David Betz
In the testimony of Louis Armstrong, the concept of Signifyin’ is clearly visible across his writings and recordings. The concepts of Signifyin’ that Armstrong uses in his own music and performances applies to jazz music as a whole. The Signifyin’ of Armstrong can be used to understand Signifyin’s role in jazz music as a whole.
Signifyin’ — as defined by Paul Hanson — is a complex, multifaceted concept that is a part of common speech in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) which can appear under multiple names.1 Regardless of name, Signifyin’ has several common qualities in speech, which, if considered carefully, can easily be applied to African American musical forms — such as Rap, Hip Hop, R&B, and Jazz. Hanson definitively identifies six common qualities of Signifyin’, of which several can be applied to the performance and understanding of Jazz. The third point Hanson outlines describes the concept in which Signifyin’ often occurs, especially in regards to the participants.
Signifying next unfolds within a specific interpretive frame established and recognized by participants… This is a discourse that is not to be understood directly. The interpretive frame of a signifying event is “keyed,” or announced, through such paralinguistic, syntactical, and lexical phenomena as intonation patterns, body movement, parallelism, and lexical choice.2
Essentially, Signifyin’ occurs within a clearly defined context. In relation to jazz, this setting would be something such as a jam session or performance. The performance would be the established frame and the participants are those who are performing within this frame. The annunciation of this event merely seeks to create space for participants to Signify in the actual performance and soloing that occurs within a Jazz performance. Such solos utilize patterns and parallelism in a similar way to that of human speech. A clear example of Signifyin’ occurs within Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five’s recording of “West End Blues.”3 While a typical performance would occur in a public setting such as a bar or club where the performers would be interacting with each other and the audience, this recording removes that live component as it is a studio recording. Alas, this is still an established reference frame as defined in the third point.
Furthermore, Hanson’s fourth and fifth points regarding Signifyin’ build on concepts that occur within the frame established by his third point. In his fourth point more specifically, he discusses the ways Signifyin’ is most impactful. “In many instances, signifying is judged to be most effective when it reaches both interlocutors and bystanders. Furthermore, people signify on one another’s prior or ongoing words and actions…”4 In the context of a jazz solo, Signifyin’ would be borrowing and expanding on another soloist’s musical ideas and making it their own. In the example of “West End Blues,”5 Armstrong imitates the clarinet’s musical ideas back with his voice from 1:23-1:33. He changes and expands on the ideas in his repetition and thus Signifies on the clarinet’s playing. In this case the interplay interacts with another performer, but in live settings would also affect the audience’s perception of the music, potentially causing some audience feedback, ultimately making the Signifyin’ more impactful. The interplay between Armstrong and the clarinet leads into the fifth part of Hanson’s definition — Signifyin’ relies on a form of call and response. From 1:23-1:33 of “West End Blues,”6 Armstrong and the clarinet engaged in a very clear form of call and response. This, however, is not always the case in jazz. Oftentimes, this call and response can occur between many different parts of the band including: the band and soloist, different sections of the band (i.e. high brass and reeds), the band and the audience, or any combination of different groups. “Typically, signifying involves interactional routines wherein an utterance calls for a response or set of responses containing an equal or better degree of indirection and wit.”7 This facet of Signifyin’ can be observed across all aspects of jazz music from written scores for big bands, to the rhythm section responding to soloists, to soloists responding to other soloists. Call and response is all over jazz. As such, some of the biggest names in jazz have utilized Signifyin’ in many ways across their music.
West End Blues was just one example of Louis Armstrong utilizing Signifyin’ in his playing. One could find examples of Signifyin’ in his or other jazz greats playing. Armstrong describes multiple instances of Signifyin’ in his autobiography Satchmo. In one example he depicts a form of Signifyin’ from when he was playing with another jazz great, Joe “King” Oliver
Joe and I developed a little system for the duet breaks. We did not have to write them down. I was so wrapped up in him and lived so closely to his music that I could follow his lead in a split second. No one could understand how we did it, but it was easy for us and we kept it up the whole evening.8
Armstrong Signified upon Oliver’s playing in a way that complimented Oliver in clear form of parallelism and by following his intonation pattern. As Hanson pointed out in his third point, parallelism and intonation patterns are important indicators of Signifyin’, and Armstrong describes using these techniques in following Oliver. Typically in a duet break the two instruments are playing in harmony (intonation pattern), and playing a complimentary rhythm (parallelism), thus making this event a form of Signifyin’. Armstrong and Oliver inadvertently employed the audience and rest of the band into their Signifyin’ due to sheer context of this occurring in a performance. Armstrong remarking, “No one could understand how we did it,”9 solidifies the interaction between the signifiers (Armstrong and Oliver), and bystanders, further fitting Hanson’s definition. All of this occurred within the context of a performance, hence keying this entire spectacle into the framework of Signifyin’.
Armstrong further contextualizes this performance in terms of Signifyin’ later in his account of this performance as he describes the way Oliver interacts with another musician Bill Johnson. “Finally, this musical horseplay broke up in a wild squabble between nurse and child, and the number would bring down the house with laughter and applause.”10 The “musical horseplay” Armstrong references is in fact Signifyin’ as he describes the way Oliver and Johnson play off each other in a way that is keyed in by the performance, likely utilizes some form of call and response, and is most certainly being judged by the audience. Call and response is an almost essential component to Signifyin’ in jazz, so much so that musicians will even play a game of call and response with themselves. Such a game can be heard in an Armstrong’s performances, such as his performance on “Hotter Than That.”11 From 0:25 to 0:35 Armstrong can be heard Signifyin’ with himself. Armstrong’s trumpet starts off with a solo break where he copies the rhythm of the rhythm section (straight quarter notes) before delving into his solo. By copying the rhythm section he is almost saying “listen to what I can do” before actually starting his solo. This opening statement fits Hanson’s third point regarding Signifyin’ as Armstrong grabs the listeners attention and focuses everyone on what he is about to do. He then goes on with the first statement of his solo. Armstrong introduces several rhythmic and melodic ideas, pauses for a couple beats, then responds to his own playing with a slight variation on the rhythm and melody. Not only does he respond but he goes on further. It is the classic concept of question and answer in music. The first statement is a question, and the second is a slight repetition and a longer answer that leads to another question. Armstrong masterfully plays both parts in this musical discussion and Signifies upon himself constantly in the process. He is playing call and response and changes his repeated ideas in a way that develops them into something new — Signifyin’ on his own ideas and responding to himself with more Signifyin’ in his responses. In just the first couple of phrases, Armstrong utilizes Signifyin’ all over his solo in “Hotter Than That” showing just how ingrained this concept is in the music of jazz. Armstrong’s autobiographies, and recordings demonstrate many parts of Signifyin’, as defined by Hanson, all over Armstrong’s playing. Comparing Signifyin’ with Armstrong shows just how ingrained this concept is to the foundation of jazz.
Louis Armstrong’s descriptions and performances help show just how important the concept of Signifyin’ is to jazz music. By understanding the basic concepts of Signifyin’, we can better understand jazz as a genre. The role of call and response, the reference frame used, and utilizing others ideas, along with audience participation helps paint a picture of why jazz exists the way it does. It is a community event more than a simple performance. It requires engagement and interaction to come to life in its truest sense and understanding the concepts of Signifyin’ just supports this understanding of the music.
- Paul Hanson, “Signifying, Concept Of,” Oxford African American Studies Center, April 27, 2010, https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.48037.
- Ibid.
- Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five, West End Blues, n.d., https://haverford.app.box.com/s/iyz7xo52u8b13ibf4hwnpxgjdpu0sz8v.
- Hanson, “Signifying, Concept Of.”
- Armstrong and His Hot Five, West End Blues.
- Ibid.
- Hanson, “Signifying, Concept Of.”
- Louis Armstrong, From Satchmo (1954), cited in Reading Jazz, ed. Robert Gottlieb (New York: Pantheon Books, 1996), 23.
- Armstrong, Satchmo. 23
- Ibid.
- Louis Armstrong, Hotter Than That, n.d., https://haverford.app.box.com/s/rh20d7enyexz8iywd7ly8f8mjdl8q2wj.
Works Cited
Armstrong, Louis. Satchmo. 1954, cited in Reading Jazz, ed Robert Gottlieb. New York, Pantheon Books, 1996.
Armstrong, Louis, and His Hot Five. n.d. West End Blues. https://haverford.app.box.com/s/iyz7xo52u8b13ibf4hwnpxgjdpu0sz8v.
Armstrong, Louis, and His Hot Five. n.d. West End Blues. https://haverford.app.box.com/s/iyz7xo52u8b13ibf4hwnpxgjdpu0sz8v.
Hanson, Paul. 2010. “Signifying, Concept Of.” Oxford African American Studies Center. April 27, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.48037.
