| The Charleston | |
|---|---|
| Dance tune by James P. Johnson | |
&sq=engine&lang=en&file=File:Charleston_rhythm.png) "Charleston" rhythm[1] | |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Style | Stride piano |
| Text | by Cecil Mack |
| Composed | 1923 |
| Premiere | |
| Date | October 29, 1923 |
| Location | New Colonial Theatre, New York |
"The Charleston" is a jazz composition that was written to accompany the Charleston dance. It was composed in 1923, with lyrics by Cecil Mack and music by James P. Johnson, a composer and early leader of the stride piano school of jazz piano.
The song was featured in the American black Broadway musical comedy show Runnin' Wild, which had its premiere at the New Colonial Theatre in New York on October 29, 1923.[2][3] The music of the dockworkers from South Carolina inspired Johnson to compose the music. The dance known as the Charleston came to characterize the times. Lyrics, though rarely sung (an exception is Chubby Checker's 1961 recording), were penned by Cecil Mack, himself one of the most accomplished songwriters of the early 1900s. The song's driving rhythm, basically the first bar of a 3 2 clave, came to have widespread use in jazz comping and musicians still reference it by name.[4] Harmonically, the song features a five-chord ragtime progression (I-III7-VI7-II7-V7-I).[5]
Recordings of The Charleston from 1923 entered the public domain in the United States in 2024.[6]
- ^ Sharp, Duke (2006). Garage Band Theory, p.305. ISBN 9780976642008.
- ^ Runnin' Wild
- ^ "Charleston | dance". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- ^ Hughes, Fred (2002). The Jazz Pianist: Left Hand Voicings and Chord Theory, p.6. ISBN 9780757993152.
- ^ Weissman, Dick (2001). Songwriting: The Words, the Music and the Money, p.59. ISBN 9780634011603. and Weissman, Dick (1085). Basic Chord Progressions: Handy Guide, p.28. ISBN 9780882844008.
- ^ Jenkins, Jennifer (January 1, 2024). "Public Domain 2024". Duke. Retrieved January 1, 2024.