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wTRACK 38

CHAPTER 6

PROFESSOR TONGHAIR'S STYTE:rr.\',

Professor Longhair 1918-1980) was born HenryRoeland B1,rd "::

-.,. -1s ;1lso known as Fess.

Professor Le-rr(a;-: '.,.,.s '.he Godfather of New Orleans

piano. His rn::.-::-,:t-. -::noi be overemphasized. He wasprofessionali.. :--.'.. ..-':- l9-18 to 1980. Virrually everyNew Orlean,< :-::->: --- --\:re after him has acknowledgedhis pouertul .:-.-.'-^--:.-. -.-- en Toussalnt has called him"The Bach u.i R.- ,..

Fess taughl :-:-:.-- ::,-'.'. --- :lar. He wasn't a technicalvirtuoso like --.:-:= i -- --. :: : *i he made up for that withrhythmic Strt r. -: -. -,. .. . :- -::-. :' :-iirailtr.

He u-as a c.',-:,.. -: . ::--. ::-:--sto and pla'. -:: '.,. -. -. :r --:----1:-i

of left-h:l; ::. -::r-. ^ -i - r -: .,r-- -

blues flsu:es,':- .. : -- -: -:- ::-. :-:l: nand. The resultwasa galL.pr::g :-. :: * :--::,-. :-.-:s-- -:-,r: .,\':s imbued wrth joy

He first recorded in 1949. He had one commercial :.: - -: - .the 1950s and recuperated, coming back in 19jI ..,..'-: l. - l -.

faitered and he became a janitor ro supporr himsei:. :-.: .1: .::& Heritage Festrval resiored his standrng. He rec..:-<* r -: r-::

Professor Longhair recorded a number of tracx-. ::-:: *.-i:: ::-,--'. :-: ir1tr1 t-rDB ol his regular styles,such as "Red Beans,'' "Crawfish Fresta.' and "\i<ss --,:-''-^:-* 3-::..ihenr-ise. Fesss musical output canbasically be divided into three major srr'les.

First, there was the simple tri-o-beat shuifle si',le :: :s.j t-rn such tunes as "Bald Head," "Whole LottaLovin,"'and "No Buts No lrlar-bes." Thrs is ii f.lS-- :',,,.r-hand shuffle, not much different than FatsDomino's.

Figure 38 - Two-beat shufJle pattent

-:: :he 19-10s. he listened

-:.-l Cuba. He took the

, e.. . R.oi1 \lorton, a kind:--.-e; 3.-r6gie-$ oogie and

a

Second, there was the standard l2/B slow blues style of "Gone So Long." "Gonna Leave This Town ""something on Your Mind," and "Mean 01'Wor1d." There \\-as some vanet\-among his right-handpatterns, but all his 12lB blues essentially used the l2/8 "Blueberq' HilI" bass 1ine.

tp-tAcK 39

Figure 39 - 12/8 slow blues patterns

Slow Blues 1J. = AO;

Bb

Final1y, there is his trademark, what became known as the "rhumba boogie." It's essentially the left-hand bass line in the figure below.

lD.tt'9'

45

Fast Rhumb a ( = tO+1 (f] =,ll)

Rhumba (J = 17s) (fl = fl)

A11 the rhumbas were based on l2-bar blues patterns. Fess would generally establish a two-handedaccompaniment pattern and then just stick with it. On mos[ songs, he simply played his two-handedaccompaniment figure and sang, but occasionally he played piano solo. Following are some of his solotechniques.

Fess would play a sequence of notes then play it again, twice as fast. Note that he continued to playthe rhumba boogie bass wirh his left hand.

ff Figure 43 - Repeat twice as fast

I

He used thirds in his right hand.

ry Figure 44 -ThirdilnrighthandTRACK 44

Occasionaily, he would depart from his two-handed accompaniment pat[ern and play fills with his

right hand. Note that the bass line is not a strict rhumba boogie.

0 Figure 45 - Fills with righthanil

O Figure 46 - Tremolos withblue notes

TRACK 46 o*",r119)--- -.

.',}He played tremolos that included blue notes.

ryTRACK 47

He would play a rhythm of four in the right hand against three in the ieft.

Figure 47 - Four against three

He would play a rhythm of two in the right hand agains[ three in the left

1Q Figure 48 -Two against three

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U,TRACK 49

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He would play a major seventh chord (instead of a dominant se\-enth chord) for the lV chord.

Figure 49 -Major seventhlV chord q,i

J. = tooC Fmai9

"Big Chief'is one of Professor Tar*ghairs most popular songs. It's an infectious party song in straighteighth-note rhythm. This is an example of building a rollicking feel out of a minimum of musicalmaterials - basicall;r, broken chords emphasizing the alternation of the minor third (F#) and the majorthird (G) of the Eb tonic chord. The first part is a right-hand so1o. The second part adds the rhumbabass. However, the bass line is not the typical broken-triad bass common to most of Professor Longhair's

songs - it's a double-stop pattern instead.'

Figure 50 - "Big Chief'

Brightly (J = 154)N.C.

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u:ACK 50

Big ChiefBy Earl King

@ 1965 by Shirley's Music

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