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The Reharm Room


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I always liked that song, and that's a very inventive treatment of it, Carlo. You gave it a new mood, and I'm glad you shared that. I can hear it being developed and soloed on further in a group context.

 

Like a lot of songs I like, it's a shame most people won't recognize it, much less appreciate the creative thinking that went into a reharm. So the value of the reharm is in presenting the tune as new music. :thu:

 

Two mildly amusing (off the wall) anecdotes from my gigs this week (of no consequence to anyone, including me) :

 

At a recorded live gig at a studio, I had a stack of two CD's I'm on sitting on the piano. At the end, an odd fellow with a beret came up and said "Oh, you have CD's! Do you have "Sketches Of Spain??!?" :laugh: (Maybe he thought I was a CD salesman.) I said "no, I only have my CD's."

 

He said "Aw MAN!! You've GOT to get "Sketches Of Spain!!!" :freak: A local music critic standing nearby jumped in saying, "he doesn't have Sketches Of Spain, but you should buy his CD's - one of them made the top CD's of the year list in the paper."

 

So the guy says, "Well, do you play Sketches Of Spain on it?" I said, "no, but I played all those same notes." So he said, "Ok, I'll buy it." :)

 

And I was at Twins Jazz Club in D.C. Friday night. It was supposed to be a collaborative quartet but Twins listed it on its site with my name at the top - like it was my thing. So I told the guys we shouldn't do tunes, just create stuff and play on it (free jazz, like in that other thread.} I set up the first "piece" and somehow the band ended up going into a standard so the whole game plan was shot... but suddenly doing standards unexpectedly seemed like a totally free, radical experience.

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Great stories, Steve, thanks for sharing.

 

I'd like to share one too, from a few years ago, about "My Foolish Heart". I was playing that song (with its "normal" changes!) at one of those horrible 'cocktail swing' situations. Actually, it was a bit better than usual, because it was a gathering of antique experts, mostly from the USA - people of high cultural level. So they were quietly having dinner, I was playing "My Foolish Heart", when suddendly someone started humming along, right at his table. Someone else joined right away, this time singing the song's lyrics - and before the end of the A section, there were 25/30 people singing "My Foolish Heart" at full blast! They sang good, too. Someone even took the chance to show his opera-trained tenor voice... :freak:

It was great. But what's even funnier is what happened right afterwards: I segued with a Mozart sonata, and a Japanese lady sang that along with the piano, with great intonation, and without missing a note!

I was there playing and thinking. "wow, this is no cocktail gig. These people know music - better I play my ass off!" :D

 

I always liked that song, and that's a very inventive treatment of it, Carlo. You gave it a new mood, and I'm glad you shared that. I can hear it being developed and soloed on further in a group context.

You're running a serious risk of this actually happening soon. :D

Seriously, thanks a lot for your comments. :)

 

Like a lot of songs I like, it's a shame most people won't recognize it, much less appreciate the creative thinking that went into a reharm. So the value of the reharm is in presenting the tune as new music. :thu:

I find this to be a tad pessimistic... if you state the melody clearly, I think that most people who know the song will recognize it. Of course, if you help your fortune by introducing it beforehand, that's even better... :D

 

 

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Like a lot of songs I like, it's a shame most people won't recognize it, much less appreciate the creative thinking that went into a reharm. So the value of the reharm is in presenting the tune as new music. :thu:

I find this to be a tad pessimistic... if you state the melody clearly, I think that most people who know the song will recognize it. Of course, if you help your fortune by introducing it beforehand, that's even better... :D

Maybe a bit soberly realistic, but not pessimistic, because I'll still love playing regardless of song recognition. And people still respond to something in live music however they connect.

 

The odds at my next gig of 25-30 people singing along with good intonation might be a tad optimistic in my location :grin: - but Rome certainly sounds wonderful! :)

 

And I agree, your reharm of Foolish Heart could make some interesting trio or quartet music.

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The odds at my next gig of 25-30 people singing along with good intonation might be a tad optimistic in my location :grin: - but Rome certainly sounds wonderful! :)

Well. I guess less than 20% of people at that meeting were Italian. They were from around the world, mostly from the USA. The thing took place in a magnificient ancient palace, full of artwork from all eras. They were that rare breed, very rich but very educated to arts.

 

 

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Nice sounding recording and feel, davinwv.

 

With the recent Julie Andrews vs. Coltrane thread, here's one of 'my favorite things' - completely random playing. Actually, I was testing the piano sound to record, not trying to play, so it's kind of unusual.

http://www.divshare.com/download/14541549-293

 

 

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Hi Steve,

 

nice playing - as usual! I especially enjoyed the piano sound in the low and medium register. Is it the EW piano? Sounds gorgeous, even on my crappy PC speakers. Some of the high notes in a higher velocity tend to reveal a little plastic-ness, at least to my ears. But the medium to low register... really really nice!

It's not a clone, it's a Suzuki.
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Thanks, "Mo". It is the EW.

 

The plastic sound you're hearing isn't the piano's fault... it's a combination of divshare's compression on an mp3, your PC speakers, and my lack of expertise as a home engineer. ;) The Wave file through my monitors sounds much better, even if the playing is a little on the edge.

(just re-uploaded it - sounds better)

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Great stuff, Steve. Thinks: Maybe this should be tagged on the "Stuff to play in nursing homes" thread? :)

Studio: Yamaha P515 | Yamaha Tyros 5 | Yamaha HX1 | Moog Sub 37

Road: Yamaha YC88 | Nord Electro 5D

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Thank you, Sue.

 

Random was my wrong word choice, which would just be cacophony. One note does lead to another. I just wasn't trying to play a logical song, but there is some chromatic theme there.

 

The point was just to finally get a realistic piano sound, which I have worked on for weeks. There are still a couple of substantial improvements I need to make, but I think I'm getting there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Lovely and sophisticated from the very first chord. And when the band comes in, it's all very nice indeed. Very tasteful reharm, and like SK said, you respected the original.

 

Nice solo too! Very creative, and very nice arc to the whole solo.

 

Spielen Sie mit Geschick.

 

What are the odds of having zwei Mortiz in the same band?

Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37

 

My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section

https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native

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Wow guys! Thank you so much for your comments. Coming from you it really means a lot to me!

 

@ Bob: actually, there's a sax player in my hometown named Moritz, too. We all played together in a quintet named Moritz3+2 :crazy:

 

@ Dave: I put the sheet on divshare, clonk.

 

It's not a clone, it's a Suzuki.
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:laugh:

 

After listening to the first one, the "second take" is a bit different. :D No, it's cool. It's just after the beauty of the first one, which I really enjoyed, the second one is from a different place. Takes me a moment to readjust.

 

Keep up the great work.

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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I just had to do a second take :laugh:

 

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY3ztLYfNx4

 

Kind of Radioheadesque!

Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37

 

My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section

https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native

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  • 4 months later...

Hi guys, just drop by to say hello, I've been listening to all your stuff a lot lately, you're all amazing, you all make me feel like a child on his first year of piano studies :)

If I'm bold enough I will put here some of my humble reharm things.

So the last things I've heard were the two renditions of TWYLT, loved the loose feeling and the "nice" harmonies of the first (and great solo, fits the tune perfecty), the second one very radioheadesque, as Bobadohshe pointed out, also love that kind of things.

So hope you're all well, I'll stay tuned :)

 

PS

SK, amazing piano solo on my fav things! you're a true master

PS 2

you all achieve some terrific piano sounds guys!!

 

 

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