You've Got To Be Modernistic by James P. Johnson

Much has been said of the hugely important contribution James P. Johnson has made to the legacy of jazz piano, let alone to American music. Of the day, he was a prolific songwriter and one of the big three (what was to become known as ‘stride’) pianists of Harlem, the other two being Willie “the Lion” Smith and Johnson’s own protégé, Fats Waller. I highly recommend reading up on James P. Johnson’s amazing life and prolific musical output.

This performance of You’ve Got To Be Modernistic (or just Modernistic in its published sheet music form) is an extraordinarily virtuosic example of stride piano and for me demonstrates James P. at the peak of his powers.

The piece consists of three main sections A, B, and C, with A and B containing material that was probably considered the “modernistic sound” of the title. It features a “whole tone”-inspired introduction and bridge, a playful, bluesy melody incorporating thirds and bluesy clusters culminating in a quirky, off-beat, chromatically ascending sequence of altered chords in the A section and a B section featuring boisterous chromatically descending major/dominant 7th chords. The third section C, features a more standard though highly rousing chord sequence that Johnson repeats and intensifies in blues-iness and rhythmic variation over seven choruses demonstrating his boundless improvisatory creativity and virtuosity.

Interestingly, a couple of instrumental versions were recorded the previous year, complete with lyrics giving tips to the listener on how to become more “modernistic”. James P. plays in the band for both of these with one including Fats Waller on second piano!

“If you want to be modernistic, Don’t be getting too futuristic,

Just keep it up realistic, Cos it’s the one and the only rhythm.

If you want to be modernistic, You’ve got to be optimistic,

Then you’re sure to be characteristic, modernistic, that’s all.”

These are the notes as best as I can determine but always refer to the recording for the ultimate performance reference. Notes that are ambiguous or intended or barely audible or generalised for notation purposes by me are in brackets. Rather than attempting to play note for note, use this transcription as a guide to create your own version and interpretation.

Here is the original performance:

https://youtu.be/5F75Pqq7Lj0?si=07fXQNpO9D-l9YuJ

Here is the instrumental version featuring a vocal harmony trio and Fats Waller on second piano:

https://youtu.be/hn2J3D1jVEA?si=YEsIQ3rzKjMca7Qx

Here is another instrumental version led by Clarence Williams with Eva Taylor on vocals:

https://youtu.be/mI_EDMBdzMQ?si=LB5G6PIZKoYPYS_p

Youtube.com noteman