Ja-Da
Encyclopedia
"Ja-Da" was a hit song written in 1918
by Bob Carleton (surname is often misspelled as Carlton). The title is sometimes rendered as "Jada." Ja-Da has flourished through the decades as a jazz standard
.
Carleton penned the 16-bar tune when he was club pianist in Illinois and first popularized it with singer Cliff Edwards
. The sheet music for "Ja-Da" was published in 1918
by Leo Feist, Inc., New York. The tune was briefly famous, and then spent 35 years as a well-known standard.
In his definitive American Popular Songs, Alec Wilder
writes about the song's simplicity:
1918 in music
-Events:* March 3 - Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 2 is premiered in Budapest* May 24 - Béla Bartók's opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle is premiered in Budapest.*April 30/May 1 - Toivo Kuula is mortally wounded in the Finnish Civil War....
by Bob Carleton (surname is often misspelled as Carlton). The title is sometimes rendered as "Jada." Ja-Da has flourished through the decades as a jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
.
Carleton penned the 16-bar tune when he was club pianist in Illinois and first popularized it with singer Cliff Edwards
Cliff Edwards
Cliff Edwards , also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and voice actor who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number-one hit with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1929...
. The sheet music for "Ja-Da" was published in 1918
1918 in music
-Events:* March 3 - Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 2 is premiered in Budapest* May 24 - Béla Bartók's opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle is premiered in Budapest.*April 30/May 1 - Toivo Kuula is mortally wounded in the Finnish Civil War....
by Leo Feist, Inc., New York. The tune was briefly famous, and then spent 35 years as a well-known standard.
In his definitive American Popular Songs, Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder was an American composer.-Biography:...
writes about the song's simplicity:
Selected renditions of Ja-Da
- Player piano rollPiano rollA piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. A piano roll is a continuous roll of paper with perforations punched into it. The peforations represent note control data...
, Vocalstyle Company, #11302. Vodvil Series, as played by Cliff Hess - 19181918 in music-Events:* March 3 - Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 2 is premiered in Budapest* May 24 - Béla Bartók's opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle is premiered in Budapest.*April 30/May 1 - Toivo Kuula is mortally wounded in the Finnish Civil War....
— Original New Orleans Jazz BandOriginal New Orleans Jazz BandThe Original New Orleans Jazz Band was one of the first jazz bands to make recordings. Composed of mostly New Orleans musicians, the band was popular in New York City in the late 1910s.... - 19191919 in music-Events:*July 22 - The Ballets Russes gives the world premiere of Manuel de Falla's ballet El sombrero de tres picos in London.*August - Josef Matthias Hauer devises his own twelve-tone technique of composition....
— Arthur FieldsArthur FieldsArthur Fields was a United States singer and songwriter.He was born Abraham Finkelstein in Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but grew up mainly in Utica, New York. He became a professional singer as a youngster...
with Billy MurrayBilly Murray (singer)William Thomas "Billy" Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century... - 19381938 in music-Events:*January 16**Benny Goodman plays the first jazz concert at Carnegie Hall.**Béla Bartók's Sonata for two pianos and percussion is premiered in Basel....
— Tommy LadnierTommy LadnierThomas J. "Tommy" Ladnier was an American jazz trumpeter. Clarinetist/writer Mezz Mezzrow rated him second only to Louis Armstrong....
and Sidney BechetSidney BechetSidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.He was one of the first important soloists in jazz , and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist... - 19451945 in music-Events:*The Motion Picture Daily Fame Poll designates Bing Crosby "Top Male Vocalist" for the ninth straight year.*July 26 - Composer Ernest John Moeran marries cellist Peers Coetmore.*August 19 - Dick Powell marries June Allyson....
— Bunk JohnsonBunk JohnsonWillie Gary "Bunk" Johnson was a prominent early New Orleans jazz trumpet player in the early years of the 20th century who enjoyed a revived career in the 1940s....
and Don EwellDon EwellDon Ewell was an American jazz stride pianist born in Baltimore, Maryland, perhaps best known for his work with several prominent New Orleans–based musicians such as Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory, George Lewis, George Brunis, Muggsy Spanier and Bunk Johnson.From 1956 to 1962, Ewell was a leading member... - 19471947 in music-Events:*August 7 – Carlo Bergonzi makes his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème at the Arena Argentina in Catania.*October – Enrico De Angelis leaves Quartetto Cetra to join the army...
— Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
& Peggy LeePeggy LeePeggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and... - 19471947 in music-Events:*August 7 – Carlo Bergonzi makes his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème at the Arena Argentina in Catania.*October – Enrico De Angelis leaves Quartetto Cetra to join the army...
— Muggsy SpanierMuggsy SpanierFrancis Joseph Julian "Muggsy" Spanier was a prominent cornet player based in Chicago. He was renowned as the best trumpet/cornet in Chicago until Bix Beiderbecke entered the scene.... - 19541954 in music-Events:*January 14 - First documented use of the abbreviated term "Rock 'n' Roll" to promote Alan Freed's Rock 'n' Roll Jubillee, held at St. Nicholas Arena in New York, New York...
— Big Chief Jazzband (on the 78 rpm record His Master's Voice A.L. 3401) - 19581958 in music-Events:*February - 45,000 peoplein one week watch performances of "rokabirī" music by Japanese singers at the first Nichigeki Western Carnival....
— Ted Heath OrchestraTed Heath (bandleader)Ted Heath, musician and big band leader, led Britain's greatest post-war big band recording more than 100 albums and selling over 20 million records... - Al HirtAl HirtAl Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...
- Oscar PetersonOscar PetersonOscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
- Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
- Al JarreauAl JarreauAlwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
- Hot TunaHot TunaHot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
as "Keep On Truckin'" - Bobby HackettBobby HackettRobert Leo "Bobby" Hackett was an US jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet and guitar with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in the late thirties and early forties.-Biography:...
- God-des and SheGod-Des and SheGod-Des and She are a hip-hop/pop/soul duo from the Midwest.Since they appeared on the Showtime hit series The L Word in 2006, they have sold more than 30,000 albums and toured the world....
- Scott WalkerScott Walker (singer)Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...
chorus sung in song "Psoriatic" from 2006's The DriftThe Drift- Personnel :* Scott Walker – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Sax, Sound Treatment* Hugh Burns – Guitar* Ian Thomas – Drums* Mark Warman – Keyboards, Orchestration, Conducting, Percussion, Woodwind, Sound Treatment* Philip Sheppard – Orchestration, Conducting, Cello... - Sonny RollinsSonny RollinsTheodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
're-invented it' using the Ja-Da chords for his composition "DoxyDoxy (song)"Doxy" is an early composition by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins. It first appeared on the 1954 Miles Davis album Bags' Groove, performed by Davis on trumpet, Rollins on tenor saxophone, Horace Silver on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums. When Rollins eventually established his...
" in 1954.
Rendition used in comedy
- In the 1970s, the song was appropriated by the Canadian comedy duo Maclean and Maclean, who recorded it as their signature piece, with bawdy lyrics added.