LAYLA

A great song is one that translates to other styles. Some styles are more natural than others. But as Eric Clapton has made his way through life playing one of his most famous songs in a variety of ways the one constant is the slowing down of the tempo.

Tempo

Slowing a tempo helps an arranger get inside the tune and avoid cliche.

Feel

Eric Clapton joined forces with another giant, Wynton Marsalis, the champion of Afro-American classical traditions. The instrumentation of the ensemble is an effective blend with the electric guitar.

With the opening introduction you get the sense that Eric Clapton is a tad nervous and his solo comes across that way as well. All in all the band has a deliberate approach to playing the tune: not too raucous, and keep the feel.

Of all the versions I have heard of Layla this is my favorite. The choice of instruments suits it well and you get a sense of what the song is all about musically and lyrically.

Styles

Since the birth of the blues, jazz and ragtime American music has flourished with innovation. Its evolution from the 1890s lead it through explosions of stylistic variations, and for the first sixty years this stream of music was immensely popular. After the second world war there came a slow movement away from jazz and blues, though it had gained a wider international audience.

By today’s standards jazz and blues has become a classic music that refines what has come before to uphold its great tradition. So we as an audience get to see and hear the giants revisiting the best examples of the music, often in collaboration with other giants in and outside of the style.