DESCRIPTION:
Lorraine Feather and Stephanie Trick rehearse James P. Johnson's "Caprice Rag," a.k.a. "Pour on the Heat," with lyrics by Lorraine Feather. NOUVEAU STRIDE is a special touring program featuring the music of James P. Johnson and other stride piano composers, set to words and sung by 2011 Grammy nominee lyricist and vocalist Lorraine Feather, and on piano, Stephanie Trick. For more information, see http://www.nouveaustride.com, http://www.lorrainefeather.com, or http://stephanietrick.com. Recorded in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 27, 2011.

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Lyrics for "Pour on the Heat"

Writing a song about stride piano
Isn't all that easy to do.
You gotta dive in,
But where to begin?
The mere idea might frighten you.
Writing lyrics to stride music,
You're in trouble right away!
It's fast and busy,
It'll make you dizzy,
Spitting out what you need to say,

But I'm smitten with stride piano.
I believe I'll give it a go.
Start with something informational,
Educational! Like so:

The term "stride piano" came from the way in which the pianist's left hand would "stride" up and down the keyboard.

It was hot,
Took some chops.
Whole new sound.
Granny, getcha little chin off the ground!
Let's all jive!

The record companies shied away from early jazz.
They called it
"Race music."
Soon they caved,
Madly raved
With the rest,
They'd invest
In a few young lions,
Make the whole world wise about the key guys
Who were pourin' on the heat.

Nowadays, you've got a few girls pourin' on the heat. That's right. Well ... not that many. Stephanie. How many? She's busy. Anyway, next in the song I'll mention some of the famous titles ...

"The Viper's Drag,"
"Tiger Rag,"
"Sister Kate,"
Tunes that got ya goin' out of the gate.
No debate,
There was living lightning
In the dazzling runs
Of all the young guns
Who were pourin' on the heat.

Writing a song about stride piano
Isn't really a breeze to do.
Slow going, but
You know what?
Soon I had a thought or two.
Maybe talk about how you do it—
Startin' out with a lower C,
Up an octave, C-E-G,
Then the G to the right of the initial C.

C, C, E, G,
Pinky on the low G, then C!
Four beat, repeat,
Baby, you're home free!
Soon you'll try picking up some speed,
And the neighbors
May pound until their knuckles bleed.
They'll holler "Pleeeease,
Stop that infernal racket!"
As you miss the notes time after time.
"Hey, I'm learning, man, is that such a crime?"
Now come on fingers do your stuff,
Get it movin'!
Although it's punishingly tough,
You're improvin',
Slowly, slowly
Then late one night, you get it right,
It comes together, and suddenly you're all:

Da da da da da da da da da da da da da (etc. etc.)

Now you know you can play stride,
Even though you about died,
And this song is about you
And the torture you went through.
Head on down to the piano bar,
Start off with "All the Things You Are,"
Then a little ditty by James P,
Show 'em you can pour on the heat.

You're steamin'!
Ev'ry barfly screamin'!
You're a virtuoso!
In a year the whole darn world will know so!

That's my song about stride piano:
Part 1) The basics
Part 2) The crucible
Part 3) The victory

Might put a few words on the off-beats,
Just to show I can.

And then I'll "bring it"
Every time I sing it.
Four beat!
Repeat!
See if we can pour on the heat!