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LOL! I'm glad I'm self-employed!

Now, to fix those wobbly hammers...

Cinnamonbear,
That was so pretty--beautiful arrangement and beautiful playing!

I wasn't familiar with George Shearing arrangements before, and I just bought one of his old books from Ebay! Can't wait to get it.

Another wonderful arrangement of "Over the Rainbow" is Roger William's piano solo arrangement. If anyone wants to post the first page of it, I could email it--I'm not sure how to post pictures and scans yet. You can sometimes find a lot of old Roger William's arrangements on Ebay.

Talking about arrangements--is anyone familiar with Eddy Duchin arrangements? I bought a few of his old "Piano Styles" books from Ebay, but I am finding them to be a lot more difficult than most "song" arrangements. He must have had very long fingers--there are huge chords.

Kathy

Thank you, Playagain! But, I don't want to be the only one to post a Shearing fave! Let's hear 'em, people!

applause, Cinnamonbear - I should get that book, too - it would be perfect for my adult day care, retirement home, and Alzheimer's gigs.

Nice thread, btb!

Cathy

Nice one Cinnamonbear. I love that arrangement. When I first got into jazz harmony I used to play and study that one a lot, so many thanks for refreshing my memory of it. It's a long time since I heard it.

Here is one of mine, 'Tenderly', in kind of a Shearing inspired harmonic style but with my own harmonic twists.

http://www.divshare.com/download/12820166-687

The Williams' 2 page "Rainbow" arrangement is simple, effective, and beautiful.

His arrangement of "Ebb Tide" in the same book is even better. I've been able to get a lot of mileage out of "Ebb Tide" at parties and receptions over the years !!

HI, Carey,
The Roger Williams "Over the Rainbow" that I have is 3 pages, and it's not the same one that's in his book called, "Contemporary Piano Solos, Vol 1." That one is 2 pages, so I bet that's the one you have.

I don't know if this arrangement is in any of his books. I got it from my piano teacher over 20 years ago--she was an elderly lady who loved Roger Williams, so she introduced me to his wonderful arrangements. The version I have looks a bit more difficult than the 2 page arrangement.

I just ordered a used copy of his Piano Interpretations 1, which I didn't have--I see it has Ebb Tide! I love so many of his pieces! Thanks!
Kathy

I love your rendition of "Tenderly." Beautiful!
Kathy

Ha-ha! THAT's what I'm talkin' about!!! That is GORGEOUS, beeboss! Beautiful ideas throughout!!! Man, you can PLAY! You really take it around!

Very nicely recorded, too, BTW! Top notch mix, and I love the clarity of the drums and the bass, especially the bass, which is often a muddy mess in jazz combo recordings! It sounds so good, I have to ask--it is a big ol' stand up acoustic? Thank you so much for sharing this one!

O.K. Who's next?

Hi Kathy !!

You're gonna like the Ebb Tide arrangement !!!

I mentioned this earlier in this thread BUT....... on October 1st, Roger Williams celebrated his 86th birthday by playing a 12 hour marathon concert at the new Musical Instrument Museum here in Phoenix. I volunteer at the museum - and happened to be on duty that day. The place was packed with senior citizens !! The largest single day attendance since the museum opened in April. I couldn't get close enough to actually SEE Williams perform - but since he was set up in the atrium, the sound carried through all the galleries. The man still plays like he did fifty years ago - very inspiring !!

HI, Carey,
Wow, I would have loved to have been there to hear him play! What a neat birthday celebration for him and for everyone!

I saw him once about 25 years ago--he was fantastic, and he took requests from the audience. My daughter's favorite song was "Roger's Bumblebee," when she was little, and she kept yelling out that name for him to play it. He turned toward her and smiled at her and played it. Neat memories!

It's amazing that he could play for 12 hours! And at 86 years old! So neat that he plays like 50 years ago! He is very inspiring.

Kathy

Hi c/bear,

Thanks for the Over The Rainbow score ... Shearing interpretation.

Page 3 (top right) would suggest that there might be other pages ... I’m battling to reconcile your playing with the score sent ... there seem to be about 12 measures missing up front ... it’s only at m3 that it matched your playing ... at m5 and m6 you roll the chords and at m8 there is a slowing down for the tricky LH contribution.

But thanks again for the score ... I’ve played through a few times ... it’s only at m7 that the Theme comes to light as a one-note sequence.

Started out going gaga about George Shearing’s interpretation of David Raksin’s “Laura” when the first page was presented ... glad to report that there has been a follow-up ... Rui has obviously mastered p1 and has asked for the 2nd page ...
no sooner said, than done.

I've actually been a long time admirer of this particular rendition. I came across this by accident for the first time Junior year in high school. One of my favorite Jazz standards. =)

Thanks Cinnamonbear. It was a long time ago so I don't remember exactly what piano it was. Steinway B I think.

Ha-ha, beeboss! The piano did sound wonderful, and I especially liked the deep bass touches you did in the solo section. But, I was actually asking about the stand up string bass! Reason being, with all the electric innovations on acoustic instruments, I wondered if it was simply the real wooden thing mic'd and recorded well, or if it was some new-fangled string bass instrument.

Thanks for pulling it out of the archives! I've listened to it several times, already!

Well, btb, there's a 3 at the top of the second page of "Laura," too!

Since reconcilliation is one of my prime interests in life, let me see if I can help...

First of all, as far as notes/chords go, I tried to be very, very careful to play all of them, and only the ones printed, based on Pianoloverus's assertion that this "simple" arrangement was not very special! The only note I changed was in m24, where, for the last LH note in that measure, I went up to the Ab instead of back down to the F. I thought it set up an "Here's another idea coming" better that way, and kept the "upward hope momentum" going (which is why I played that note "ppp," since hope is such an ethereal thing when it is missing the substance of faith to support it). I also wanted to add a low, low Eb at the end of the piece, but I resisted, because it wasn't in the score. Normally, I would have done such a thing! Also, just so you know, at m26, I played the grace note/eighth note figure in triplet fashion, and in the second to the last measure (m35), played the eighth notes in quarter note time.

In order to find the pulse for the movement of the "song" the way I felt it needed to be played, I followed the eighth notes. So, if you count it in 8, with an eighth note getting one beat, that might help clear up the reading.

At m5 (and m13), I paused at the 2nd eighth note, because if I played it straight, that whole turn became a muddy mess. Pausing and then running up to the melody chord sounded cleaner, and definitely meaningful (to my ears and heart, anyway...) and gave the song forward and upward momentum there (as if to say, "someday, I'm going over that rainbow!").

At m8, I paused for the completion of the "verse," and to let the transition notes (what you called the "tricky LH contribution") make their own statement, and leading the listener (hopefully) to a softer touch on the first melody chord that starts verse 2, but with a more forcefully dramatic touch on the second melody chord and following, as if to say, "Did you hear me??? I said...!"

If you want to know the back story, I punched the first chord of the piece to say, "I'm angry. This is a beautiful arrangement." Then, I punched the second chord of verse 2 to say, "I'm still angry! I'm saying it again! Variation on the theme, buster!" Today, I would play it differently.

I'm not angry at Pianoloverus, anymore. Well, today... Yet.

So, in the interest of education and fair use of copyrighted materials, let's try it this way,

Over the Rainbow--George Shearing arr., played by me

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8...




Hope this helps!

--Andy

That is a really nice version of over the rainbow. I really liked the slow tempo you used. I think a lot can be learned from the way shearing voices the chords, and the substitutions he makes. And if this really was originally published in 1954, I think its pretty ground breaking for those days. Especially considering it was published for mass consumption. Somehow I have a more modern edition of this (though it looks like the notes are the same.)

Hey, Mr. Winitsky! Thanks! I'm not sure how groundbreaking the publication was, really. I've learned a little, lately, about the publication of popular music in the first half of the 20th cenutury.* At that time (1954) there was something of a resurgence of people buying pianos for their homes--pianos of the spinet variety! Cheap and affordable. People were still listening to radio and records and still making their own music in the living room. There was demand for accessible, printed, popular music, and George Shearing's stylings certainly fit the bill in a number of ways! An aside, by way of illustration here--I happen to have an original copy of the "Mary Poppins Souvenir Song Album" from 1965 (music and lyrics by Richard and Robert Sherman). According to Wikipedia, the film was "the #1 moneymaker of 1965." I would not be surprised to find that my dad bought this book at the movie theater when the movie was over. My sister and I sat at the piano bench while he played all of the songs in that book, over and over again! It was BETTER than TV (which was black and white in our house at the time)! The arrangements are similarly accessible, and yet very thoughtfully rich, full and colorful, and stand on their own played note for note, as these "simple" Shearing arrangements do.

I'll leave it to the true historians to flesh all of that out, but that's my impression, anyway, and I hope it paints a picture for you.

BTW, I listened to your rendition of the Lou Stein arr. of Over The Rainbow on your Piano Society page. You play very cleanly! I like the way you bring out the rag elements in that version. Have you posted anything at PW, yet?

--Andy


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* Please see "Haddorff Postcard No.5" in Member Recordings (clickable link)

Hey Thanks Andy!

I remember at the time thinking that Lou Stein did an OK job sort of moving between stride, open voicings, and walking bass lines. I agree with these arrangements being accessible yet rich and colorful. Something my piano teacher would say about coming up with arrangements, its best to start out with the simplest yet effective arrangement possible, and then slowly build upon it.

Anyway I also think the Shearing arrangement is just as effective today as it was in 1954

Stan