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"How am I to know?" 1929 Trumbauer Orchestra w. Lang

Lango-DjangoLango-Django Niagara-On-The-Lake, ONModerator
edited May 2016 in Eddie Lang Club Posts: 1,854


I just heard this tune for the first time last weekend at a 78 record collectors' meetup, and found Eddie's guitar work particularly enchanting. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

On my computer this comes out perfectly in tune in the key of A major, which begs the question... what key did the Trumbauer Orchestra actually record it in?

Ab? Bb? or actually A major? There's not much jazz on it thus the key of A major may possibly been chosen by the singer, Smith Ballew?

Anyway, if anybody wants to work out some of Eddie's lovely arps--- so different from anything in gypsy jazz!--- here are the basic chords, which also really different than anything you're probably used to playing but they sure have that real 1920's "modern white guys" sound...

B9 % Dm % E7 % A6 %

B9 % Dm % E7 % Em6 F#7

F#7 % Dm % E7 % A6 Adim

B9 % Dm % E7 % E7b9 A6

Have fun!

Will
Paul Cezanne: "I could paint for a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing."

Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."

Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."

Comments

  • edited May 2016 Posts: 3,707
    Don't forget Frankie played C melody sax so he played in concert key. Given the size of the orchestra, it's likely to have been written in a horn friendly key. 5# for tenors and I trumpets 6# for alto's if written in concert A.

    I find the guitar background to be competing with the vocalist a bit too much for my liking.
    The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
  • woodamandwoodamand Portland, OR✭✭✭ 2015 JWC Favino replica
    Posts: 227
    Or it could be that the recording speed itself was wonky - I have seen this happen on recordings of that era.
  • Lango-DjangoLango-Django Niagara-On-The-Lake, ONModerator
    Posts: 1,854
    Yes, definitely, woodamand!

    While A major might have been okay for Trumbauer with his C-melody sax, as Jay mentioned, it would be just too crazy for all the other brass and saxes.
    Paul Cezanne: "I could paint for a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing."

    Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."

    Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
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