Watermelon Man (composition)
Watermelon Man is a first time in 1962 posted by Herbie Hancock on the album Takin 'Off piece. Watermelon Man is one of the most popular jazz standards and is often played at jam sessions. Gloria Lynne wrote in 1964 a text to the song.
The composition
Herbie Hancock tells about the creation of the piece, the melody originates from the exclamation of a watermelon seller, which he had heard in his youth: " When I thought about my childhood, I remembered the cry of the watermelon man making his rounds in the smaller streets and alleys of Chicago's Southtown turned. "
Watermelon seller at the time were a typical black American life phenomenon and thus the piece has references to the roots of African-American culture, although Herbie Hancock comes from wealthier and more educated circles: "I was born in Chicago in 1940, my parents were not professional musicians, but my father was a bathtub singer and my mother strummed on the piano. I was interested in music forever. Already as a young child and I started music lessons at age seven at Four years later I performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. " Musically, he met with Watermelon Man exactly the black American music taste. Freddie Hubbard plays a very easily comprehensible bebop or Hardbopsolo with its beautiful trumpet and Dexter Gordon plays an ingeniously simple solo that recalls directly to a watermelon seller, which varies its reputation. Hancock himself only plays a short solo with gospel -like interjections.
The piece was originally a hit in 1963 for Mongo Santamaría. The Cubans, reaching # 10 in the U.S. pop charts.
Form
The melody of the call is started on the tonic, then repeated on the subdominant and ends with a guided diatonic dominant matic pattern. The harmonious shape of the piece is an extended blues. The accompanying pattern of tonic and subdominant, which shapes the character of the piece, moves diatonic and uses Hamme ring. The dominant diagrammatic controls the dominant and subdominant by a chromatic upper side tone passage -like and uses a voice-leading chord with nonene. For the success of the strong gospel and funk -like mood and rhythm of the piece were decisive. The piece was recorded in 1973 on the bestselling Head Hunters in a modern and six minutes in the form of soul or fusion style. Another shot followed in 1976 V.S.O.P..
Music
- Watermelon Man on downbeat.com
- Lead Sheet of Watermelon Man
Other meanings
Under the name Watermelon Man exists on a cocktail of vodka - based.