Too Many Interests, Too Little Time

For your consideration, my arrangement of Billy Strayhorn’s Chelsea Bridge:

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In working on this tune, it really hit home how digging into a tune opens up the possibilities. I was conscious of using unconventional voicings where possible (mostly in the bridge (!)), and many nice opportunities presented themselves, especially the last half of the bridge.

Near the front of the queue: John Coletrane’s Naima. I’m pretty excited about the possibilities with that tune, though I’m a little daunted by the prospect of opening up improvisationally; but then I was rather daunted by the mere prospect, maybe even less than a year ago, of just getting a solo set into shape. So there you go: be daunted, move on.

I’m also working on my own Not Again, with a canned bass line accompaniment. Not entirely canned: I wrote out a full four choruses in Finale, adding in articulation to make it sound plausibly real. I’m not displeased: it’s missing something that would otherwise be in a live player’s performance; and it has a few things that I’m sure are not in fact detrimental (e.g., predictability). Certainly a means to an end; but an end in itself? We’ll see…

Here’s a rough take of an original, Room for One:

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The tune had its genesis in my Jazz Composition classes at The Grove School: they were part of the Composing and Arranging Program, but I took them between starting CAP and finishing my guitar term, as I had all the harmony requirements done (and when I took CAP, having done composition allowed me some room for ensembles and improv classes).

The composition process just started with that minor 9 chord and the first two notes of the melody, and grew from there. I don’t think I ever finished it for hand-in as a completed assignment, but liked it enough to finish later, as I digested all the harmonic and compositional knowledge I got at Grove. I recall the bridge never being satisfactory, not until a few years later when I was at Westmont. I played it as part of my Faculty Recital, pretty much as it is now, though the last motif in the bridge descended instead of ascended.

A couple of years after that, I wrote lyrics for it; which I plan to publish here, once I get one rough spot I’ve never been happy with ironed out. Maybe I’ll look for a singer who can help me do a decent demo. I tried it myself, but… meh.

While I’m happy with this take, I’d really like to polish up the feel and phrasing (some subtle things that bug me). I’d also like to explore alternate voicings and reharmonization, but those are features of the perpetual work-in-progress.

OK, finally got a decent take (with a touch of editing) of my solo arrangement of Darn That Dream:

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I’m recording through a GT-10 directly via USB into Audacity on my laptop. I’m pretty pleased with the sound for now: A JC-120 amp model, a touch of limiter, a touch of chorus, a touch of modulated delay, a touch of reverb, and I think that’s it (it’s a tweaked version of the stock “Clean Jazz” sound; at least I think that’s what it was called). Playing through the neck pickup on my Parker Fly with the volume and tone wide open. I’d love to try this with some Holdsworthian shimmery reverb, but not sure the GT-10 will do it subtly enough.

The one thing I’ll say about the tune from an arranging/orchestrating/harmonizing perspective: it’s a study in half-step slides. While I used them at quite possibly every opportunity, I myself don’t get a beaten-over-the-head feeling from it. It just seems to be the logic of the tune.

Presently working on Chelsea Bridge and my own Room For One; kinda working on Wayne Shorter’s Fall as well, but I think it’ll be a long work-in-progress to figure out what to do with it in a solo setting, besides repeat the head over and over.

I wrote this during my first term at Westmont College (Spring ’92), a fairly productive period for me. One of my favorites of my tunes to this day.

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It got a lot of play the following year, including Westmont’s bid at the Berkeley Jazz Festival. I originally specified in the A section, if memory serves, a chromatically descending bass line from iiimin7-bIII7-iimin7-bII7 to the phrygian tonic, but I think I like the cycle of fifths movement from tritone subbing the dominants: it feels stronger and more organic to me to think that way, at least from the bass perspective.

I like this tune in no small part because of the way the rhythmic irregularity in the bridge worked out as organically as it did (though for improvisation, I specify a straight-ahead 8 bar section). In my experience, however limited, surprising and interesting details are most prone to emerge from composing when you’re not striving to be surprising or interesting.

The title doesn’t have to do with World of Warcraft or anything else along those lines (I doubt “Warcraft” even existed as a glimmer in its developers’ eyes at the time). I originally called it “No Mail” after the phenomenon of going to Westmont’s mailboxes, only to find your own empty. But I thought it’d be mighty clever to follow Wynton Marsallis’s homophonic example a la Knozz-Moe-King (but with actual words).

Hilarity ensued.

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 my obligatory rhythm changes tune. Does it need any commentary?

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Sure!

I wrote this summer of ’93, before my last year at college. I originally called it “Rhythmism,” but ended up thinking that was lame; so I changed it to the present title when I was in Cincinnati. At the time, I was temping full-time for work: the mood of the tune struck me as somehow fitting for the life of a temp.

Following in the tradition of jazz waltzes dedicated to a female, I wrote this during my year in Ohio (late ’95/early ’96) after being snubbed by a woman in whom I’d expressed considerable interest (yes, to her; yes I did ask her out). It’s an involved story — though an amusing one, in hindsight — which I’ll avoid retelling; but suffice to say I felt appropriately devastated by her rejection at the time. Such have often been apt conditions for my muse to decide to show up.

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I wanted to write something with “fusiony” and “poignant” changes and a slightly irregular form. I recall the tune grew pretty organically — the quadruplet rhythmic figures included — from this “mandate” combined with the initial four-note motif. It’s one of my favorite of my tunes; though I’ve yet to play it with a group.

As the original woman who served as the impetus for this tune has not been in my life since early in my Ohio residency, beyond hazy and infrequent memories, I decided to rechristen it and dedicate it to my daughter.

[You might observe that I'm a bit fond -- overfond, perhaps -- of major7#5 chords. Dick Grove used to refer to them as "25-cent chords." In a way I see what he means; and maybe they do serve a purpose similar to that served by polysylabs for English majors. At worst, I think, they're good for the musical equivalent of trolling.]

I wrote this tune late ’95/early ’96: I don’t remember exactly when, but it was during my brief stay in Cincinnati, OH. It arose from playing the first two notes harmonized with minor triads (G min – F min), while imagining John Scofield’s growly tone. At the time, I had his group with Joe Lovano, Bill Stewart and Dennis Erwin very much in my head, so perhaps it has a bit of that spirit (though I feel it’s a bit less so on the bridge).

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I think this is one of my more lyrical melodies, but my muse has always excused itself whenever I’ve attempted to put words to it. I welcome any songwriters, budding or experienced, to make a try. Remember that this is licensed under Creative Commons 3.0; so just mention me as the composer, if you have occasion to, and otherwise have at it! If it helps – or more likely doesn’t help! – I’ve always imagined the last 3 notes of the 2nd A section going with “not a-gain”; and whenever I think of the first 4 notes of the first A, I still reflexively think “It’s not ea-sy” (which feels a bit awkward to sing; but maybe that’s a good thing). That’s about all I got.

I don’t properly remember the genesis of this tune, except that I wrote it in 1994 (with some modifications somewhat later). The form on this recording is ABCA (the C section is for blowing): the few times I actually performed this had an extended form as ABCAB [: solo : AB :] ABCA, with solos over some modal 8-bar batches (8 bars of a min7 chord, down a whole step each time, except down a half step to a 7#9 chord for the last 8). I’m not entirely settled on that and will revisit it when I’m in a position to play it with a group again. For that reason, the lead sheet is still a work in progress.

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The tune is named rather arbitrarily: I always liked the name Actual Size for a band; and as I never actually put a band together called that, naming a tune thus was the next best thing.

Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution

[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…

This and all other original work on this site available under a Creative Commons 3.0 attribution license, unless otherwise specified.