Jazz musicians playing with string groups or string orchestras dates back to the 1920’s and jazz clarinetist Artie Shaw played with a string quartet in 1936. In the 40’s, string sections began to appear in the big bands of Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Stan Kenton. The driving force behind the concept of jazz with strings was Charlie “Bird” Parker’s “Bird with Strings” albums in 1950 and ’52. This idea was so innovative and so solidified by the prolific Charlie Parker that many jazz musicians went on to embrace this concept of a string accompanied album, if they could afford it.

As opposed to the faster, more aggresive styles such as bebop, these string albums often featured more melodic songs and focused on concepts of phrasing and harmony rather than crazy melodic lines filled with absurd numbers of notes. As the article “Jazz with Strings” highlights, “The best jazz-with-strings arrangements were done by writers who knew how to write for strings without asking them to swing. Rather, they put the strings inside a jazz context where their presence added a special luster” (Crane). Strings are instruments that are generally never played in jazz and pop contexts, so asking them to “swing” is a very odd request. The article explains that the writers for these sessions would write the parts in a way that they did not need to explicity ask or write it in. The parts they write meld so well with the songs that they add a special new element in the jazz context, not to be the focal point, but to change the surroundings for which the song is performed.

One specific song I wish to mention this week is titled “The Song is You” originally written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein III. This song became more famous and associated with Frank Sinatra however. The reason I bring this song up is because a modern saxophonist, Alex Hahn, performed a version of this along side a string quartet and jazz rhythm section in an incredible recording session. They begin the song at a slow ballad tempo and then double the tempo as he builds into the solo section. His solo features incredible melodic tendencies while playing very technical lines. Not to mention he is improvising the whole solo on the spot. This solo and song can easily be compared with that of Charlie Parker back in the 50’s.

As this recording quickly became a favorite of mine, I set out to learn the song and solo he performed. While I’ve been working on and off for many months, I have it almost entirely memorized and I keep working to clean it each time I play it. My ultimate goal is to record and mix a track of my version on this song when I get it closer to the original. For now, I keep practicing!

I’ve attached the recording session below if you’re interested!

Crane, Roger. “Jazz With Strings.” All About Jazz, https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-with-strings-by-roger-crane.php. Accessed 23 Sept 2020.