The set up of the ensemble would have been:
Brass – trumpet and trombone
Reed – clarinet
Rhythm – piano, banjo, drums
This piece starts with a solo trumpet (Armstrong) playing six bars of syncopated, rubato arpeggios and broken chords in the key of Eb major using the blue notes of the key which are F# and Db.
The main 12 bar blues starts with a swung rhythm played by the trumpet and clarinet whilst the trombone plays a simple harmony. The piano provides
the beat to the piece using a steady right hand harmony
of blocked chords, with the tonic note in the left hand.
There is not much variation in the rhythm or chord structure throughout the piece. This produces the notes of the 12–bar structure. In bar 18, the percussion changes to a syncopated ‘clip clop’ sound (suggested to be milk bottles) This is played for 12 bars with the melody from the trombone whereas all other instruments provide additional harmonies. At bar 31, Louis Armstrong sings a vocal ‘scat’; here he tries to imitate the sounds of the instruments. The accompaniment is then passed to the clarinet, giving a dark, mystical sound by playing in the Chalumeau register. In bar 42, a piano solo begins; this is played in a ‘stride’ style splitting the harmonies between high and low bass notes. The final 12 bars return to the piano accompaniment, whilst the trombone, clarinet and trumpet play an Eb chord for 4 bars. The blues are concluded by the trumpet playing a 4 bar syncopated rhythm followed by a 3 bar solo piano break. The last 3 bars slow down with blue chords from the piano below the trumpet.