Face the Music 8.09.18

I Got Rhythm Contrafactus:

an hour of jazz compositions

based on the chord progression of

George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm”

George Gershwin wrote "I Got Rhythm" in 1930 for the Broadway show "Girl Crazy". Louis Armstrong transformed it into a high-energy jazz standard in 1931. After Fats Waller recorded his five alarm stampede version in 1935, the tune became a warhorse jam vehicle for Lionel Hampton, Chick Webb, Bud Freeman and Benny Goodman. Art Tatum set the stage for modern experimentation with his harmonically expanded version of I Got Rhythm in 1940. Thenceforth, the familiar chord progression from Gershwin's cheery toe-tapper began to serve as a sort of launching pad for exciting and increasingly adventuresome compositions like"Cottontail", "Lester Leaps In", "Salt Peanuts", "Anthropology" and the "52nd Street Theme". This week's "Face the Music" broadcast will trace portions of that astonishing musical trajectory, and you're invited.

I Got Rhythm

Bud Freeman Trio  1938

Don’t Be That Way

Chick Webb & his Orchestra 1934

Seven Come Eleven

Benny Goodman Sextet

featuring Charlie Christian 1939

Cottontail

Duke Ellington & his Famous Orchestra

featuring Ben Webster 1940

Lester Leaps In

Lester Young Quintet 1946

Salted Peanuts

Dizzy Gillespie Sextet 1945

52nd Street Theme

Kenny Clarke & his 52nd Street Boys 1946

Dizzy Atmosphere

Dizzy Gillespie Sextet 1945

Celia

Bud Powell Trio 1949

I Got Rhythm

Dick Hyman, Tom Pletcher & their Gang 2013

Flintstones instrumental theme

{unidentified ensemble, YouTube}

Constellation

Charlie Parker All-Stars 1948

Moose the Mooche

Charlie Parker Septet 1946

Thriving on a Riff {Anthropology}

Charlie Parker All Stars 1945

Little Rootie Tootie

Thelonious Monk Trio

Good Bait

Dizzy Gillespie Sextet 1945

Chronology

Ornette Coleman Quartet 1959