Wednesday, March 1, 2017

February 25, 2017

We'll be getting together again this coming weekend, March 4, at TowerLight, 36th and Wooddale in St. Louis Park.

An odd Workshop this past week, one without vocalists. Sam (bass), Serdar (guitar), Steve M and Steve H (altos), Jack D and Jack K (trumpets) were in attendance. 

We kicked things off with my own choice, Oscar Pettiford's Blues in the Closet (II-61). Sam looked back a page and decided to make us work ("It's a Workshop!") on Blues for Wood (II-60). Steve M pulled out the classic I'm Confessin' (II-185). Serdar was set up by the time we got to our next tune, Comin' Home Baby (II-89), Jack D's pick. Jack K went with one of his favorites, Time After Time (III-408). Back to me again, we played East of the Sun (III-104). Serdar got us all in a mellow and grateful mood with What A Wonderful World (III-431). Sam looked back a page again, and we took up What A Diff'rence A Day Made (III-430). Steve M. thought we might have some fun with the deceptively tricky Let's Face The Music And Dance (III-238). Jack D called I Remember You (II-179). We followed that with the warm My Ideal (III-292), Jack K's choice. 

Around to yours truly again, we changed tempo with Bernie's Tune (III-39). Serdar, liking to get in at good bossa every now and then, requested Quizas, Quizas, Quizas (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps) (III-329). Sam turned us in another direction with Miles Davis' All Blues (I-18). Steve M asked whether any of us knew You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me (I-458), which none of us thought we knew until we heard the tune. Jack D made his final call Birth Of The Blues (II-49).

The Jacks (D and K) both had to pull up stakes at this point, so we had some rhythm and a couple of altos for the rest of the time. My turn, so I called an immortal that I had yet to hear us do at the Workshop, Hoagy Carmichael's Stardust ((II-367). Serdar opted for Look For The Silver Lining (II-249). You never know what Sam will come up with; this time it was Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum (I-139). Steve M, with an encyclopedia of great standards in his head, called for S'Posin' (II-376). This time it was my turn to look back a page, only it was a page in front of Sam's pick: Falling In Love With Love (I-138), with it's nice 3/4 time. We were running up against 3:00 by now, but took on one last tune, St. Thomas (II-339).

Participant Picks


Johnny Smith, Kaleidoscope (Album, 1967)

Woody Shaw, Blues For Wood (1981)

Oscar Pettiford, Blues In The Closet (1953)

S’Posin’
Fats Waller

Doris Day

Miles Davis

Enjoy!

--SJH

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