Spanish Tinge

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The phrase Spanish Tinge is a reference to the belief that a Latin American touch offers a reliable method of spicing the more conventional 4/4 rhythms commonly used in jazz and pop music. The phrase is a quotation from Jelly Roll Morton. In his Library of Congress recordings, after referencing the influence of his own French Creole culture in his music, he noted the Spanish presence:

Then we had Spanish people there. I heard a lot of Spanish tunes. I tried to play them in correct tempo, but I personally didn't believe they were perfected in the tempos. Now take "La Paloma", which I transformed in New Orleans style. You leave the left hand just the same. The difference comes in the right hand -- in the syncopation, which gives it an entirely different color that really changes the color from red to blue.

Now in one of my earliest tunes, "New Orleans Blues", you can notice the Spanish tinge. In fact, if you can't manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz.

It is important to point out that what Morton described as a "Spanish" influence did not refer to cultural elements coming specifically from Spain. What he was calling "Spanish" was in fact an Afro-Caribbean influence. "Spanish" in those days was a generic term for describing anything that came from a Spanish-speaking culture. The musicians he came in contact with did speak Spanish but their culture was from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, etc), not Spain. That is, these rhythms add to jazz or pop music much in the way that blue notes add a flavoring to non-blues songs.

Specifically, Morton categorized his compositions in three groups as blues, stomps, and Spanish Tinge, for those with habanera rhythms.[1]. These included in "New Orleans Blues", "La Paloma", "The Crave", and "The Spanish Tinge".

Morton called attention to the habanera in "St. Louis Blues" as one of the elements in the song's success.

Morton's maxim, usually given now as "You've got to have that Spanish Tinge", has proven to be apt for many artists to this day. Latin rhythm instruments are employed by artists of all sorts and many compositions are express applications of the Spanish Tinge.

Notable examples of the Spanish Tinge include:

Juan Tizol's "Caravan" and "Perdido", first performed by Duke Ellington
"Rum and Coca Cola" by the Andrews Sisters, an imported calypso
the "blues rhumba" of Professor Longhair
"Early in the Morning" and numerous calypso-style hits by Louis Jordan
Afro-Cuban jazz, as adopted and promoted by Dizzy Gillespie, Mongo Santamaria and many others
The "Bo Diddley beat" is based on the clave rhythm, as are many other songs, such as "Not Fade Away" and "I want Candy".
"Little Darling" by The Marigolds, with its insistent clave beat and Latin rhythms
"Under the Boardwalk" by The Drifters, produced by Cuban-American Bert Berns with triangle, guiro, and castanets
"What'd I Say", "I'm Moving On" (congas and maracas on a country and western cover) and many other Ray Charles songs
"Twist and Shout", popularized by the Isley Brothers and later The Beatles; "Hang on Sloopy", a hit song by the pop group The McCoys; and Jimi Hendrix's "Wild Thing", all share the Cuban bassline
Chuck Berry's "La Juanda" and "Havana Moon"
Richard Berry's inspiration for "Louie Louie" came from René Touzet's song "El Loco Cha Cha". René Touzet was a major figure in Cuban music in the 1940s, beginning his career leading a 16-piece orchestra at Havana's Grand Nacional Casino
The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil", which is based on the Afro-Cuban "tumbao" rhythm

[edit] References

Mr. Jelly Roll: The fortunes of Jelly Roll Morton, New Orleans Creole and "Inventor of Jazz" by Alan Lomax. Jelly Roll's autobiography, largely drawn from Jelly Roll Morton the Complete Library of Congress Recording.