"I Figure Singing and Playing Is the Same": Louis Armstrong and Barbershop Harmony. (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hobson, Vic
• Is Part Of: Jazz perspectives. Volume 10:Number 1(2016)
• Page Start: 97
• Page End: 116
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: Jazz -- Periodicals; 781.6505
• DOI: 10.1080/17494060.2017.1339571
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1749-4060

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Recent research has shown that the counterpoint of New Orleans jazz derives from the application of the principles of barbershop harmonization to the instruments of a jazz ensemble. This essay argues that what have become known as "blue notes" are the result of tenor and baritone voice leading in a barbershop quartet. When these principles are applied to an improvised solo a blues inflected solo results. I explore how Louis Armstrong used barbershop principles in 12-bar-blues recordings of the 1920s in relation to dominant harmony, and that by the application of these principles, Armstrong introduced altered intervals (ninths and fifths) to his solos.