Brody Wadkins

MUSE 353

Gerrity

20 March 2020

A Night in Tunisia

Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker worked together on and off between 1945 and 1955

and both are attributed as composers of “A Night in Tunisia”. The history of this piece, much

like many jazz standards of its day, is highly disputed. It was first recorded in 1944 by Sarah

Vaughan under the title “Interlude” but was written around 1942 by Gillespie. The controversy

of composers is not with Gillespie, but with those attributed with being co-composer. Many

sources attribute Frank Paparelli, however, Gillespie says that Paparelli had no part in composing

the song and was instead just given credit for transcribing the solos he had heard for publishing.

Others give Charlie Parker credit, but most of this simply comes from over 20 recordings he did

of the piece clearly showing his skills in performing it. Regardless of composer, the piece

became a standard and is played by groups of all levels to this day.

While this is a well-established piece, jazz tends to be very flexible and what is written

on the page is often up to the musician’s interpretation, especially in the professional groups of

old. Regardless of the embellishments and flourishes that players add to give it personal flair, the

piece always follows an AABA form. The main theme of the piece is preceded by a short intro,

most often played by the bass but sometimes is also played by the baritone saxophone. The

drums, piano and saxophone join in with their ostinati before the main melody line enters,

starting the A section of the form. As previously stated, jazz is a very flexible genre and the

drummer has a large responsibility in that. While there is a written drum part, it is just a ball park
for the musician but will just be a basic groove and interplay between players dictates what

should be played. The intro also contains an Afro-Cuban beat, much like that of Tunisia, unlike

later in the piece where it switches back to a bebop feel for the duration. Although it is used

slightly, it seems peculiar the Afro-Cuban feel does not get used more as it is presumably the

source of the title of the piece.

“A Night in Tunisia” was a mixture of Gillespie’s signature bebop style and his infusion

of very African style beats in jazz. His big band also set the standard for many others at the time.

From almost every scholar’s perspective, Gillespie shaped jazz and helped it evolve, making it

the popular music of the time. He is to this day, a recognizable name to many, including non-

musicians, and his puffed cheeks and bent trumpet give him a unique look that was akin to the

extravagant stage effects of today’s performers.

Dizzy Gillespie
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=gfLVVHxk4IM
-Laid back feel
-No lyrics in this version
-Bebop feel
Similarities Chaka Khan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=9ZEMoXjl-Xg
-Same beginning bass -Faster tempo
line -Lyrics about the original version
-Same instruments from -Funk feel
different eras -More complex parts because of
-Solo section (original the change in genre/style
sax and new synth -More complex harmonies
instrument) (especially in the solo section)
Dr. Gerrity,

I heard you would be doing a lesson using the chart “A Night in Tunisia” and wanted to
see if I could help you pick a version that best fit your secondary general music class. Of course,
the first version would be Dizzie’s, a bebop chart written in the 40s. This song had a quick tempo
in comparison to the songs of the swing era that came before it. It featured Gillespie on his
uniquely shaped trumpet as the front man of his big band. This version of the song has no lyrics
and instead has the musicians improvise during solo sections that are broken up by repeating the
melody. This is a great example of jazz to show your students; however, I believe there is another
version that may be more effective for your lesson. One cover of Gillespie’s song was done by
Chaka Khan. Khan began as a vocalist for a funk band but was also known later for her
performances of every genre from gospel to R&B to disco. Her version of the song is much
“catchier” and would most likely be more appealing to students. The harmony is more complex,
but it also includes lyrics which not only add to the song but mention many great jazz musicians.
In a lesson about the history of jazz or about the many large contributors to the genre, an analysis
of the lyrics of Khan’s song would be a great introduction and could be used to introduce
students to the names. From an instrumental standpoint, the instrumentation is fairly similar,
simply modernized. In Khan’s song the double bass is exchanged for a bass guitar, the piano is
exchanged for a keyboard, and the saxophone is exchanged for something that sounds like a
synthesizer. These instruments are more common in today’s music and as such students will
most likely be able to relate to it better. Overall, I think Chaka Khan’s adaptation of “A Night in
Tunisia” is better suited for a secondary general music class because it can be used to teach
students about jazz while still sounding modern and similar to popular music.

Brody
Glossary
Bass Guitar - the lowest pitched member of the guitar family. It is a plucked string instrument
similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, except with a
longer neck and scale length, and typically four to six strings
Bebop - a type of jazz originating in the 1940s and characterized by complex harmony and
rhythms
Big Band - a large group of musicians playing jazz or dance music
Chart - a form of musical notation that describes the basic harmonic and rhythmic information
for
a song or tune
Cover - record or perform a new version of (a song) originally performed by someone else
Disco - a precursor to club music, trance and hip-hop music of the 1990s made up of parts of
different musical traditions, including soul, funk, Motown and even salsa and meringue
Double Bass - the largest and lowest-pitched instrument of the violin family, providing the
bassline
of the orchestral string section and also used in jazz and some country music
Funk - a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when
African-American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a
mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues
Gospel - a now popularized form of impassioned rhythmic spiritual music rooted in the solo and
responsive church singing of rural blacks in the American South, central to the
development of rhythm and blues and of soul music
Harmony - the sounding of two or more notes at the same time
Improvisation - the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts
Jazz - a type of music of black American origin characterized by improvisation, syncopation, and
usually a regular or forceful rhythm
Keyboard - an electronic musical instrument or an electronic or digital derivative of keyboard
instruments
Lyrics - the words of a song
Melody - a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying
Musician - a person who plays a musical instrument, especially as a profession, or is musically
talented
Piano - a large keyboard musical instrument with a wooden case enclosing a soundboard and
metal
strings, which are struck by hammers when the keys are depressed
R&B - a form of popular music of African-American origin that arose during the 1940s from
blues,
with the addition of driving rhythms taken from jazz. It was an immediate precursor of
rock and roll
Saxophone - a member of a family of metal wind instruments with a single-reed mouthpiece,
used
especially in jazz and dance music
Solo section - a section of a piece played or sung featuring a single performer, who may be
performing completely alone or supported by an accompanying instrument
Song - a short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be sung
Swing - a form of popular jazz music developed in the United States that dominated in the 1930s
 and 1940s
Synthesizer - an electronic musical instrument, typically operated by a keyboard, producing a
wide
variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequencies
Tempo - the speed at which a passage of music is or should be played
Trumpet - a brass musical instrument with a flared bell and a bright, penetrating tone
Vocalist - a singer, typically one who regularly performs with a jazz or pop group
Anchor Standards and Indicators

 ANCHOR 3: Connect with a varied repertoire of music by exploring the relationships

between music and history and culture.

1. Cn.3.8.2 – Identify, describe, and apply through performance uniquely American

music genres, trace their evolution, and explore the life and work of musicians
associated with each.

 ANCHOR 5: Listening and responding to a varied repertoire of music by describing,

interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating music and its elemental components.

1. LR.5.12.2 – Identify elements of music and compare how they are utilized to create
specific music styles and/or cultural traditions.

 ANCHOR 7: Performing a varied repertoire of music by singing, alone and with others,
from rote memory and written notation.

1. P.7.8.2 – Sing with expressive qualities and technical accuracy, as modeled and/or
visually notated, and portray appropriate style.

Class Goals and Objectives

 Introduce students to jazz and funk genres

 Give students a historical lesson on jazz through music

Materials

 A recording of Chaka Khan’s “A Night in Tunisia”

 A lyric dictation sheet for the above song

Procedures

1. Students will listen to the first two minutes of A Night in Tunisia while the instructor
passes out the lyric dictation sheet.
2. While this happens, the instructor will ask the students what they think of when they hear
“jazz”.
3. The instructor will give the specifics of the song including the title, artist, and history of
the original.
4. The students will listen to the first two minutes of the song twice and complete the lyric
dictation.
5. The instructor will sing the first line and then ask a student to give the first answers for
line two. The instructor will continue to sing each line, asking the next student in line for
the answers upon reaching a line where there are blanks.
6. The song will be played again and the instructor will sing with the song, inviting the
students to join in if they feel confident.
 7. The students will each be assigned one of the artists mentioned in the song in groups of 2
or 3 and will have 8 minutes to research their artist.
8. The students will then have 2 and a half minutes to present their artist to the class
(include instrument, genre, and interesting facts). They must also pick a song from that
artist to play in the background while they present.
9. The students and instructor will end with a discussion on how musicians build on the
work of their predecessors to innovate. Even modern musicians singing covers.

Assessment of Goals and Objectives

Assessment will occur through answers to lyric blanks and grading of their presentation through
accuracy and work ethic on an individual basis.

Follow up Lessons

Future lessons would focus on improv from a jazz perspective.

 A Night in Tunisia
Chaka Khan

Lyric Dictation

A long time ago in the 40's

*__________ and *__________ gave us this song
They called it "A Night in Tunisia"
And the __________ still lingers on

It was new and very __________

Blew the __________ right off the stage NAME BANK (*)
Few could __________ along
Dizzy (Dizzy Gillespie)
But the melody still lingers on
Bird (Charlie Parker)

*__________ and *__________ to name just two Max (Max Roach)

Together they grew Miles (Miles Davis)

The music was __________ and strong Coltrane (John Coltrane)
And the melody still lingers on Stevie (Stevie Wonder)
Duke (Duke Ellington)
They paved the way for generations
Prez (Lester Young)
From *__________ to *__________
No one could stop the winds of change
Without them where'd we be?

The *__________ and the *__________ were there before

The past you can't ignore
The __________ is lit, we'll keep the __________
And the melody remains the same