Wednesday, January 6, 2016

January 2, 2016

Happy New Year!

The stalwarts braved our first good cold Saturday of the winter to play some jazz: Sam on bass, Gene and Tom on drums, Steve M and Steve H on altos, Wes on tenor, Jim (after a long hiatus) on piano, Serdar on guitar, Carl on trombone, and Annie bringing the vocals.

Steve M started the new year right with That Old Feeling (III-393). Sam followed up with My Ideal (III-282). Steve H thought a touch of the old sod would be lucky, and called for Jersey Bounce (III-223). We turned next to Wes for a pick, and he was ready with Lullaby of Birdland (I-256). Tom was looking just to swing a bit, and called for C-Jam Blues (II-74). We went to a middling lope with Sam's next pick, Java Jive (III-222). Jack sent up a few trial balloons before finally settling on Pennies From Heaven (II-309), throwing in a vocal for good measure. Gene actually landed on one we had in the books on the first try: Whisper Not (II-422). Serdar was all set up by this point, and when we turned to him for a choice, he confessed he had a soft spot for Besame Mucho (III-42). Steve M went next, and went mid-tempo to keep us from crying on Who Can I Turn To? (III-423). By the time we got back to yours truly, Annie's mic was plugged in and ready for a version of On The Sunny Side Of The Street (II-298).

With the vocal portion beginning, Annie chose a swingy version of Make Someone Happy (II-258), followed by a sweet ballad, The Folks Who Live On The Hill (II-137). For an instrumental break, Wes picked Flying Home (II-136)--not quite at Benny Goodman speed, but we kept it moving. Annie next pulled out an amusing Cole Porter tune not in the books, Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love. Next we took on On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (III-308).

It was only 2:00 when I had to check out, but I suspect some good tunes were played over the course of the next hour.

Auld Lang Syne
Here’s a weird mix of people performing the staple New Year’s Tune.

Kenny G

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Rod Stewart

James Taylor

Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians

A random bluegrass version

Bing Crosby

Enjoy!
--SJH

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