Too Many Interests, Too Little Time

No, not that kind of methodology; this is yet another tune, the most recent one I’ve written (as of now), it so happens.

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I wrote this in 2004, long after I’d written anything else (mid-/late-90s). While I wasn’t thinking in these terms at the time, it’s basically a mutant C minor blues. I’ve never played this with a group; I could see playing it as a straight-ahead blues, playing the spelled-out harmony, 12-bar aharmonic “free improv”, or maybe something modal. I look forward to hearing what a group might do with this.

I’ve thought about pruning a few notes here and there in the interest of making it more up-tempo friendly, but that’s a little way off at the moment.

[This is the first of a collection of original jazz tunes written over maybe the past two decades. These versions are just one or two choruses, mostly arranged for piano trio, sometimes with horns, written in and played back using Finale, Garritan Personal Orchestra and the Kontakt player.]

This is a fairly standard blues shuffle with a slight twist. It was inspired by “Blues,” a track at the end of Wynton Marsallis’ Black Codes from Underground, the opening notes of which (La-Do) I basically used as the tune’s motif.

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The Story Behind This Tune

A friend had a copy of a book by Dave Liebman: I can’t remember the title, but I recall the subject being somewhat esoteric, at least from a judge-book-by-cover perspective. One day, he lost it and kept asking, “Has anyone seen mah Leebmn?” pronouncing his name in just that way. So I named the tune after him (them?). Voila.

My daughter (almost 5 years old as I write this) really likes this tune; in fact, she’s said more than once that it’s her favorite, even above Green Day’s music, which is her favorite band these days. So it seems apt to post this first.

Lead sheets forthcoming…

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