Wednesday, January 25, 2017

January 14, 2017

After finally negotiating a parking spot, your scribe and his alto rolled in shortly before the workshop participants were ready to play. Present were Sam (bass), Serdar (guitar), Jack D (trumpet), Carl (trombone) and Annie (vocals). Steve M (alto) joined the festivities a bit later.

Somehow, I got the first call, and opted for Broadway (I-61). Jack D, next around the circle, pulled out Long Ago and Far Away (I-251). I don’t believe we had ever played Carl’s choice, Bessie’s Blues (I-42). Annie took the next one, Easy Living (I-127). She and Carl then presented us with a fresh chart of Firm Brown Frame. Serdar is working on All The Things You Are (I-22), and invited us to work on it with him. Annie took another vocal, and worked on Hoagy Carmichael’s lovely but surprisingly confusing I Get Along Without You Very Well (II-174). Sam changed the tempo with Wes Montgomery’s West Coast Blues (I-436). Steve M pulled out an old standard, I Left My Heart In San Francisco (III-168). Annie had a good time with My Heart Belongs To Daddy (III-290).

Back around the circle, yours truly chose Pennies From Heaven (II-309).  Annie’s next vocal selection was When I Fall In Love (I-439). Jack D is always a fan of Bags’ Groove (II-30) by, of course, Bags. Sam interjected himself in the course of things by calling Softly As In A Morning Sunrise (II-395).  Back to Annie, we got caught up in Watch What Happens (II-413). Carl pulled out a favorite, Robbin’s Nest (II-330). Purely coincidentally, he swears, when I announced that I had to pack up, Steve M called Get Out Of Town (II-148). By the time I was ready to go, the crew was on to Annie singing I’ve Got The World On A String (III-189).

Participant Picks

Lou Rawls and Dianne Reeves, Fine Brown Frame

I Get Along Without You Very Well
Nina Simone
Diana Krall
Billie Holiday

Wes Montgomery, West Coast Blues

My Heart Belongs To Daddy
Eartha Kitt
Peggy Lee (Double-Time feel)
Julie London (in ¾)

John Coltrane, Bessie’s Blues
It sounds so different when he plays it…

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