American Jazz and Clarinet à la King

Blues scales play a large role in the composition and improvisation of a jazz piece. A blues scale consists of a minor pentatonic scale with added blue notes. A single version of a blues scale is used over all the chord changes in the commonly used twelve bar blues progression. Clarinet à la King’s progression is based on the Bb blues scale and uses it to its advantage by providing a basis for the underlying harmonies while allowing freedom for the melody to improvise.

           

 

 

 

The harmony played by the big band is very structured and written as to give a specific beat to the song for the clarinet to play off. Most of the chords played by the combination of instruments are derivative of the blues scale. For example, the Eb major chord in the second bar obviously consists of notes from the blues scale and thus formulates a “jazz” tonality when coupled with the melody. While most of the clarinet part is composed, its structure allows for a free flowing melody that sounds improvised when it is not. The melody progresses through small intervals that reflect the scale. Large intervals are used in standalone phrases that signal a shift from one musical idea to the next. One such phrase is that in the sixth and seventh bars that transfers the piece from the introduction section into rehearsal marker A. The structure moves the piece smoothly with occasional accented rhythms and articulations that give Clarinet à la King a swing feel.

            No jazz song like this one would be complete without a section set aside for a musician to improvise and display his skill. Benny Goodman’s solo (beginning at 1:30 on the recording) is a conventional improvisation that complements the entirety of the piece. It is easily distinguishable as improvised by its heightened emotional quality, the slight disregard for the time signature, and the fact that the harmony suddenly became simpler in rhythm to increase focus towards Goodman’s clarinet. However, the solo adheres to the tone of the song, its technical aspects, and more importantly to the blues scale. It shifts seamlessly from composition to improvisation and slides seamlessly back into the written melody at 2:10. This solo represents both the whole of Clarinet à la King and Benny Goodman’s skill and emotion that he puts into his music.

            While not as present as in some other jazz pieces, ornamentation in Clarinet à la King is significant to the feel it produces. Numerous grace notes, such as those in the second, ninth, tenth, thirteenth, and fourteenth bars embellish phrases in the piece to enhance their complexity. Falls such as the one near the end add a conclusion to a presented motif. There are many other jazz ornaments ubiquitously placed in this piece that all accomplish the same task of beautifying it with their flourishes.