THE ARTISTRY OF HENRY “RED” ALLEN: HIS STYLISTIC EVOLUTION AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO JAZZ BY CAMERON SHANE PITSCH B.M., UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, 1994 M.M., EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, 1996 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music in Performance and Literature in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Assistant Professor Tito Carrillo, Chair Professor Ronald Romm Associate Professor Donna Buchanan Associate Professor Zack Browning i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project would not have been possible without the support of several individuals. I would first like to thank Tito Carrillo for stepping up as my advisor and for his generous guidance, support, and friendship throughout this entire process. Thanks also to my committee members, Ron Romm, Donna Buchanan, and Zack Browning, for their time and support. Thanks to Ray Sasaki for always having the right advice at the right time. Thanks to Sparky Thomason, for taking the time to read my transcriptions, pointing out minor mistakes that slipped through the cracks. A huge thanks to my wife Jamey, for sharing her consummate skills as an editor, and most of all, for her constant love and support. Thanks also to my parents, family, and friends who have watched me labor through this long process. I value your love and support, and deeply appreciate your many words of encouragement. Finally, I would like to offer a particularly special thanks to Michael Ewald, who has been my major professor and advisor since I began this process, and sadly, passed away a short time before the completion of this project. His encouragement, generosity, and wisdom have been invaluable. I will look back fondly and often on the lessons I’ve learned through him, and look forward to passing them along to future students. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE ..................................................................................................................1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 Purpose and Methods .....................................................................................................5 Biography ......................................................................................................................6 CHAPTER TWO ...............................................................................................................15 Melody .........................................................................................................................15 Intervallic Improvisation, Quick Register Changes, and Octave Displacement ....15 Melodic Embellishment and Variation Techniques ................................................21 Melodic Reconstruction .........................................................................................23 Harmony ......................................................................................................................30 Nonharmonic Tones and Dissonance .....................................................................30 Chord Substitution .................................................................................................35 Chromatic Melismas ..............................................................................................38 Chromatic Approach Tones ....................................................................................40 Rhythm, Tempo, and Meter .........................................................................................43 Rubato ....................................................................................................................43 Irregular Note Groupings and Shifting Subdivisions............................................. 45 Syncopation and Metric Superimposition ..............................................................49 Asymmetrical Phrasing ..........................................................................................53 CHAPTER THREE............................................................................................................ 60 Extended Techniques ...................................................................................................60 Half-Valved and Ghosted Notes .............................................................................61 Vocal Inflections..................................................................................................... 63 Flutter-Tongues, Growls and Fuzz Tones............................................................... 67 Trills, Shakes, and Alternate Fingerings................................................................ 73 Bebop Articulation .................................................................................................78 Grace Notes ...........................................................................................................80 EPILOGUE ........................................................................................................................83 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................................85 iii APPENDIX A: COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTIONS........................................................... 88 APPENDIX B: SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY ...............................................................123 AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................126 iv LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Example Page 1 Intervallic improvisation.....................................................................................16 2 Intervallic improvisation.....................................................................................16 3 Intervallic improvisation.....................................................................................17 4 Quick register changes........................................................................................17 5 Intervallic improvisation and quick register changes.........................................18 6 Quick register changes and octave leaps............................................................18 7 Octave displacement...........................................................................................19 8 Octave displacement...........................................................................................19 9 Octave displacement...........................................................................................20 10 Octave displacement...........................................................................................21 11 Octave displacement...........................................................................................21 12 Melodic embellishment and variation techniques..............................................23 13a Body and Soul - standard version.......................................................................25 13b Body and Soul - Red Allen’s 1935 version.........................................................26 14a I Cover the Waterfront - standard version...........................................................28 14b I Cover the Waterfront - Red Allen’s 1957 version............................................29 15 Chord substitution...............................................................................................31 16 Chord substitution...............................................................................................31 17 Chromatic passing tones.....................................................................................32 18a Chromatic passing tones.....................................................................................32 18b Chromatic passing tones.....................................................................................32 18c Chromatic passing tones.....................................................................................33 18d Chromatic passing tones.....................................................................................33 19 Nonharmonic tones.............................................................................................33 20 Nonharmonic tones.............................................................................................34 v 21 Nonharmonic tones.............................................................................................34 22 Nonharmonic tones.............................................................................................34 23 Nonharmonic tones.............................................................................................35 24 Tritone substitution.............................................................................................36 25a Chord substitution...............................................................................................37 25b Chord substitution, simplified version................................................................37 26 Chord substitution...............................................................................................38 27a Chromatic melismas...........................................................................................39 27b Chromatic melismas...........................................................................................39 27c Chromatic melismas...........................................................................................39