Review

Nathaniel C. Davis
Miss Trombonism: A Slippery Tune (1918)

Arranged by Aaron Hettinga

Trombone and piano.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2020
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and solo part.

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

Born in Tennessee in 1888, Nathaniel Cleophas “Shorty” Davis was a trombonist, composer educator, bandleader, and the owner of N.C. Davis Music Company. He enlisted as a musician with the U.S. Army and was placed in the 368th Infantry Regiment during World War I. Davis is perhaps best known today for composing a series of ragtime pieces for trombone which were published via his own company as well as those of C.G. Conn and Carl Fischer.

Originally written for trombone and band, Aaron Hettinga made this marvelous arrangement of Miss Trombonism for trombone with piano accompaniment. It features a plethora of glissandi and syncopation in a fun, ragtime style similar to that of Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton. With a range that spans from F to f¹, this is a widely accessible piece. Miss Trombonism is written as a march and trio, similar to most rags of the era.

While it is impossible to review this without commenting on the surrounding controversy, this piece will inevitably and unfairly be compared to the well known Henry Fillmore Trombone Family rags. For anyone wishing to right that historical wrong, Nathaniel Davis’s rags, including Miss Trombonism, will certainly provide the opportunity to perform a similar sounding work by a talented African American composer of the same era. However, it is also my sincere opinion that this is a work that deserves to be more widely known and performed in its own right. Nathaniel Davis was a gifted musician who admirably served his country in an era when his doing so was mostly invisible to the broader public. His music has and will always deserve wider recognition.