From Patton, to Bailey, to Pepper: Illuminating the Musical

Home , Al Rinker, Charley Patton, Jim Pepper, Mildred Bailey

FROM PATTON, TO BAILEY, TO PEPPER: ILLUMINATING THE MUSICAL

CONTRIBUTIONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS IN JAZZ AND THE BLUES

MICHAEL GUTIERREZ

A.A., Dallas Community College District: Richland College, 2015

B.A., Fort Lewis College, 2017

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Music Jazz Performance and Pedagogy 2020

This thesis entitled: FROM PATTON, TO BAILEY, TO PEPPER: ILLUMINATING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS IN JAZZ AND THE BLUES

written by Michael Gutierrez

has been approved for the masters doctoral degree program in: Jazz Performance

Dr. John Gunther Committee Chair Name

John Drumheller Committee Member Name

The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline.

Student ID number 109249342

IRB protocol #

IACUC protocol # ABSTRACT

African Americans and Native Americans share a common history, community, tradition, and ways of life. Both of these cultures survived for centuries while dealing with the struggle of slavery, racism, and genocide in America and were able to persevere. These experiences would help define the cultures as well as become the inspiration and foundation for the music that would eventually turn into the blues and later, America’s native music: Jazz. Jazz and Blues played evolutionary roles in what would eventually become “the American Sound.”

When considering iconic musicians like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, or even Jimi

Hendrix, one would be surprised by the amount of Native American heritage that can be traced back through their history. In my research I will dive into this history and illuminate the contributions of Native Americans in the creation and development of American music. This history has always been hidden away from bibliographies and stories, but I feel that it is important to remember that these two cultures have been intertwined from early on. My wish is to not take away from the African American story, I merely want to expand upon what is known so that the Native-American story can be incorporated. I want my thesis to inspire more people to research this topic and to make the readers more aware of this invisible history.

iii

DEDICATION

I dedicate this to my late grandmother, Letha Gail Howlingcrane.

Thank you for believing in me.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to first thank everyone who played a role in my academic accomplishments. First,

to my committee chair and lesson teacher, John Gunther, who pushed me to follow my heart and allowed me a space to find and explore what inspired me.

Second, to my family and friends, you have continuously inspired me to be great and have always supported my musical dreams and aspirations.

Lastly, I want to thank my partner, Caitlin Martinac, for your unwavering support and dedication. You have kept me sane and helped this thesis become something that I can be proud of.

Thank you all.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………...1

II. BACKGROUND………………………………………………………………………….4

III. CHARLEY PATTON……………………………………………………………………...8

IV. MILDRED BAILEY……………………………………………………………………..16

V. JIM PEPPER……………………………………………………………………………..23

VI. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………..30

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………..31

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

What is Native American music? For some people, it might be the “Tomahawk Chop'', a very popular sports anthem, or the sound of the Native American flute used in melodies in different early Western TV shows and movies like '”Bonanza,” or even the Native American scene in Disney’s Peter Pan . If they are familiar with pow-wows, it could be the homophonic vocal music that goes along with the steady beat of the drum. By exploring these contrasting sounds and expectations, we can identify what gives this music its native sound and what makes it so unique. We can also consider the influence that it has had on different musical genres and I will accomplish this by examining a few artists and their effect on blues and jazz.

The introduction of European colonialism to the New World began the intertwining of the

Native American and African American’s shared history. Slavery has been a part of the native history from the very beginning. When tribes like the Iroquois or Creek went to war with the surrounding tribes and won, they took the remaining survivors as war captives.1 They were primarily used for small scale labor but in certain cases, they were adopted by and accepted into the new tribe. When warriors were killed in battle, they often had to be replaced by these captives. They were expected to fill the economic, military, and familial roles of the departed to

1 Lauber, Almon Wheeler. I ndian Slavery in Colonial Times Within the Present Limits of the United States Chapter 1: Enslavement by the Indians Themselves ( New York: Columbia University Press, 1913), 53. 1 help maintain the “spirit power of the tribe.”2 This was a common practice until it was the native people themselves, who were the ones being conquered.

The collision of these two worlds had a catastrophic effect on the native people who occupied this land. The warriors of these tribes went on to become the symbols of culture and identity in the twentieth century but also came to symbolize the “savage man”, and were pigeonholed into romanticized versions of their people. These people who were close to nature, with their intelligence unclouded by social conventions, fashion, or greed, were what philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau had dreamed about. But to the new settlers, they saw a poor soul ready to be saved by the grace of God.3

The government never intended to exterminate these people, they only wished to civilize them and teach them agriculture and other domestic arts. They wanted to destroy the incompatible Native life and eventually use their land for the further expansion of the new

America. The brutal history only adds to the determination it took to hold onto what made them so unique, and the eventual return of their pride and culture.

This research is important to me because I am a half-Comanche and half-Mexican

American musician looking to find out more about the history of these two different cultures and their influence outside of their immediate worlds. I am a part of two minorities and have never really felt like I belonged to either. Growing up as a first-generation immigrant and witnessing

2 S nyder, Christina, "Conquered enemies, adopted kin, and owned people: the creek Indians and their captives." J ournal of Southern History 73, no. 2 (May 2007): 255, https://link-gale-com.colorado.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A163705273/WHIC?u=coloboulder&sid=WHIC&x id=77047bcd. 3 Page Smith, T ragic Encounters : The People’s History of Native Americans (California: Counterpoint, 2015). 2 the struggle of my father trying to provide for our family, as well as listening to my families’ stories about the old ways and their boarding school experiences, has allowed me to use these experiences in creating my own unique voice in my playing. I decided to focus on the Native

American aspect of my lineage to see what contributions we made to the jazz art form.

CHAPTER II

BACKGROUND

When the first European settlers first arrived on this land, they quickly realized that maintaining a good relationship with the bordering tribes was in everyone’s best interest. They had been allies in the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, but once these relationships were no longer necessary, the native people quickly became an obstacle in the expansion of America. Like Great Britain did to the Native Americans before, the early

Americans would reserve the right to ignore these agreements and treaties and absorb the land of their enemies and allies alike. The cultural assimilation of Native Americans marked the beginning of a 100 year battle in which these different tribes fought to hold on to their identity.

George Washington created a six point plan to encourage the “civilizing” process with

“promotions of experiments to civilize or improve Native American society” being the main

4 focus.”

The most efficient way to assimilate these Indigenous people was to put them through a

Indian Boarding School from an early age. The children often described their stays as traumatic experiences. They were forbidden to use their native languages, taught to ignore their own religions in favor of Christianity, ultimately abandoning their Native American identity altogether. Boarding Schools have been around since the 1630’s, with St. Mary’s being officially established in Maryland in 1640. Their main purpose was, “…to extend civilization and

4 “We the People,” Lumen Learning, accessed February 27, 2020, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/we-the-people/. 4

5 instruction to the ignorant race, and show them the way to heaven.” Indian Boarding Schools started to show up in the late 19th century with Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1879 being

6 the first official one.

In the face of genocide and forced assimilation, and with most of the Native American traditional religious ceremonies being outlawed in 1884, Native Americans had limited options when it came to expressing their culture. One of these ways was to become a form of entertainment for non-Native audiences, where they performed at venues such as Buffalo Bill’s

Wild West. In these shows, they were made to recite the story of the eventual triumph of civilization over savagery.7 The legalization of Native American religious dance in 1934 provided an economic opportunity for these Native performers. By professionalizing Native

American music and dance, they created a commercial pow-wow music industry that would benefit from what would eventually turn into big budget pow-wows and provided a way for these people to earn a living.

In response to the Federal Relocation Program which began in the early 1950’s, these pow-wows became an important community-organizational tool when trying to entice the various tribes people to leave their homes. This Relocation program was a U.S. Government policy that offered incentives to whoever chose to leave their respective reservation homes and relocate to various urban centers across the United States. 8 The main purpose of this program

5 Henry Foley, R ecords of the English Province of The Society of Jesus. Vol. III ( London: Burns and Oates, 1878), 352. 6 Jeff Berglund, Jan Johnson, and Kimberli Lee, I ndigenous Pop : Native American Music from Jazz to Hip Hop ( Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2016), 17. 7 Berglund, Johnson, and Lee. I ndigenous Pop : Native American Music from Jazz to Hip Hop, 21. 8 Ibid. 2 2. 5 was to break up Indian communities. By physically and mentally forcing these people away from their homelands, they would become urbanized and better adapted at interacting in the modern

American environment. The outcome was very different. It created opportunities for different tribes who would normally never meet each other, to educate one another and provided a chance to create a support system and sense of community. From this came opportunities to create new forms of culture relevant to the needs of the modern Native American.

African-Americans dealt with a similar struggle when “Code Noir” was established in

1724 by the French during the colonial period, and remained there until the United States purchased Louisiana in 1803. These laws defined and governed the lives of enslaved and free

African people who inhabited French colonial territories, and addressed almost every aspect of their lives.9 One of the rules that came from this was allowing slaves a “day of rest” and on

Sundays they were able to congregate and sing or dance with each other. It was not until 1817 that the mayor of New Orleans issued a city ordinance that restricted these congregations to a place just outside the city that eventually became known as Congo Square.1 0 This designated open area would eventually become the center of the French Quarter and the musical heart of

New Orleans. The rhythms and musical collaborations that came from these gatherings sowed the seeds for jazz and is often considered to be a symbol of the African contributions to the origins of jazz.

9 Ilona V.Johnson, "Code Noir." In E ncyclopedia of Black Studies, 189-190. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2005. doi: 10.4135/9781412952538.n96. 10 I bid. 6

Due to this oppression from outside forces trying to control the spread of these cultures,

Native and African American people were forced to find other ways to keep their culture alive.

They adapted to survive and the music that came from these circumstances allowed musicians like Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, and Jim Pepper to use their Native American heritage to create their own unique voice.

CHAPTER III

CHARLEY PATTON

“…blues buffs, blues scholars, although they can’t really agree on anything, if they were forced into a room when they had to identify…the most important singularly important blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, the whole package, the greatest one there ever was in the early 20th century…they’d probably say Charlie Patton.” -John Troutman

Charley Patton was born in Hinds County, Mississippi in 1891 to Bill and Annie Patton, and is often referred to as the “King of Delta Blues.” He was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and one of the first important blues musicians in the 20th century. Patton would become known for his huge, gravelly voice with almost unintelligible lyrics, paired with a percussive guitar accompaniment. He was one of 12 children, and was working as a farmworker on the

Dockery Plantation by the age of 7. Much of what went on in those middle years is uncertain, but it was in the 1910’s that Patton would begin drifting in and out of towns playing his guitar wherever crowds congregated. He learned that he could make more money playing at local juke joints

In the late 1920’s he was signed to Paramount Records and was one of the poster boys for

11 “race music” — a term used for recordings aimed at African-American consumers. His first session produced almost 14 singles, including the definitive version of “Pony Blues.” In the

11 "Charley Patton." Gale In Context, accessed January 17, 2020, https://link-gale-com.colorado.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/K1606005931/UHIC?u=coloboulder&sid=UHIC&x id=fb706bb0. 8 nearly 70 recordings made between 1929 and 1934, he had many hit records that included

“Down the Dirt Road,” “Shake It and Break It,” “High Water Everywhere,” helped secure his popularity. The records sold well but due to the Great Depression there is a recording gap and his last official session was in 1934.

Tracing Pattton’s heritage can be a difficult process due to a combination of inconsistent records and decades of rumor and gossip, but it can be agreed upon that he was of mixed heritage. The bluesman was a mix of white, black, and Native American ancestry. He is described as having African features but was light skinned, and according to Howlin' Wolf, one of Patton’s most famous disciples, said this of his apperance: “Charley Patton was more Indian

12 than Negro. He was a half-breed, you know.” His mixed race heritage would have an effect on his acceptance in the African American community where social class was determined by the lightness or darkness of his skin. Keep in mind that during the time it was better to be treated as black slave than as a Native American, so being a mixture of both was sometimes considered worse than being a dog. It also would hold him back from being fully embraced by the Native

American population who were living in the nearby reservations.

It is because of this exposure to both, Native American songs and African American rhythms, that his music reflects that multi-cultural influence. Patton was certainly exposed to the

Henderson Chatmon family, some of Mississippi’s most important blues and string band musicians of the 1900’s, and their varied musical repertoire.1 3 Also listening to hymns from

12 Ben Wynne, I n Tune (Baton Rouge: Lousiana State University Press, 2014).

13 “The Chatmon Family.” Mississippi Blues Commission, accessed March 11, 2020, http://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/the-chatmon-family. 9 worship services and because he grew up around farmers, he became intimately familiar with music of the fields. Such as the “call and response” and melodic fragments that were used to help pass the time when working the cotton field. His sister Viola Cannon, claims that this is when he first picked up the guitar, and was taken under the wing of an older musician named Henry

Sloan.1 4 Sloan was an older musician that was one of the earliest figures in the history of Delta blues. He would have a major influence on Patton and would teach him the basics of the blues and composition.1 5 Sloan’s guidance became the foundation for the music that made Patton famous.

Charley Patton did not invent the blues, but what he did do was take a music that was already popular and make it his own. The individuality became the model for others to follow as he personified the essence of rural America.

If we pay attention to the lyrics in “Down the Dirt Road Blues,” we can hear Patton singing about having gone down to the “the Nation '' meaning the Choctaw nation which was located in nearby Louisiana, but he couldn’t stay there. Being of a mixed heritage was frowned upon in certain circles and being darker than the normal Native American it was easy to see that he was not a full blooded member.

14 Ben Wynne, I n Tune (Baton Rouge: Lousiana State University Press, 2014). 15 Ibid. 10

“Down the Dirt Road Blues” lyrics:

I'm goin' away, to a world unknown (x2) I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long

My rider got somethin', she's tryna keep it hid (x2) Lord, I got somethin' to find that somethin' with

I feel like choppin', chips flyin' everywhere (x2) I been to the Nation, oh Lord, but I couldn't stay there1 6

Charley was one of the most popular blues musicians in the Mississippi Delta because he frequently traveled through the region playing his guitar and singing the blues. Robert Palmer described Patton in his documentary, Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads, as a

“jack-of all-trades bluesman [who played] deep blues, white hillbilly songs, nineteenth-century

17 ballads, and other varieties of black and white country dance music with equal facility.” Being a

“songster” was often blurred with being just a blues singer, being able to play what was popular was a sure way to get paid for your time and also kept him from having to work the cotton fields.

His approach to the music was very distinct as well. Patton’s structure of the music was often changed depending on the mood or how the lyrics flowed while he was playing. Some of the verses did not contain 12 bars of music, he sometimes added or subtracted bars, or ignored the

18 form entirely.

16 Ibid. 17 D eep Blues A Musical Pilgrimage to The Crossroads. D irected by Robert Mugge. Oil Factory. 1991. Shout! Factory. 2003. DVD. 18 Weissman, Dick. 2004. Blues: the Basics, 54. 11

An example of this can be seen in the transcription to the opening A section of “Down the Dirt Road Blues”:

Example 1: Transcription Charlie Patton’s “Down the Dirt Road Blues.”

We can see from the example that the 12-bar blues form is ignored. The entire melody section is 13 bars long, and he adds a full bar at the end before starting the form over. This is an approximation to the rhythm and pitches that he is singing, but I want to compare it to Native

American music and to showcase the borrowed characteristics that helped him sound so unique.

Patton often smears his way to the landing note, and with no distinct notes it sounds like he is scooping up or bending down to the note. Even when it comes to the rhythm, he often has a really laid back swing to his words and ends up behind the beat before fixing it on the next note.

The closest pow-wow style of music that I can relate this to would be the Stomp Dance that is popular in tribes among the Eastern Woodlands like the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole,

Shawnee, among others. The main features of a Stomp Dance is the use of a call and response, tempo increases in the music, and the steady eighth-note rhythm underlying the song's pulse. 19

While the call and response in “Down the Dirt Road Blues” isn't true to the definition, the other two features are well represented. His percussive strumming and banging on the guitar as well as the increasing tempo show the influence of his time around the Cherokee Nation. He starts the song at a slower tempo before speeding up in the middle of the chorus. In bar 9 and 10 he really accentuates the pulse and creates more energy in the music because of this. Once the chorus repeats to the top he goes back to the normal strumming technique. Another trait I see in his music is the use of a pentatonic scale. Although he is not alone in his use of this scale, specifically a minor pentatonic, I feel that this also relays the Native American influence and how he was able to incorporate it into his own music.

Due to the focus of stomp music being mostly improvised with the leader being free to sing anything that he wanted, and the use of non-syllabic words made it difficult to find a good recording to compare this to. Instead, I used a song called “Southern Man” by Harmony Nights which is a Native American trio that focuses on the harmony of the music to better illustrate the similar contour and characteristics.

19 V ictoria Lindsay Levine. "Stomp Dance," Grove Music Online, accessed Apr 25, 2020. https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.colorado.idm.oclc.org/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/97815615926 30.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002258197. 13

Example 2: Transcription to beginning of Harmony Nights, “Southern Man.”

For the transcription of “Southern Man” I only used the opening line to the because this is what the whole song is built around. In the recording, the singers treat it as a call and response and at times it becomes a canon, with one person beginning the line and the next person coming in a few beats later, singing the same line. These two songs happen to be in the same key (C# minor) so we can see the similarities a little easier. The first being the choice of notes. “Southern

Man” has one additional note (F#) but they are pretty much identical. The starting notes are both using the root of the minor pentatonic scale and while Patton uses notes to skip up to the higher

C#, the “Southern Man” singers scoop up to it and both start the melody from the peak before coming down. Even the B-G# repeated lines are identical, with both singers bending their voices to the notes with no distinct beginning or end of notes. Both songs end on the root of the pentatonic scale and keep the same melody line throughout the whole song.

Charley Patton’s influence on the blues cannot be understated. His incoherent lyrics combined with his powerful smoke-scarred voice helped inspire other blues musicians--like his protege Howlin’ Wolf--to follow in his footsteps. Even the percussive way he played the guitar

14 laid the foundation for the boogie style that John Lee Hooker would become known for.2 0 In his short lifetime, he recorded 60 plus records before passing away in 1934. At his last recording session, a mere two months before he died, he recorded “Oh Death” with the following lyrics: “It was soon one morning, when death come in the room. Lord I know. Lord, I know my time ain’t long.”2 1 He was an originator and one of the first rock stars who helped create the Delta Blues style of music and helped cement its form and place in history.

20 “Charley Patton,” Artist Biography, AllMusic, accessed April 20, 2020, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/charley-patton-mn0000166058/biography 21 B ertha Lee and Charley Patton. A merican Primitive, The Complete Recordings. Resurfaced Records, 2018, CD. 15

William P. Gottlieb: Bailey in New York City, 1947.

CHAPTER IV

MIDRED BAILEY

Eleanor Mildred Rinker, more commonly known as Mildred Bailey, was one of jazz’s first female vocalists. Known for her beautiful singing voice and elastic approach to melody and rhythm, she was critical in the development of jazz and for jazz vocalists. She is often credited with being a pioneer of the vocal “swing” style that numerous singers would try to emulate after her, including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Bing Crosby. 22 For over 80 years, Bailey —a member of the Coeur d’Alene tribe — had been primarily recognized as a “white jazz singer”

22 Berglund, Johnson, and Lee. I ndigenous Pop : Native American Music from Jazz to Hip Hop, 33. 16 and one of the first nonblack singers to have success in jazz music.2 3 Others in her position might have wanted to hide this from a racially divided 1930’s America, but Bailey did the opposite. She used it as a source of personal pride, often referring to it as the secret to her singing abilities:

I don’t know whether this music compares with jazz or the classics, but I do know that it offers a young singer a remarkable background and training. It takes a squeaky soprano and straightens out the clinkers that made it squeak; it removes the bass boom from the contralto’s voice, this Indian singing does, because you have to sing a lot of notes to get by, and you’ve got to cover an awful range.2 4 -Mildred Bailey

Bailey was white because that was what the jazz narrative was asking for at this time. Her influence over jazz music transcends the boundaries of race, but her Native American ancestry always seems to get lost when retelling her history.

The Rinkers were a very musical family: her father Charles Rinker, played the fiddle and also sang while her mother was a piano player who taught Mildred a variety of different genres including musicals, classical, and pop music. She also had a brother, Aldred “Al” Rinker, who played the saxophone and later played a pivotal role in connecting her to Paul Whiteman.

Mildred Bailey’s parents would turn their living room into a makeshift dancehall for the surrounding farmers and families to come and dance the night away, but a night was not complete without Mildred singing a bedtime song. She would sit on her mother's lap and the family would all sing together through the popular songs of the day. In addition to these

23 " Mildred Bailey," Britannica Academic, accessed March 10, 2020, https://academic-eb-com.colorado.idm.oclc.org/levels/collegiate/article/Mildred-Bailey/390632. 24 Berglund, Johnson, and Lee. I ndigenous Pop : Native American Music from Jazz to Hip Hop, 34. 17 gatherings, she learned the music from the traditional gatherings on the Coeur d'Alene reservation and also the Catholic Indian hymns. The European hymns were introduced and translated in order to conform to the Indegenious song style. They were treated as sacred songs given to them by the animal spirits. Instead of treating them in a strictly musical sense, they treated them as spiritual tools and prayers that laid the foundation of Mildred’s unique approach to the music.2 5

25 Berglund, Johnson, and Lee. I ndigenous Pop : Native American Music from Jazz to Hip Hop, 33. 18

In the example below, we have a transcription of a Catholic Indian hymn, “Xalips

Č’awm” (The Daylight’s Prayer).2 6 It is usually sung after an all night wake, just as the sun is rising. The melodic contour is a good example of the Coeur d’Alene, Spokan, and Salish song style. With the use of upward glides as well as the downward motion in between pitches, it is apparent that the movement between the notes was almost more important than the pitches themselves. In this traditional style, what happens “in between notes” gives a song its distinct emotive quality and is often used in jazz.2 7

Example 3: Transcription to Xalips C’Awm.

26 Ibid, 3 7. 27 Ibid, 36. 19

Bailey’s mother eventually succumbed to tuberculosis when Mildred was just a teenager, which caused a series of events that led to her moving to Washington. Not long after Mildred’s mother passed away, her family hired Josephine Price to help around the house. Price was originally hired as a caretaker a few months later she ended up marrying Bailey’s father. This marked a dramatic shift in Price’s behavior as she seemed intent on getting rid of any and all reminders to the previous wife and this included the children. Her bullying and cruel behavior eventually pushed Mildred to confront her father, and give him an ultimatum: either she goes or I do. Her father chose the latter and so Mildred packed her bags and moved to Seattle to live with her aunt Ida. Her aunt was ecstatic to have Mildred in the house, and Mildred was happy to just be somewhere where she felt wanted. This was short lived, however… On a rainy day in

December of that same year, Mildred accompanied her aunt on a trip to Puget Shore. As the rain thickened, the driver lost control and sent them off a steep embankment. Mildred was the only survivor.2 8 At the age of 17, Bailey had lost those closest to her and was on her own. This proved to be the pivotal point in her career and the effects of the wreck and the health conditions that came with it plagued her for the rest of her life.

After she was released from the hospital, Mildred began looking for any music job that would have her. Eventually she landed her first singing job, plugging the hit tunes of the day in the back of a Seattle’s own Sonny’s Music Shop.2 9 This opportunity led to a few shows in the

West coast speakeasy scene, which grew in popularity after Prohibition began in the 1920’s.

These speakeasies became the outlet for jazz, which was becoming the popular music of the

28 Ibid. 29 Ibid, 39. 20 time. During her time at the Silver Grill, she met Ted Bailey, a local merchant and they were soon married. She became Mildred Bailey, and would keep the name even after divorcing Ted and moving to Los Angeles. It was around this time that Mildred’s brother, Al Rinker, would come back into her life.

Al Rinker was a budding musician himself. He was playing in a band called the

Musicaladers, and had just hired a little known drummer by the name of Bing Crosby.3 0 In hopes of reconnecting with his sister, they left Spokane and found Mildred in Los Angeles where she was living with her new husband, Benny Stafford. They started playing around the Los Angeles circuit and ended up with Mildred being hired by Paul Whiteman in 1929. Her recording career in the 1930’s included performances with Whiteman and Benny Goodman and it was around this time that she recorded one of her signature songs, “Rockin Chair.” 31 This led to Bailey expanding her career into radio, hosting programs in the United States and Canada. 32 She was a longtime diabetic and her health slowly started to deteriorate, which forced her into an early retirement in the mid-1940’s. She began to develop a heart condition and hardening of the arteries, and her longtime friend and composer Jimmy Van Huesen offered to split the bills with Bing Crosby and

Frank Sintatra and allowed her to live out her days in upstate New York. 33 She passed away in

1951.

30 Ibid. 31 Perea, John Carlos. I ntertribal Native American Music in the United States. Experiencing Music. Expressing Culture. San Francisco State University. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. 32 Ibid. 33 "Mildred Bailey." In E ncyclopedia of World Biography Online. Vol. 23. (2003) https://link-gale-com.colorado.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/K1631008134/WHIC?u=coloboulder&sid=WHIC& xid=be854e61. 21

Mildred Bailey was never a superstar despite having the talent to be one. The singer blamed her plumpness for her lack of commercial success, while others suggested that it was really Bailey's temper and sharp tongue that were her undoing.3 4 Despite this, she has had a resurgence in a new generation of fans wanting to look into her history. With the help of other jazz musicians like Julia Keefe resurrecting her music, and with compilations showcasing her immense talent, her deserved place in the pantheon of great jazz singers was restored. While

Bailey did not grow up in a boarding school, she helped break the mold on what was expected of a Native American in modern society. She used the influence of the Couer d’Alene tribe in her voice to help mold and inspire the next generation of singers.

34 Ibid.

Gert Chesi: Portrait of Jim Pepper, 1983.

CHAPTER V:

JIM PEPPER

James Gilbert Pepper II, better known as Jim Pepper, was born in 1941 in Portland,

Oregon. He was an American saxophonist, singer and composer. He was born into a mixed

Native American household with his mother belonging to the Creek tribe and his father from the

Kansa, or Kaw tribe. Growing up in a Native American household, he was exposed to a wide variety of music. His influences included everything from tap dance, jazz, and big band music to

35 pow-wow singing and fancy dance music. Pepper learned to play the clarinet, saxophone, and flute. He also spent a lot of time with his grandfather, who was known as a “road man” or a

35 Perea, John Carlos. I ntertribal Native American Music in the United States. Experiencing Music. Expressing Culture, 104. 23 priest, who exposed him to peyote music which is the music of the Native American church. This would play a significant role in his musical development and with the sound that he was able to create.

Pepper eventually moved to New York in the 1960’s where he studied saxophone under

36 Ornette Coleman. This would eventually lead him to join The Free Spirits, one of the first ever

37 jazz-rock/fusion bands. The band included Combus “Chip” Baker on guitar, Larry Coryell on guitar and vocals, Chris Hill on bass, and Bob Moses on drums. They only played a few shows in

New York before they released the Out of Sight and Sound album in 1967. Once Coryell left the band, the remaining members went on to create (the group?) Everything is Everything, and in

1969 they released Everything is Everything album that featured “Witchi Tai To,” a peyote song that Pepper had arranged. It reached number 69 on the Billboar d's Hot 100 chart in 1969, and is

38 credited as the first song to chart that featured authentic Native American chants. Pepper explained that “Witchi Tai To” is “a Comanche peyote song, one of many that are sung at the

39 time when water is passed around at a peyote meeting.” He later re-recorded this song on subsequent albums, but it never reached its initial commercial popularity. It has been covered by over 70 artists ranging from folk and jazz music, to electronic and avant-garde, showcasing its

40 cultural impact.

36 “Jim Pepper, 50, Dies; A Tenor Saxophonist.” T he New York Times News (NY), F ebruary 17,1992. 37 B ritannica Academic, s.v. "Jim Pepper," accessed January 14, 2020, h ttps://academic-eb-com.colorado.idm.oclc.org/levels/collegiate/article/Jim-Pepper/570778. 38 Ibid. 39 Lawrence R. Smith. 1988. “An interview with Jim Pepper.” C aliban 5 :150-71. 40 Perea, I ntertribal Native American Music in the United States. Experiencing Music. Expressing Culture, 103. 24

Originally, peyote music was to be used only in the Native American church or in a ceremonial setting. The precise origin of these meetings is unclear, but there is some consensus that around the mid-to-late 1800’s, it was prevalent in many different tribes in the Southwest.

One of it’s most important practitioners was Quanah Parker, a powerful historical leader from the

Comanche tribe in Oklahoma. With the help of Parker's influence, these peyote meetings spread across all of America and became a part of the Native American way of life. In 1918, it was formally introduced to the Native American church and which led to the tradition of sacramental

41 consumption, which induced visions, as a way to communicate with God. The typical arc of these meetings goes something like this:

1. Start at sunset and end at dawn the next day.

2. The entire meeting was defined by singing of four songs: “Opening Song,” “Midnight Water Song,” “Sunrise Song,” and “Closing Song.”

3. Each song was performed at specific points of the meeting and would have to be sung a total of four times. Same rules would affect additional songs that come up during 42 the meeting.

Peyote music is often used in a unison or harmonized settings, accompanied by a gourd rattle that the road man (leader) uses as well as a water drum. The instrumental accompaniment is a simple duple pattern with no form or metre, and because of the water inside the drum it was often used as a melodic instrument to accompany the singers. The drum was used as a drone and

41 Perea, I ntertribal Native American Music in the United States. Experiencing Music. Expressing Culture, 67. 42 Michael Gutierrez. Interview with Russell Goodluck. Personal Interview. Denver, January 7th, 2020. 25 sometimes varied in intensity but more often than not, it was a driving tempo that triggered hallucinations with the help of the ceremonial peyote used. Depending on the tribe, the words could be in English, in the language of the practicing group, or using various vocables (syllables often labeled…nonsense, no-meaning, nonsensical, non translatable, and non-lexical by

43 ethnomusicologists).

43 Chun-bin, Chen. T he SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture. "Vocables, Singing." Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2019. 26

Example 4: Handwritten musical score to “Witchi-Tai-To,” by Jim Pepper.

These are the peyote lyrics that Jim Pepper incorporates into “Witchi Tai To” and the rest of what makes up the chorus of the song:

(A) “Witchi-tai-to, gimee rah Whoa rah neeko, whoa rah neeko Hey ney, hey ney, no way (x2)

(B) Water spirit feelin' Springin' round my head Makes me feel glad That I'm not dead.”

44 (A) x2

The first 3 lines of lyrics are mostly non-lexical syllables. The words in this particular song might be meaningless, but that is not true of all peyote lyrics. In the original recording of

“Witchi Tai To” from 1969, you can feel the entire influence of being raised in and around the

Native American church in the opening seconds. The rhythm that the tambourine is playing at the beginning of the song sounds like it is mimicking the driving pulse of the water drum that is used in a real peyote meeting. Around 13 seconds in, Pepper comes in with the peyote chant. He mimics the four repeated sections of the chant, something that a normal peyote meeting abides by but the only difference is the English words break it up halfway before he returns. In the 1971 rerelease, Pepper adds a full on Native American intro that sounds like a modified stomp or round dance song that would normally be played in a pow-wow setting. He is using what sounds like a gourd, and is singing in unison with another person. The rhythm of the words is altered a

44 Jim Pepper, W itchi Tai To. E verything is Everything by E verything is Everything, CD. Vanguard, 1969. 28 little here, and he never brings in the English part of the chant until the actual song starts. You can hear him calling out and his war cries in various Native American languages. He frequently borrowed elements from different tribes to use in his music.

One of the notable differences between the two, is this 1971 recording features Pepper playing a solo over the form and it is evident that he is showcasing his technique and fearlessness on the Tenor saxophone. His solo is filled with extended techniques like trills, bending, and overtones. Not your typical sounding solo but I feel that he was expressing his feeling of gratitude and ability to share this music with the world. He would continue to re-record and rework previous songs, but he always tried to tie his work back to his native roots.

The original 1969 recording feels like an exploratory phase in which Pepper tried to introduce the Native American sound to a broader audience. Ornette Coleman encouraged

Pepper to incorporate more of his heritage into his music and the success of “Witchi Tai To” allowed him to continue to push the boundaries of this new and exciting fusion of cultures.4 5 He continued to blend these elements on his 1971 album, Pepper ’s Pow Wow and 1983’s Comin’ and Goin’ respectively. One of his final albums, Dakota Song (1987) was his interpretation of jazz standards based on his experiences as a Native American, and effectively marked the end of his recording career.

45Robert Warrior. T he World of Indigenous North America (Routledge Worlds. Hoboken: Routledge, 2014), 274.

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION

I want this work to serve as part of a larger discussion to challenge expectations of what

Native American music is. This music is still growing and evolving, and does not only exist in the past histories. There are still plenty of contemporary Native American musicians like Buffy

Saint-Marie, Northern Cree, A Tribe Called Red, and Ulali that are using their heritage and the unique sounds that come from them, to create new and exciting ways to express themselves in their respective genres. The musicians I explored are exemplars of this cultural and musical fusion of their Native American heritage with blues and jazz. They are relevant to their present moment and the contributions to the music will forever be imprinted on the history and style of this music. While this is not a comprehensive list, my hope is that this will provide a foundation to discuss and look into the complexity of the influence that can find its way in a traditionally non-Native music. Charley Patton’s singing and percussive playing is mimicking the sound found in a pow-wow setting and he became a star in the process. Mildred Bailey’s influence on the vocal “swing” style inspired countless others to try and recreate. Jim Pepper’s ability to combine different styles and traditions, are just a few contributions that will forever inspire people to chase and are models for other Native Americans to look up to. Though they come from separate tribes, they have a commonality in that they persevered against racial tension and left a legacy for all Native Americans to take pride in.

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