Those of you who are not familiar with the workings of the Minneapolis Jazz Workshop in the Park (and I find it hard to believe that anyone reading this blog is unfamiliar; I mean, why would anyone else be reading this? But just in case…) might not be aware that our basic modus operandi is to sit in a circle, and going clockwise, have each person call a tune from the first three volumes of The Real Book. That person also gets the first solo after we play down the song. Everyone gets a chance to solo unless it's a singer's pick, and then the singer gets to decide how many solos there will be.
For reasons mysterious, we spent almost our entire session this week in Volume I. The players this week were Sam on bass, Gene on drums, Jack on trumpet, both Steves on their respective altos, Wes on tenor, and Greg on guitar. One of our number asked that I list the volume and page number along with the song title. Why not?
Jack got things started with the immortal Misty (I, 277). Steve M. liked the look of the tune on the preceding page, Mr. P.C. (I, 276). Sam called Out of Nowhere (I, 318). Settling into the volume I groove, Greg turned to Thou Swell (I, 411). I had been thinking about The Blue Room (I, 53) for a few days, so that was next. Back to Jack, we next covered Black Orpheus (I, 49). Steve M. liked the look of How High the Moon (I, 180), sneaking a bit of Ornithology into his solo for good measure. We decided to go over the arrangement of Old Devil Moon we are considering playing at a future performance (though you can also find it in II, 297). Steve M. had to cut out for a gig. Wes, who had still been setting up on his last turn, finally got a chance, and chose his recording pick from last week, Groovin' High (I, 166). Sam thought we needed another Latin tune, and pulled out Blue Bossa (I, 50). Gene, after calling for three songs that were not in any of our volumes his first time around, finally landed on Bill Evans' Waltz for Debby (I, 432). Jack had to get to other things; Greg being off on a break left me to ask for It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing (I, 224). Gene asked for another shot, and requested Let's Get Lost (II, 238). A very interesting and tricky version of Moanin' (II, 270) was Wes' choice. Greg, having missed his last turn, was granted leave to pick It Could Happen to You (II, 204). Sam, always looking to stretch us, chose Wayne Shorter's Footprints (I, 144). I took us back to the familiar: Easy to Love (I, 128). Closing us out, Wes called for Blues for Alice (I, 55).
This week's Good Listening picks by our participants
Gene: Louis Armstrong performs West End Blues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WPCBieSESI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw0rVXblI6g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f76JGCG_WU
Steve H.: One of the best big band numbers of all, if you get the right recording, is Tommy Dorsey's Opus One, with its surprising combination of sweet sounds and hard swing.
--SJH
