Woody Allen used the recording by Jackie Gleason (1960) and Bert Ambrose (1936) in his film Alice ; in Allen's Sweet and Lowdown a version by Howard Alden was used.

The way to the jazz standard

The song soon became a standard piece in the repertoire of many jazz musicians. Joe Venuti played the song in 1927 with guitarist Eddie Lang , pianist Arthur Schutt and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Rollini . Benny Carter changed the pace and arranged an up-tempo version for the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, which was recorded in 1934. Even Django Reinhardt played the song with the Quintette du Hot Club de France , a (1936), Chu Berry already in his first recordings under his own name (1937). Sidney Bechet recorded a virtuoso version in 1941 with him and Charlie Shavers as soloists. Art Tatum interpreted the song in 1943. Dietrich Schulz-Köhn found that in jazz “the tempos changed so much that the original character of the Limehouse Blues threatened to be lost in jazz concerts .” He names the concert of the Trios by Gene Krupa and Charlie Ventura in New York's Town Hall from 1945: The drummer Krupa drove the saxophonist Ventura and the pianist George Walters “to such a speed that even the critic Leonard Feather on the cover of the record was amazed The same applies to a recording by trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Eldridge with Oscar Peterson's trio in 1954. There “the theme and the harmonies of the Limehouse Blues were clearly used as a vehicle for improvisation , without to emphasize the special character of the song ”, as it was particularly pronounced for Schulz-Köhn in the interpretation of Duke Ellington from 1931 unite.

Cannonball Adderley showed in 1959 ( Quintet in Chicago ) with John Coltrane that the song is also suitable for improvisations in modern jazz . Even Joe Henderson pointed Wynton Kelly 1968, the potential of the Limehouse Blues . Only a few jazz singers like Rosemary Clooney (1961) took up the song.

literature

  • Dietrich Schulz-Köhn: The Evergreen Story: 40 x Jazz Quadriga, Weinheim, Berlin 1990. ISBN 3-88679-188-2

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schulz-Köhn: The Evergreen Story Weinheim, Berlin 1990. S. 191
  2. ↑ Weija Li China and China Experience in the Life and Work of Anna Seghers , p. 65
  3. ^ Diane Holloway, Bob Cheney American History in Song: Lyrics from 1900 to 1945 2001, p. 211
  4. ↑ Sigmund Spaeth, cit. n. Peter Stanfield Body and soul: jazz and blues in American film, 1927-63 University of Illinois Press 2005, p. 81
  5. ↑ a b c d song portrait (www.jazzstandards.com)
  6. ↑ Schulz-Köhn: The Evergreen Story Weinheim, Berlin 1990. P. 191f.
  7. ↑ a b c Schulz-Köhn: The Evergreen Story Weinheim, Berlin 1990. P. 192
  8. ↑ Lawrence also recorded the song, but not until 1931, when she returned to Britain.
  9. ↑ Adam Harvey, Dick Hyman The Soundtracks of Woody Allen: A Complete Guide to the Songs and Music in Every Film, 1969-2005 , 2007, pp. 13f., 16
  10. ^ Adam Harvey, Dick Hyman The Soundtracks of Woody Allen , 141
  11. ↑ Schulz-Köhn: The Evergreen Story Weinheim, Berlin 1990. S. 194f.