“What Is This Thing Called Something Else?” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

April 19th, 2023

.

.

“Moose the Mooche,” a 1946 Charlie Parker composition, is an example of a contrafact.  The song’s melodic line is based on the chord changes in George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.”

.

.

___

.

.

 

 

What Is This Thing Called  Something Else?

A Playlist of Contrafacts

by Bob Hecht

.

…..So many of the jazz tunes we know and love are in reality a kind of creative reworking of an existing composition, as opposed to the creation of an entirely new piece including both a new melody and a new harmonic structure.

…..Contrafacts, as such reworkings are called, are the product of writing a new melodic line over an existing set of chord changes, thereby disguising or sometimes completely obscuring the identity of the original piece.

…..So many of the ‘original’ jazz tunes we know and love are in reality based on other tunes.  Charlie Parker, for example, famously wrote innumerable lines on the changes of George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,” including “Moose the Mooche” and “Dexterity.” Thelonious Monk wrote “In Walked Bud” based on Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies.” Parker wrote “Donna Lee” on “Indiana.” Tadd Dameron wrote “Hot House” on “What Is This Thing Caled Love.” And on and on.

…..In fact, that’s why I’ve called this playlist endeavor, “What Is This Thing Called Something Else?”

…..There are many online resources for this topic if you choose to investigate a little. Click here, for example, for a list of common contrafacts, and the bassist Steve Wallace has written extensively on the subject, which you can read by clicking here.

…..Writing a new line over existing changes offers a compositional shortcut for the composer, and the resulting piece offers the improviser a familiar harmonic structure on which to improvise. In addition, the composer of the new line is able to claim composer credit and royalties. The original composer’s copyright pertains only to the melody, not to the chord sequence.

…..I have assembled a contrafacts playlist, consisting of more than thirty standard tunes that have frequently been “contrafacted.” In each case, the playlist features a ‘straight’ rendition of the standard, followed by two alternative versions. (With some of these standards, of course, such as “Rhythm” or “All the Things,” there are many, many more alternative lines based on the original.)

….. There are several more online resources concerning contrafacts. With a little time looking around the Internet, I’m sure you can find many more.  Here are a few that I found:

Jazz Contrafacts and Reharmonization: A Creative Approach to Jazz Standards, by Eric O’Donnell (of the website Jazz Advice)

Contrafacts, by the guitarist Gilles Rea

Gary Smulyan – Alternative Contrafacts” – from the website  Jazz Profiles

 

And…here are the original tunes and their contrafacts in my playlist:

.

“Sweet Georgia Brown”
contrafacts: “Bright Mississippi” and “Sweet Clifford”

“All the Things You Are”
comtrafacts: “Prince Albert” and “Ablution”

“Out of Nowhere”
contrafacts: “Nostalgia” and “317 East 32nd Street”

“Embraceable You”
contrafacts: “A Bird in Hand” and “Quasimodo”

“I’ll Remember April”
contrafacts: “April” and “Salute to the Bandbox”

“I Got Rhythm”
contrafacts: “Lester Leaps In” and “Moose the Mooche”

“Indiana”
contrafacts: “Donna Lee” and “Ice Freezes Red”

“What Is This Thing Called Love”
contrafacts: “Hot House” and “Fats Flats”

“Fine & Dandy”
contrafacts: “Keen & Peachy” and “Sax of a Kind”

“Cherokee”
contrafacts: “Koko” and “Parker 51”

“Lover, Come Back to Me”
contrafacts: “Bean & the Boys” and “Bird Gets the Worm”

“You Go to My Head”
contrafacts: “Hugo’s Head” and “Pasttime”

“Honeysuckle Rose”
contrafacts” “Let’s Call This” and “Marmaduke”

“Star Eyes”
contrafacts: “Capuchin Swing” and “Star Highs”

“You Stepped Out of a Dream”
contrafacts: “Chick’s Tune” and “Motion”

“There Will Never Be Another You”
contrafacts: “Not You Again” and “Split Kick”

“You’d Be So Nice to Come Home to”
contrafacts: “Feather Bed” and “G Minor Complex”

“Stompin’ at the Savoy”
contrafacts: “Byas a Drink” and “Relaxin’ with Lee”

“All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm”
contrfacts: “Little Willie Leaps” and “Reets and I”

“Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise”
contrafacts: “Walk, Don’t Run” and Soflee”

“Just You, Just Me”
contrafacts: “Spotlite” and “Evidence”

“Pennies from Heaven”
contrafacts: “Hi Beck” and “Lennie’s Pennies”

“September in the Rain”
contrafacts: “On a Misty Night” and “Marionette”

“Oh, Lady Be Good”
contrafacts: “Hackensack” and “Dewey Square”

“Look for the Silver Lining”
contrafacts: “Ear Conditioing” and “Two of a Mind”

“Yesterdays”
contrafacts: “Vodka” and “Sunflower”

“All of Me”
contrafacts: “Background Music” and “Lineup”

“Strike Up the Band”
contrafacts: “Tale of the Fingers” and “Palo Alto”

“S’Wonderful”
contrafacts: “Stupendous” and “Victory Ball”

“A Foggy Day”
contrafacts: “Deep People” and “Froggy Day”

“Autumn Leaves”
contrafacts: “Some Other Autumn” and “Fall Colors”

“On Green Dolphin Street”
contrafacts: “The Green Street Caper” and “Green Is Mean”

“Alone Together”
contrafacts: “Swet Spot” and “Channeling”

“Lullaby of the Leaves”
contrafacts: “Denzil’s Best” and “Sosumi”

“Love for Sale”
contrafacts: “Ezz-Thetic” and “Encounter”

.

.

Here is the 105 song Spotify playlist…Enjoy!

 

.

.

___

.

.

.

Bob Hecht frequently contributes his essays, photographs, interviews, playlists and personal stories to  Jerry Jazz Musician.  He has a long history of producing and hosting jazz radio programs; his former podcast series, The Joys of Jazz, was the 2019 Silver Medal winner in the New York Festivals Radio Awards.

.

.

___

.

.

Click here to subscribe to the Jerry Jazz Musician quarterly newsletter

Click here to help support the continuing publishing efforts of Jerry Jazz Musician

.

.

.

Share this:

Comment on this article:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

A Letter From the Publisher

An appeal for contributions to support the ongoing publishing efforts of Jerry Jazz Musician

In This Issue

The Modern Jazz Quintet by Everett Spruill
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Summer, 2023 Edition

A wide range of topics are found in this collection. Tributes are paid to Tony Bennett and Ahmad Jamal and to the abstract worlds of musicians like Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders; the complex lives of Chet Baker and Nina Simone are considered; devotions to Ellington and Basie are revealed; and personal solace is found in the music of Tommy Flanagan and Quartet West. These are poems of peace, reflection, time, venue and humor – all with jazz at their core. (Featuring the art of Everett Spruill)

The Sunday Poem

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
“Fledging” by John L. Stanizzi

Interview

photo courtesy of Henry Threadgill
Interview with Brent Hayes Edwards, co-author (with Henry Threadgill) of Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music...The author discusses his work co-written with Threadgill, the composer and multi-instrumentalist widely recognized as one of the most original and innovative voices in contemporary music, and the winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Poetry

painting by Henry Denander
A collection of jazz haiku...This collection, featuring 22 poets, is an example of how much love, humor, sentimentality, reverence, joy and sorrow poets can fit into their haiku devoted to jazz.

In Memoriam

Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
A thought or two about Tony Bennett

Podcast

"BG Boogie’s musical tour of indictment season"...The podcaster “BG Boogie” has weaponized the most recent drama facing The Former Guy, creating a 30 minute playlist “with all the latest up-to-date-est musical indictments of political ineptitude.”

Interview

Chick Webb/photographer unknown
Interview with Stephanie Stein Crease, author of Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America...The author talks about her book and Chick Webb, once at the center of America’s popular music, and among the most influential musicians in jazz history.

Community

FOTO:FORTEPAN / Kölcsey Ferenc Dunakeszi Városi Könyvtár / Petanovics fényképek, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
.“Community Bookshelf, #1"...a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so…

Short Fiction

photo vi Wallpaper Flare
Short Fiction Contest-winning story #63 — “Company” by Anastasia Jill...Twenty-year-old Priscilla Habel lives with her wannabe flapper mother who remains stuck in the jazz age 40 years later. Life is monotonous and sad until Cil meets Willie Flasterstain, a beatnik lesbian who offers an escape from her mother's ever-imposing shadow.

Poetry

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 16: “Little Waltz” and “Summertime”...Trading Fours with Douglas Cole is an occasional series of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film. In this edition, he connects the recordings of Jessica Williams' "Little Waltz" and Gene Harris' "Summertime."

Playlist

photo by Bob Hecht
This 28-song Spotify playlist, curated by Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht, features great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

Poetry

photo of Wolfman Jack via Wikimedia Commons
“Wolfman and The Righteous Brothers” – a poem by John Briscoe

Jazz History Quiz #167

GuardianH, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Before becoming one of television’s biggest stars, he was a competent ragtime and jazz piano player greatly influenced by Scott Joplin (pictured), and employed a band of New Orleans musicians similar to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band to play during his vaudeville revue. Who was he?

Short Fiction

photo via PIXNIO/CC0
“The Sound Barrier” – a short story by Bex Hansen

Short Fiction

back cover of Diana Krall's album "The Girl in the Other Room" [Verve]
“Improvised: A life in 7ths, 9ths and Suspended 4ths” – a short story by Vikki C.

Interview

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Long regarded as jazz music’s most eminent baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan was a central figure in “cool” jazz whose contributions to it also included his important work as a composer and arranger. Noted jazz scholar Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets, and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht discuss Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

Photography

photo by Giovanni Piesco
Giovanni Piesco’s photographs of Tristan Honsinger

Poetry

Maurice Mickle considers jazz venues, in two poems

In Memoriam

David Becker, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“Tony Bennett, In Memoriam” – a poem by Erren Kelly

Poetry

IISG, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ella Fitzgerald, in poems by Claire Andreani and Michael L. Newell

Book Excerpt

“Chick” Webb was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the “Savoy King,” who reigned at Harlem’s world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Stephanie Stein Crease is the first to fully tell Webb’s story in her biography, Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America…The book’s entire introduction is excerpted here.

Feature

Hans Christian Hagedorn, professor for German and Comparative Literature at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real (Spain) reveals the remarkable presence of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote in the history of jazz.

Short Fiction

Dmitry Rozhkov, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“A Skull on the Moscow Leningrad Sleeper” – a short story by Robert Kibble...A story revolving around a jazz record which means so much to a couple that they risk being discovered while attempting to escape the Soviet Union

Book Excerpt

Book excerpt from Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music, by Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards

Short Fiction

photo via Appletreeauction.com
“Streamline Moderne” – a short story by Amadea Tanner

Publisher’s Notes

“C’est Si Bon” – at trip's end, a D-Day experience, and an abundance of gratitude

Poetry

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
A Charlie Parker Poetry Collection...Nine poets, nine poems on the leading figure in the development of bebop…

Contributing Writers

Click the image to view the writers, poets and artists whose work has been published on Jerry Jazz Musician, and find links to their work

Interview

Photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson
Interview with Glenn Mott, editor of Victory is Assured: The Uncollected Writings of Stanley Crouch (photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson)

Interview

photo of Sonny Rollins by Brian McMillen
Interview with Aidan Levy, author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins...The author discusses his book about the iconic tenor saxophonist who is one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time – a lasting link to the golden age of jazz

Art

Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance: “Outtakes” — Vol. 2...In this edition, the authors Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder share examples of Cha Cha Cha record album covers that didn't make the final cut in their book

Pressed for All Time

“Pressed For All Time,” Vol. 17 — producer Joel Dorn on Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1967 album, The Inflated Tear

Photography

© Veryl Oakland
John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana are featured in this edition of photographs and stories from Veryl Oakland’s book, Jazz in Available Light

Coming Soon

An interview with Judith Tick, author of Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song; A new collection of jazz poetry; a new Jazz History Quiz; short fiction; poetry; photography; interviews; playlists; and lots more in the works...

Interview Archive

Eubie Blake
Click to view the complete 22 year archive of Jerry Jazz Musician interviews, including those recently published with Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom on Eubie Blake (pictured); Richard Brent Turner on jazz and Islam; Alyn Shipton on the art of jazz; Shawn Levy on the original queens of standup comedy; Travis Atria on the expatriate trumpeter Arthur Briggs; Kitt Shapiro on her life with her mother, Eartha Kitt; Will Friedwald on Nat King Cole; Wayne Enstice on the drummer Dottie Dodgion; the drummer Joe La Barbera on Bill Evans; Philip Clark on Dave Brubeck; Nicholas Buccola on James Baldwin and William F. Buckley; Ricky Riccardi on Louis Armstrong; Dan Morgenstern and Christian Sands on Erroll Garner; Maria Golia on Ornette Coleman.

Site Archive