Name that tune...

[jazzpiano88]

I've heard it a million times (some versions with vocals?) but never played it. Anyone know the title?

 

[video:youtube]

[drawback]

Wave

[timwat]

It's like "Lead", only with sampling.

[Delaware Dave]

Is that the Nord Lead theme song?

[Reezekeys]

Your handle is "JazzPiano" and you've somehow escaped learning or playing this song? That's pretty funny.

 

I have to note these guys with their eyes glued to the music as the vibes player is playing his solo. That's also pretty funny.

[drawback]

I also thought the vibes player was Ed Grimley at first, but realized his pants weren't quite hitched up high enough.

[MathOfInsects]

Ok, sorting out the responses to help the OP and any future visitors to the thread:

 

Rod's answer is not a reference to the Nord keyboard, it's the title of this Jobim tune.

 

The rest of the responses have to do with the hi-f*cking-larious optics of this otherwise unremarkable performance. I kind of want to do a shred video to the vibraphonist alone. Hmm, I do have some time today....

[ElmerJFudd]

Jobim, page 393 in the New Real Book

http://www.pianoservices.com.au/us/RealBooks/New%20Real%20Book%20Vol%20I.pdf

 

Goes very nice with cocktails before the reception. Unless the bride has stated, 'no jazz'.

[jazzpiano88]

Your handle is "JazzPiano" and you've somehow escaped learning or playing this song? That's pretty funny.

 

I knew I'd get that. Haha

[ElmerJFudd]

Then there's this version that's down a step. Don't think the Mother of the Bride and Groom would approve.

 

 

 

 

I love it. No you can"t chat about Game Stop stock while stuffing your face with spring rolls with all that ruckus!

[16251]

[Bobadohshe]

Your handle is "JazzPiano" and you've somehow escaped learning or playing this song? That's pretty funny.

 

I knew I'd get that. Haha

 

We all have tunes like that!!

[Reezekeys]

I'm east coast, but don't remember ever playing it in F - usually it's D. That McCoy version.... yea not mother-of-the-bride friendly, that's for sure!

 

"Vou Te Contar" is the original title. Jobim wrote the English lyrics himself. Like a few of his bossas, it suffered from overexposure in the USA and became a parody song â typical dentist's office fare (though these days you're more likely to hear "smooth jazz" in a dentist's office!). A real pleasure of mine is discovering and listening to the original versions of these tunes with Portuguese lyrics and Brazilians interpreting them. McCoy treats it as a blowing vehicle with no regard to the original intention of the song, which of course is a jazz tradition. For other reasons, that "Supertrios" record is unlistenable for me.

[Rodan88]

Aw, c'mon Dave - I Should Care is a great tune! ;-D

 

First heard it played by Bill Evans on the great "Bill Evans at Town Hall" - it opens the record. I've always felt that the record was vastly underrated, and I've loved the song ever since.

 

I transcribed the solo many years ago - great lines and rhythmic displacement. A zillion years later, a transcription book of the entire album was published.

 

Here it is:

 

The transcriptions: https://www.halleonard.com/product/672537/bill-evans-at-town-hall (transcribed by Pascal Wetzel, one of the best Bill transcribers)

 

Whaddaya think?

 

Also - as a longtime NYC guy, I can confirm that Wave is almost always played in D here. (Occasionally C for a female vocalist with a lower voice - the melody has a wide range, to say the least.)

 

And speaking of melody - er, some "interesting" note choices in Wave's melody in the clip the OP posted. (Of course, "choices" implies that they were intentional!)

[Rodan88]

Aw, c'mon Dave - I Should Care is a great tune! ;-D

 

First heard it played by Bill Evans on the great "Bill Evans at Town Hall" - it opens the record. I've always felt that the record was vastly underrated, and I've loved the song ever since.

 

I transcribed the solo many years ago - great lines and rhythmic displacement. A zillion years later, a transcription book of the entire album was published.

 

Here it is:

 

The transcriptions: https://www.halleonard.com/product/672537/bill-evans-at-town-hall (transcribed by Pascal Wetzel, one of the best Bill transcribers)

 

Whaddaya think?

 

Also - as a longtime NYC guy, I can confirm that Wave is almost always played in D here. (Occasionally C for a female vocalist with a lower voice - the melody has a wide range, to say the least.)

 

And speaking of melody - er, some "interesting" note choices in Wave's melody in the clip the OP posted. (Of course, "choices" implies that they were intentional!)

[jazzpiano88]

... Like a few of his bossas, it suffered from overexposure in the USA and became a parody song â typical dentist's office fare (though these days you're more likely to hear "smooth jazz" in a dentist's office!).

It was an earworm for me for those reasons.... elevator, waiting room, "jazz" bands dutifully grinding out obligatory bossa.

 

One thing I noticed is that sax player's melody doesn't sound right. In the run up line of the 3rd bar of the melody he's playing an A7 instead of the Gdim7 in the recordings.

Is that a common substitution people play on this (ala Barry Harris Turning Dim7-> Dom7 by lowering the Bb to an A) or a mistake on his part?

[Rodan88]

I figured you'd know the record, but I felt I had to try to convince you.

 

I mean, if you were to begin a mission to popularize the tune, the estates of Stordahl/Weston/Cahn would likely receive a much-needed financial windfall. After all, what did those guys ever write?

 

I like your Wave story and theory as to the choice of key! Kinda like Bandstand Forensic Files.

 

It also struck me as funny, since F-concert is the key of D for the alto player. Seems like he's got it backwards! So, one way or another, it ended up in D.

 

Now that I think of it, I have played Wave in a variety of keys (mostly for singers), but D reigns supreme, and C is definitely in 2nd place.

 

If I could only get the cats to play Ipanema in Db (the Stan Getz/Astrud key). Sounds/lays great in that key, and makes it feel so much fresher.

 

Fortunately, no one refuses when I call it in that key - beauty of living in NYC and having the right friends, I guess. Of course, all of that was when there were actually gigs. ;-D

[Rodan88]

Yes, I mentioned the same thing above!

 

How 'bout that C-natural (instead of C#) on the 3rd note of the melody. Sacrilege!

 

And the lick you mentioned? No, that's not a common substitution - it's a guy making a mistake/misreading the chart/not doing his homework.

 

The melody line is complex, but it is one of the most beautifully melodic lines in any tune, anywhere.

 

MELODY IS KING. You've gotta know it, to stray from it/embellish it, especially when you're the melodic voice of a group. To fake your way though a classic tune (in any genre) shows laziness and disrespect to the composer and tune, in my opinion. Never been a fan of guys ignoring/bullshitting through the melody, just to get to the blowing, no matter how great the blowing is.

 

The great improvisers always knew the melody - Bird, Sonny Rollins, Tommy Flanagan, and a million others I could name - all masterful improvisers, but all respectful of the tune/melody, while undeniably interpreting it in a jazzy way.

 

There, I feel better now.

[Reezekeys]

The sax player is playing some wrong notes - very wrong notes.

 

Totally agree one should know the melodies before taking liberties with them.

 

For Jobim tunes I usually look at the Chediak books for the melodies. Harmonically though, there can be some leeway imo. Listen to Joao Gilberto's chords for some of these Jobim tunes, they're nothing like what most people play now. Some Brazilians did not appreciate what jazzers did to their songs or how it influenced their music. Carlos Lyra wrote a song about this: "Influencia Do Jazz."

[Rodan88]

Dave - you're right, the kid is obviously young and inexperienced, so he gets a pass. Something about a pandemic brings out my curmudgeonly side. But I (and Reezekeys) stand by my "respect the melody" rant. I'm sure you do, too.

 

And, Reezekeys - of course you're right - HARMONY is a whole 'nother ballgame.

 

But, then again, no one's whistling the harmony in the shower. Well, maybe Jacob Collier. ;-D

[Rodan88]

Yep, absolutely right about Pensativa. A masterpiece.

Clare was such a giant.

 

His harmony and voice-leading - second to none.

[jazzpiano88]

I should have stumbled across my answer on my own because I suspected a version with Stan Getz.

I love this:

 

[video:youtube]

[Reezekeys]

That's Albert Dailey on piano - too bad he didn't solo there. I think this is a better version of Wave than what you posted at the top of this thread!

[jazzpiano88]

That's Albert Dailey on piano - too bad he didn't solo there. I think this is a better version of Wave than what you posted at the top of this thread!

Understatement of the year

Do you think someone will create a parody thread? I'm considering doing it myself, out of embarrassment.

[Reezekeys]

Nothing to be embarrassed about unless you posted this in a Brazilian music forum! Until I was in my 30s I didn't know the difference between Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian music. I was a "jazz-head" and anything with a beat that wasn't rock, funk or swing was "Latin." Then I did a little touring with a Brazilian pianist named Eliane Elias, and one of our first gigs was a double-bill with one of the greats of braz music, Dori Caymmi, at a place called Kimball's East in Oakland or Berkeley, California (I forget). Hearing him, my mind was blown and I started my journey exploring this music. I know I was playing "Wave" long before then, and probably considered it corny at the time!

[ewall08530]

I just want to say this is a great thread and a perfect example of why, after all these years, I still come here. Thanks!

[MathOfInsects]

I isolated the vibraphone solo section in case anyone wants to take a crack at transcribing it.

 

[stoken6]

I isolated the vibraphone solo section in case anyone wants to take a crack at transcribing it.

 

Thanks Maths. We're no strangers to Wave.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[TommyRude]

So the vibraphone player is 10X better than me, and he has a strangely hypnotic crab-like stage presence, replete with pincer moves attacking the instrument as if it was a helpless sea anemone

[cedar]

I'm amused to find a single thread discussing "Wave" (which I've avoided for years just because I was forced to play it too often when you g), "Pensativa" (which I agree is one of the most brilliant jazz tunes ever) and "I should care" (which is a joy to play and listen to).