Sweet Jasmine...

[Trapdoor2]

Ok, I'm in the middle of TABbing this jewel out...hopefully done this evening (it has 141 measures and almost all is dotted...which is a royal pain to enter). In the meantime, I'm listening to old Olly Oakley hammer it out from a single cut I have (sent to me from David Wade some years ago).

I find a couple things interesting about this "cut": #1 As Jody said, the A-part is quite beautiful. It is in 6/8 time and marked "andante". What the dots don't tell you is to 'roll' all the chords aggressively (at least, that's what O.O. is doing). #2 The B-part is in 2/4 time and marked "moderato"...which means it whips along nicely. O.O. seems to be adding a "ground note" (open 4th-D) to the "hesitation-figure" (syncopation?) which is not shown in the dots...the Piano seems to be hitting it initally but O.O. takes over for the rest of the piece. #3 O.O. makes a mess of the C-part the first time thru but cleans it up the next time. It sounds like single-string...so it may be easier with a more modern "melodic" fingering...I guess I'll find out when I attempt it.

This is a great piece, thanks to wh0ever mentioned it. I had the sheet music but had no idea I had a recording until I started working with it. I kept thinking, "gee, this sounds familiar..." I lost the little note that came with the CD David sent me so the Olly Oakly stuff mostly is titled "track 12, Olly Oakley". Now I know "track 12" is "Sweet Jasmine".

[Jody Stecher]

On all the OO Sweet Jasmine recordings I've heard he deviates from the dots considerably and not always in exactly the same way. In all cases he uses (in bluegrass parlance) both single -string and melodic techniques.

[Trapdoor2]

>...he deviates from the dots [snip]

It is the other way 'round, ain't it? The way I see it, the dots are generally a 'commercialized' version...esp. compared to how the composer actually played it. I suspect if we notated every ornament OO put in, the page would black with dots. ;-) I'm not complaining, just observing. One thing I've learned is to appreciate how this "stiff" classic stuff is made alive by personal interpretation. Though I try hard to play "just the dots", it is a relief to realize that even the great players changed bits to suit themselves.

OTOH, there can be a bit of excessive ornamentation sometimes. Ol' OO is especially fond of the triplet figure that ends with multiple (same) notes on the 1st string. Sometimes I'm thinking, "OK, Olly, we know you can do that one now!" ;-)

[Adam]

Can you guys recommend a CD or site where I can hear some of Olly Oakley's playing - whether Sweet Jasmine or otherwise?

I have this album on which he plays Queen of the Burlesque ...


Thanks,
Adam

[David Wade]

Hi Adam,
I've not seen the cd you mention - it may not be available in the UK, it looks to have interesting bits on it.
Have a look here : http://www.zither-banjo.org/pages/recreviews.htm
In a burst of activity Nick wrote a bunch of record reviews - when he was 15 he was notating Oakley '78s by ear.

J. Adam Latham said:

Can you guys recommend a CD or site where I can hear some of Olly Oakley's playing - whether Sweet Jasmine or otherwise?

I have this album on which he plays Queen of the Burlesque ...


Thanks,
Adam

[Adam]

Thanks, David ... I'll give each of those a listen.

Notating Oakley at 15? I'd hate to tell you how I wasted my teens ... :)

All the best,
Adam

[Jody Stecher]

Places to hear Olly Oakley: The zeebee site was the first one I was going to mention but Dave Wade got there first. Also on youtube, including a fine rendition of Whistling Rufus. Also on the Cylinder preservation site mentioned here before. Also on cassettes issued by Norman Field on Neovox. Can sometimes be found second hand. Also on CDs issued by Steve Walker on Neophone label (along with old recordings of Sydney Turner who was mentioned on this site recently, and many others including Cammeyer, Ossman, Charlie Rogers, Joe Morley, etc). Neophone was once available on the web but not lately.

As for Sweet Jasmine, I'm aware of the following reissues. There may be others:

1909 Edison/ Out of The Dawn/Neophone
1912 Winner/ Olly Oakley volume 2/ Neovox
1914 Regal/ Olly Oakely volume 1/ Neovox
1927 (Regal?)/ A Banjo Cocktail No.8/ Neovox
1930 Parlophone/Twilight Echoes/Neophone - and - A Banjo Concert No. 2/Neovox

[Trapdoor2]

Hot off the press...here's TAB for "Sweet Jasmine". Please note: I have not had a chance to pick thru this yet. All fingering is per the dots. If no fingering was given, I made it up off the top of my head (I sometimes do this TAB stuff with a banjo in my lap but anything in dotted rhythm requires too much work to have a banjo around). If it don't work for you, make up your own fingering. ;-)

I haven't had a chance to include tempo or dynamics. I'll get that in there when I get a chance to go over the fingering.

Errata: the arpeggiated chords in the intro are per Mr. Oakley's recording. Not mentioned or notated in the dots. Triplet ornaments in m50 and m54 had to be kludged in as 32nd notes (not available in the software)...and for some reason TablEdit added a 32nd note rest after each set. Go figure.

Have fun, let me know if you see errors or wish to offer condolences, money (no loose change), etc.

===Marc

[thereallyniceman]

Many thanks Marc,
Another several hours spent to the benefit of the banjo community!! People don't realise how much time all this takes!

One request though....could you please post the dots for the "real" musicians? :)

Also does anyone have an mp3 or wav of Sweet Jasmine?

Ian in the UK
ps. I would have sent a few dollars in gratitude, but times are hard in the UK.

[Jody Stecher]

Ian asked: Also does anyone have an mp3 or wav of Sweet Jasmine?

sure, I can post one or two. I'll try to get to it before the weekend is over. Otherwise the following weekend.

[Jody Stecher]

More power to you if you can make the huge leap from fret 4 to 9 in measure 18 and the even larger leap from the first two frets to fret 9 in measure 2o. In the first case I get the C with my left index finger on the fifth fret of the third string, the D on the open first and the f sharp on the seventh fret of the second string with my ring finger. Then I hold that chord position and get the rest of the measure with my pinky and the fingers which are holding steady. In measure 20 I get the A on fret 7 of the bass with my ring finger, the C the same place I got it before, the fifth fret of the third string, and the D on the open first string. For the rest of the measure I just scoot my ring finger over to the second string and proceed as before, or if I'm not agile enough I'll just lift the chord and play the last two notes with the pinky alone, on the first string with no harmony.

[Trapdoor2]

Hi Jody,

Yeah, as I said, some of that fingering has to be gone thru. I played with it a bit at lunch a few minutes ago. Your fingering makes far more sense, I'll definitely give it a try. I can do the jumps (and with practice probably well in time)...but if there is a better way, I'm all over it.

This piece is based around that repeated 8 measure 'motif' (m17-m24), so it is well to attack that first. I'll probably sort out the fingering this weekend but reserve actually learning the piece for a later date. I'll repost the "corrected" version when I get it complete.

Ian, I have not uploaded the dots because I cannot find my original (I found my other Oakley pieces...just not SJ). The copy I have is very poor (blurry, hard to read, etc.) and I would prefer to post something less likely to strain your eyes.

[Jody Stecher]

I'll post the dots at the same time I post the sound files. Right now I've got several deadlines to meet. Later...