| “Although it was
a hit for the Charlie Barnet
Orchestra, ‘Cherokee’ wasn’t really
considered a vehicle for jazz improvisation
until Charlie Parker’s arrival in
New York in the early 1940’s.”
|
|
 |
|
- Chris Tyle
|
|
|
|
British
bandleader Ray Noble wrote and introduced
“Cherokee” as the first of five
movements for “Indian Suite” (Cherokee,
Comanche War Dance, Iroquois, Seminole,
and Sioux Sue). The following year
trumpeter and arranger Billy May
created a hit instrumental arrangement
of “Cherokee” for Charlie Barnet
and His Orchestra. The tune would
rise to number fifteen on the pop
charts.
An extension of “Cherokee”
titled “Redskin Rhumba” subsequently became Barnet’s
theme song. According to Don
Kennedy, host of the Big Band
Jump radio show,
It was, of
course, based on the
plunger-muted trombones, but
the “melody” was simply
Barnet’s ad-lib tenor sax
noodlings. That way, he told
me, it could be expanded or
contracted to fit any
situation in a “live”
remote.
“Redskin Rhumba” is credited
to Dale Bennett, a pseudonym for
Charlie Barnet.
“Indian Suite” may be heard in
its entirety on Ray Noble & His
American Orchestra
Centenary Issue: 26 Original Mono
Recordings 1935-1947 2004
Asv Living Era.
|
| |
|
“Cherokee” was not Ray Noble’s
first hit song. He had written the
words and music to “Love Is the
Sweetest Thing” (1932), “The
Very Thought of You” (1934),
“The
Touch of Your Lips” (1936) and
“I
Hadn’t Anyone Till You” (1938).
The first two songs were number
one hits on the pop charts.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Noble’s lyrics are written
from a male perspective, the first and last sections
beginning with “Sweet Indian maiden” and “My sweet
Indian maiden.” Interestingly, when the rarely heard
lyrics are recorded it is usually by a female; male
performers are perhaps not comfortable with the
quaint tone. Sarah Vaughan performs the tune with
modified lyrics on her 1955 recording,
In the Land of Hi-Fi. And Keely Smith included
it in
Keely Swings Basie Style With Strings, Concord
Records 2002. Keely Smith’s Cherokee heritage was
undoubtedly a factor in her choosing to sing “Cherokee.”
- JW
|
Musical analysis of
“Cherokee (Indian Love Song)”
|
| Original
Key |
Bb major |
| Form |
A1 – A2 –
B –A2 |
| Tonality |
Major throughout |
| Movement |
Pentatonic
in both directions, with occasional chromatic
embellishing tones. Interestingly, the pentatonic
tonality of the melody continues through
the several key changes that happen during
the “B” section. |
|
Comments
(assumed
background)
|
|
This is a jam session war-horse, usually
played at “tempo de bitch” (quarter note=
250 b.p.m. or more). The many long, sustained
pitches and slow harmonic movement make
it a vehicle for virtuosos desiring to display
their technique by playing lots of very
fast notes.
The harmonic progression of the first
eight measures is a variation of the descending
series of changes found in songs like “I’m
Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now” and the last
eight measures of “Charleston”
while the second eight measures of the first
“A” do a turnaround that delays the resolution:
I – II7 – ii7 – iiim7(b5) –VI7(9) – ii7
– V7(+5). The second “A” eliminates the
four chords between the first ii7 and V7.
The “B” section contains an interesting–and
highly logical--descending progression that
starts on biii9, which is the ii7 of the bII. This, in turn, becomes minor, functioning
as the ii7 of the chord a step below it,
and so on, until the V7 of the original
tonic. In the original key, it is as follows:
Dbm9 – Gb7 – B; Bm9– E7 – A; Am9 – D7 –
G; Gm9 – C7 – F7(+5). This same kind of
chord progression is heard in “Laura”
and “How
High the Moon.”
|
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com
Check out K. J. McElrath's book of Jazz Standards Guide Tone Lines at his web site (www.bardicle.com). |
|
|
Are you a published Vocalist or Instrumentalist?
Add a comment and we'll credit you with a link
to your site. (more...)
|
“Cherokee (Indian Love Song)”
was included in these films:
- Jasper in a Jam (1946, Peggy
Lee, Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra) puppetoon
- The Gene Krupa Story aka Drum Crazy
(1959, The Gene Krupa Orchestra)
- Racing with the Moon (1984)
- Kansas City (1996) cut
And on television:
- Lush Life (1993) Showtime
TV
|
|
Click on a CD for more details
at Amazon.com
Charlie Barnet
Cherokee
1999, ASV 5288
|
| This could be considered the definitive
version of the song. In this 1939 recording,
Barnet and His Orchestra swing through the
original, slow tempo reading of the song
that would inspire so many others. |
Ahmad Jamal
At the Pershing
1990, MCA 9108
Original recording, 1958
|
| Pianist Jamal took the jazz world
by storm with this recording. He puts his
stamp on seven other tunes, including his
famous rendition of “Poinciana.” |
Wynton Marsalis
Marsalis Standard Time Vol. 1
1990, Sony 40461
Original recording, 1987, Columbia
|
| Trumpeter Marsalis treats the listener
to two versions of “Cherokee.” Both are
excellent-- one played with control and
one played with abandon. While markedly
different, each is electrifying and inventive. |
Joe Pass
Virtuoso
2001, Pablo 2310708
Original recording, 1973
|
| Guitarist Pass’ playing is sharp
and scintillating as he rips through the
song on this solo turn. |
Slide Hampton & The World of Trombones
Spirit of the Horn
2003, MCG Jazz 1011
|
| Trombonist Slide Hampton does a
great job of arranging the song for a group
that is almost entirely made up of trombones.
This rendition is potent and clever due
to what JazzTimes calls “the versatility
and unlimited colors of the instrument.” |
|
|
After Charlie Barnet’s success with Billy May’s
arrangement, “Cherokee” was picked up by one jazz
musician after another, and today it is affectionately
referred to as a jazz warhorse. The song’s A-A-B-A
64-bar form and unusual chord progressions and bridge
are the basis for compositions by many jazz greats
including clarinetist Buddy DeFranco (“Swinging
the Indian”) and Charlie Parker (“Ko-Ko”).
Parker’s interest in “Cherokee” was not just
a fleeting fancy. Jazz composer and performer Gerry
Mulligan is quoted on the Library of Congress website
I Hear America Singing as saying,
Somebody sent me a little
bit of tape that had Bird playing at home when
he must have been maybe seventeen years old
… of course he was playing “Cherokee.” This
was his number, man, he worked on that thing
for years. Somebody said that when he did “Ko-Ko.”
It was not just a little accident that it came
out the way it did.
And on a related note, Mulligan explains the
title of his song “Noblesse” on the liner notes
for Gerry Mulligan Quartet’s
Dream a Little Dream.
Ray Noble was a songwriter
and a band leader for whom I had great admiration
… He wrote a number of memorable tunes of which
the best known to jazz audiences is “Cherokee.”
Noblesse is my tribute to Ray Noble.
-JW
Although it was a hit for the Charlie
Barnet Orchestra, “Cherokee” wasn’t really considered
a vehicle for jazz improvisation until Charlie Parker’s
arrival in New York in the early 1940’s.
Don Byas’ 1945 version of “Cherokee” is fascinating.
It’s taken at approximately the tempo of Barnet’s,
but drummer Fred Radcliffe is doubling the tempo,
giving the performance a feeling of being much faster.
Byas’ first chorus is in regular time, but by the
second chorus he is double-timing along with the
drums. His solo shifts back and forth between straight-time
and double-time and is technically amazing. Charlie
Parker stated that “Don Byas plays everything there
is to play” and Byas’ version of “Cherokee” predates
Parker’s “Ko-Ko” (his version based on the chord
changes) by six months.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
|
| This section shows the jazz standards
written by the same writing team. Click on a name
to see all of a writer's jazz standards.
|
|
Additional information on “Cherokee (Indian Love Song)” may be found in:
4 pages including the following types of information: performers, song writer discussion and sheet music.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: film productions, history and performers.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: history and performers.
|
|
