Sunset Waltz is one of a handful of tunes recorded by members of the seminal African-American string band the Mississippi Sheiks under the name the Mississippi Mud Steppers. There are six known sides attributed to the group, and, curiously in an era of strict racial segregation, they were released in OKeh’s 45000 ‘Hillbilly’ series. Whether this was due to an unusual level of foresight or merely a clerical error is unknown.
The tune itself is wonderful, and unusual in many respects:
- The 24-bar structure
- The use of the parallel minor (Bb)
- The shift from the IV chord (Eb) to the III7 (D)
- The use of C minor in bar 21 as part of a ii V7 I progression rather than the standard ragtime II7 V7 I
Modern performers who play this tune often substitute Bb diminished for Bb minor.
Sunset Waltz
The Mississippi Mudsteppers was a psedonym that the record company used for recordings by the highly successful Mississippi Sheiks a Black Mississippi Blues band used for records that they could market to white record buyers and outlets as white old time music, disguising that the recording was made by Black musicians. As a rule, the record company felt waltzes and other formal not old time, non blues, dances would sell better to white customers and could be marketed as white music by using a separate name, especially since the Mississippi Sheiks were one of the most popular African American Blues groups