Things Ain't What They Used to Be
Things Ain't What They Used to Be is a jazz song composed by Mercer Ellington in 1941, with lyrics by Ted Parsons. It is a 12 bar blues in a major tuning.
History of origin
In 1941 Duke Ellington could not have any of the songs he composed broadcast on the radio during his live recordings due to the wage disputes between the radio stations and the ASCAP to which he belonged. Instead, he used a new program of songs that his son Mercer and the pianist Billy Strayhorn wrote in Chicago in the winter of 1940/41, since both were not members of the collecting society ASCAP. Strayhorn's compositions from this period were a. also Take the 'A' Train , Chelsea Bridge and Day Dream ; Mercer's were Things Ain't What They Used to Be , Blue Serge, and Moon Mist . According to jazz musician and historian Chris Tyle, the melody was written by Mercer Ellington; his father then arranged the song for his band. "Like so many Ellington songs, this piece also lives from the varied mood arrangement: it provides colorful variety in the background of the soloists through parts or variations of the theme."
Development to the jazz standard
In July 1941, the song experienced a first record by Johnny Hodges ; Things Ain't What They Used to Be was recorded almost thirty times by the Duke Ellington Orchestra in the following years and became one of its most popular pieces in the band's repertoire, but also a number that Ellington did announcements. Alto saxophonist Hodges played the 12-bar blues in C major for RCA Victor on July 3, 1941 with six musicians from the Ellington Band, including Duke himself, at a slower tempo than the Ellington Band at their previous appearances and is considered in his relaxed, atmospheric form as its definitive version.
The composition soon became a widely played jazz standard , known for its versions a. a. by Charlie Barnet , Cootie Williams (with Eddie Mack ), Stuff Smith , Herb Ellis , Booker Little , Marian McPartland , Charles Mingus ( Mingus Dynasty , 1959), Dave Brubeck , Larry Coryell , Keith Jarrett, and Jacky Terrasson . Oscar Peterson recorded the piece several times and “worked out the deep blues feeling of the composition convincingly at a slow pace.” Cecil Taylor recorded the piece in 1961 with stylistically different brass players from Clark Terry to Archie Shepp , which “strangely alienated a jam session deliver"
Use in movies
Things Ain't What They Used to Be was also used in the music films Cabin in the Sky (1943, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra), Metro and Wonder Boys (Johnny Hodges).
literature
- Carlo Bohländer , Karl Heinz Holler, Christian Pfarr: Reclam's Jazz Guide . 5th, revised and supplemented edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-15-010464-5 .
- Hans-Jürgen Schaal (Ed.): Jazz standards. The encyclopedia. 3rd, revised edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a. 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1414-3 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Things Ain't What They Used to Be . jazzstandards.com
- ↑ a b c H.-J. Schaal: Jazz-Standards , p. 505 f.
- ↑ The cast consisted of Hodges, Ellington, Ray Nance (tp, Lawrence Brown (tb), Ben Webster (ts), Harry Carney (bs), Jimmy Blanton (b) and Sonny Greer (dr). See Bielefelder catalog 1988.