The Lamp is Low
Here is a simple tune that has intrigued me for a few months. Not the most common tune - not in any of the original Real Books… - but not esoteric either. What got me thinking about it were a few fairly recent YouTube releases. I find it odd that such an old tune would get this type of visibility across multiple artists within such a short amount of time. But it’s a great tune, and I’ll get to why I think that a bit later.
First, the videos. Not one but TWO appearances on Emmet Cohen’s series, and a fan video of Jonathan Kreisberg playing a reharm of the tune live on 11/23/22 in Cleveland:
There are a few unique things about this tune. First, it was not written for a musical or movie, like most tunes of the era that became popular jazz standards. Just a pop tune written by some dudes in the 1930s. I’ve included a lead sheet above.
Second, the melody is based on a Ravel piece called “Pavane pour une Infante Défunte” (Pavane for a Dead Princess). One of the definitive recordings of this, featuring Mildred Bailey, directly quotes the source material in the arrangement (at 1:45).
Third, the harmony is unique. The progressions themselves are very standard, and there are no modulations. Just standard V of IV for the bridge and V of II in the turnarounds.
What is unique however is the duration of each chord - 2 bars for each of the II, V, I, and VI (V of II; also note that I’m ignoring the IIs of the applied dominants). The effect is a fairly static harmonic canvas that lends itself to fast tempos (not unlike Cherokee or Indiana), as in all three of the performances above. Further, there are some quicker changes in the last A section (which is actually 10 bars), which creates some needed contrast.
The B section is the same as the A but transposed up a 4th, tonicizing the subdominant, before returning through the subdominant minor (some people call this the “backdoor”). The point is scale degrees 6 and 7 relative to the tonic are flattened by a half step (Le to Sol is the key sound).
Respectfully, here is my interpretation of the melody and a couple choruses of solo. Backing track is by the indefatigable MrSunnybass on YouTube. Note that he’s been recording these basslines for at least seven years, and even he recorded one for this tune just two months ago! Something’s in the water around this one.
