medjuck Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) There was once a discussion of this here and as I remember it the songs musicians didn't want to have to play were "in the Mood" and a slow instrumental blues I can't remember the name of. Any one remember (or any guesses)? BTW I think the rock equivalent is "Mustang Sally". The drummer in my wife's bar band just refuses to play it. Edited January 13, 2018 by medjuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 I don't want anything requested in the form of a demand or an expectation/entitlement. Other than that, feel free to request anything. Cover bands don't suck because they're cover bands. Cover bands suck because they don't use imagination. I propose a cover band that covers anything, but only the remix.versions. Remixers are the ultimately reality check for cover bands who bitch about being cover bands. Go away drunks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 re?"Mustang Sally"...that's only a drag when a band disregards the pocket of the Pickett record, which is deep and layered and built for the long haul. People don't get that anymore, not that they should, but when in doubt, build from the bottom up and then reinvent as appropriate. imo, this is wrong: this is right: You pull the groove out, you don't try to hammer it in. Old people only seem to move slower. They really think less because they have lost patience, and therefor information. The good ones condense and codify, the rest just...get stupid.. And drunks just drunk. These people should not be encouraged any more than they already encourage themselves. And ideally, less than that. Speaking of In the Mood, I heard the Edgar Hayes "original" (such as it is) version on the radio one evening on the way to a gig and phrased it like that instead, straighter eights and less accented syncopation and the fucking wedding band fell apart, literally fell apart, stopped and started over,with some strong glares directed at the tenor player. So much for really "being there when you play". I mean, sure, chicken-peck a la Ray Stephens, and hahaha funny, but introduce a different a little different type of eighth note and it's like Martians Have Landed OH MY GOD!!!! My request - for everybody in the world to get that Jimmie Lunceford Mosaic and think about eighth notes. I mean, if you get one of those requests of one of those most-hated songs, fuck with 'em. Just becuase you have to play the song doesn't mean you can't fuck with ;em. And if you need a good groove to steal for Mustan Dally, take this on. I did it one night when the singer refused to sing it, so hey, I'll do it, but gimme THIS to do it with, ok? Just slow it down a notch, and don't worry about the standard bar count, we'll go to the IV & V when we get there. Gotta have a musically literate rhythm section, but this one did. Everybody loved it but the singer who let it be known to never to THAT again, fuck it, he'd go ahead and sing it anyway. Most people - especially musicians, look at options in terms of what should not be done rather than what could be done. Fuck that. Hell, use this groove for "Mustang Sally". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 Joe, was the slow instrumental My Funny Valentine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted January 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 No, it was a blues with (I think) the word "midnight" in it. Apparently oft played, but I wasn't familiar with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted January 15, 2018 Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 (edited) Was it Blues in the Night?, i.e. "My Mama Done Told Me." A lot of bands hate playing that, and I don't blame them. Edited January 15, 2018 by John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted January 15, 2018 Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 I used to do a lot of solo cocktail piano gigs, and someone once requested "Love Shack" by the B-52s! That is the most memorable request I ever received at a gig. The two requests I always dreaded were "New York, New York" and the insufferable "Memory" from Cats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted January 15, 2018 Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 3 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said: I used to do a lot of solo cocktail piano gigs, and someone once requested "Love Shack" by the B-52s! That is the most memorable request I ever received at a gig. Hope you did that one boogie-woogie style.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted January 15, 2018 Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 The problem seems to have existed for many, many decades. Some seem to have found a way to cope with it, though. I remember seeing a 40s photograph from one of those old New Orleans dance halls in a book or mag I have seomewhere (but can't quite remember which one so can't retrieve it right now) where a cardboard panel on the wall to the side of the bandstand anounced the rates for playing requests. A number of standards had a tag of 50c or $1 but HIGH SOCIETY was $5!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted January 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 3 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said: The problem seems to have existed for many, many decades. Some seem to have found a way to cope with it, though. I remember seeing a 40s photograph from one of those old New Orleans dance halls in a book or mag I have seomewhere (but can't quite remember which one so can't retrieve it right now) where a cardboard panel on the wall to the side of the bandstand anounced the rates for playing requests. A number of standards had a tag of 50c or $1 but HIGH SOCIETY was $5!! IIRC there was a sign like that at Preservation Hall re: Saints Go Marching In. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gheorghe Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 I think it depends on where you play. I remember when I was a youngster sometimes we got a gig somewhere where the audience wasn´t really used to jazz or to what to expect from a jazz performance. Most people who were not so much associated to jazz, had heard and had liked one single tune "Take Five". It seems that this was something that appealed to people who said they didn´t really like jazz but liked "Take Five". Others "Mercy Mercy Mercy". Well I could do more out of "Mercy" than of Take Five". "Take Five" and me , "we" had the wrong start, we never became friends...... On very rare occasions where someone had a request which really was not a "jazz associated" tune (I think it was a country melody or something like that and the only thing I ever knew is "jazz") I had to explain it in the kind manner, somehow like "look it´s like food, if you want pizza, you go to a pizza place and if you want chinese food you go to a chinese place and that´s what most people understand, that you can´t cook on anything.... The most ideal requests happend if a fan asked for a tune that you haven´t played yet but might go into the direction you play. If you are lucky you somehow know the tune and can execute it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 9 hours ago, medjuck said: IIRC there was a sign like that at Preservation Hall re: Saints Go Marching In. Yes Joe, I was going to say the same thing. I went there in 1970, and as I recall there was a blackboard which said, "Requests $5.00. Saints $10.00." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danasgoodstuff Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Just play "Take Five" in four and see if they notice, or 9 or ___? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Several jazz musician friends of mine have invoked "Satin Doll" as a request for which they have less-than-warm feelings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dryden Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 I am reminded of the story of jazz violinist Joe Venuti opening the floor to requests and a woman promptly asked for "Feelings." His response was "'Feelin's'? Why that's the worst $%^&!!! song I ever heard. That's it no more requests!" I am pretty sure that story appeared in Bill Crow's Jazz Anecdotes. "Feelings" has had a lot of competition for worst song over the past 4 plus decades... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gheorghe Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 11 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said: Just play "Take Five" in four and see if they notice, or 9 or ___? In the late 80´s I remember we did it a few times as a reggae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 Did Charlie Parker really want to play "White Christmas" and "Slow Boat to China"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gheorghe Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 5 hours ago, BillF said: Did Charlie Parker really want to play "White Christmas" and "Slow Boat to China"? Well "White Chrismas" was a request on air. But I think Charlie Parker was hip enough he would play any tune with nice changes so you can blow on them. That was Bird, the tune was just a blowing vehicle. So if Bird was in a mellow mood and I´ve heard he had his mellow sides also, he just wanted to be kind and anyway he did his very personal version of that tune. And really: Both White Chrismas and Slow Boat have changes any bop freak can blow on them. I´m not a professional musician and do only some club dates, sometimes I´m lucky I have occasions to play or jam with good professional musicians also, but I´d say for myself if I´d get a request "White Chrismas" or "Slow Boat" I´d be happy to please the person who asked for it. As for "Feelings", yeah I´ve heard a lot of guys refuse it, but what can happen worse than do a short version, I think a slow bossa or something like that, on it just not to hurt the "feelings" of someone. If it´s a club gig and you can be flexible, and it´s the last set, why not. If we are on pressure of time and most folks came to hear other stuff, it might be impossible...... Anyway, at least in my case it´s a question of age: When I was young and more arrogant, maybe I declined a request in a more direct and harsh manner, but now, it´s more important for me to have happy faces in the audience and not to hurt anybody´s feeling if possible. if we can manage to include the request without completely destroying the general conception , there´s nothing wrong I think..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 "Slow Boat To China" has great changes for "bop" playing, they flow logically and are not extremely/overly cyclical...what's the form, ABAC? Sonny Rollins played the hell out of it early on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 2 hours ago, JSngry said: "Slow Boat To China" has great changes for "bop" playing, they flow logically and are not extremely/overly cyclical...what's the form, ABAC? Sonny Rollins played the hell out of it early on. I am old enough to remember it in the hit parade, so I guess everyone was pleased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted February 11, 2018 Report Share Posted February 11, 2018 On January 17, 2018 at 9:38 AM, JSngry said: "Slow Boat To China" has great changes for "bop" playing, they flow logically and are not extremely/overly cyclical...what's the form, ABAC? Sonny Rollins played the hell out of it early on. Jackie Paris recorded it also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 11, 2018 Report Share Posted February 11, 2018 Yeah, Jackie Paris had a real gift for sex-slave songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted February 20, 2018 Report Share Posted February 20, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 "White Christmas" is an ultra corny song that most of us are sick of, but it has nice blowing changes, and Bird's (live) version of it is great - another sow's ear turned into a silk purse. Another on with tasty changes is "When I Grow Too Old To Dream", recorded by Diz with Lucky Thompson in early 1946, and again by Stanley Turrentine with Jimmy Smith in 1960 with excellent results. There are many well-known tunes that I would refuse to play because they have been worn out by overuse. Like Miles, I don't like tunes with too many chords. They get cluttered up. A prime example is "There Will Never Be Another You". Yechh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyJazz Posted March 5, 2019 Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 A great musicians joke when it comes to requests: Guy comes to a party, sees a piano, sits down on the bench and begins to play very lyrically, up and down the keyboard, but nothing recognizable. Hostess comes over, says "You really play well, do you take requests"? Guy replies "I only know two tunes". Hostess: "Which ones"? Guy: "Happy Birthday" and "Lush Life". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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