Norman Ellis was a musician who arranged for and worked with the prime swing musicians of New York in the 1930's including Benny Goodman, Billi Holiday and Bunny Benigan. His "Instrumentation and Arranging for the Radio and Dance Orchestra" was released in 1936. It has many fascinatng passages and by way of example here is an extract from the introduction. As you read remember that this music was already spreading world wide. Artists from Harlem were already touring Europe and Australia and World War II with the GIs (over paid, over sexed and over here) was all about to happen...
The arranger now holds a very important place in the dance music field. In many cases it is the arranger who sets the style of a band, the orchestra leader merely carrying out the arrangers ideas. To fit the wide and varied demands upon his services, the arranger must be a musician equipped with a thorough knowledge of harmony and must be trained in the classical forms of music. The competitive standards reached today have made it necessary for the arranger to explore his mind in search of new ideas and effects as did the old masters. The resulting efforts have most certainly taxed the musicinaship of all dance instrumentalists.
The dance musician has reached a high level in execution and when compared to the serious mucisian he stands in a very favourable light. An interesting point, I might add here, is the strange way in which the serious musician attacks a popular number; he is obsessed with the idea that to produce a jazz effect every rule of music has to be broken, whereas this is not the situation at all. Moreover a "so-called good musician" is many times found to be lacking in creative ability (a requirement absolutely necessary for a dance musician for "ad lib" purposes) and in the ability to produce a sweet legato tone required for the performance of solo work in a sweet dance arrangement. Also, many of the serious musicians are not of a sufficiently flexible mind to execute the more intricate dance rhythms which are by all means theoretically correct and not at all difficult to perform. It s a known fact that a Trombonist from the dance field had to be called upon to execute a passage in the high regsiter of the Trombone at a performance of a leading symphony orchestra due to the inability of the symphony Trombonists to execute this particualr type of work, an American creation of jazz. I do wish to state, however, that full respect must be given to the serious musicians for their fine executrion and interpreation of the master works.
While jazz was incubating, it is true that dance musicians were mostly all, with rare exception, illiterate and untrained and the writers themselves were lacking in the elementary knowledge of melody writing and composition, not to mention the higher forms of writing. It is principally for this reason that many people today still fail to recognise the unquestionable merits of modern dance muisc now developed to a degree easily compared in many instances with some of the master works, a statment which no doubt will recieve wide criticism from many. Allow me to state at this point that my musical background as a pianist and an arranger has been crowded with the study of all the master works under many famous teachers and it is therefore without termerity that I venture to make this statement.
A truly wonderful service has been rendered by jazz to music generally. The range of many wind instruments has been extended. Also, the creation of many types of mutes for the Brass has enabled the instrumentalists to produce many tone color effects of beauty and has made possible the blending of Brass instruments with Violins and Woodwind, heretofore not accomplished successfully. A smooth legato style has also been developed on the Trombone.
The requirements and responsibilities of future arrangers will be increased more and more due to the rapid advancement being made in the dance music profession and the demands upon the arranger will be very similar as those in previous years of the trained composer. There is no limit to the fine developmnet of American popular dance music and its subsequent influence on the newer forms of classic music.
Norman Ellis, 1936
1 comment:
Norman Ellis - I knew him well as he was my father. Following his early fame he went into a long period of depression. Eventually taught music, continued to write but not get published and then moved from New York to San Diego, CA.
Post a Comment