The Workshop began the new year at the Hook and Ladder with a good turnout. Yours truly was the last to turn up, just before the official 3:00 start time. Sam (bass), Annie (vocals), Carl (trombone), Serdar (guitar) Steve M. (alto), Jack D. (trumpet), Jim D. (clarinet and alto), and Wes (tenor) were already there.
Carl got the first call with Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West (Real Book II-408). Going clockwise around the circle, Annie went next with Blame It On My Youth (II-51). Serdar got the next call, going with All Of Me (I-20). Sam pulled something out of his bag and passed it around, a blues called BR2. Back to the vocals, Annie reached into Carousel for the beautiful ballad, If I Loved You; somehow, though, it turned into a mid-tempo swing that worked surprisingly well. Donna Lee (I-123) was next, chosen, of course, by Wes. Another vocal for Annie, this time I Get Along Without You Very Well (II-174)--again, a bit swingier than usual, because Annie is afraid we'd all fall asleep during the solos. I got the next call, pulling out a tune I hadn't heard in years, but spotted in the book this morning: Aquellos Ojos Verdes, better known to America as the Jimmy Dorsey/Helen O'Connell/Bob Eberly hit Green Eyes (III-25). Jim D. flipped around for a few pages until he settled on Black Orpheus (I-49). Annie wanted to do Lover (II-256) as a standard swing tune, but it was in the book in 3/4, so we stayed with that, once we found a satisfactory tempo. Jack picked the Miles Davis classic Solar (I-363). Steve M changed the mood entirely with the old Mama Cass Elliot favorite, Dream A Little Dream Of Me (I-124). Annie wanted things to get a little smoky with The Glory Of Love (III-131); we tried, but I don't know how successful we were. Finally back around to Carl's pick, we played the Charlie Parker tune, Little Suede Shoes (II-282). Our last full song, which we had to do without benefit of a bass, was Serdar's choice, Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise (II-355). In the last five minutes, we started to play some Basin Street Blues as Sam packed up, but others started to leave as well, so we closed up the workshop for another week.
Participant Picks
Sam
Interlochen Arts Academy 2015
At Sea
Living
Steve H
Green Eyes
Xavier Cugat
Jimmy Dorsey, Helen O’Connell, Bob Eberly
Zoot Sims/ Bucky Pizzarelli
Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
Enjoy.
--SJH
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