I HATE Stella By Starlight! (jazz jam session content)

Fassa Albrecht · #1 06-26-2011, 03:13 PM

I never thought I would hate Stella By Starlight as much as I do right now.

Anyways, this evening I got with a few guys at a local jazz session to jam along to some songs. Now I'm familliar with a decent amount of the more well-known jazz standards, and so I seemed to be doing OK for a newbie jazz bassist.

So we come to the 5th or so song (the final one I played before coming home) and this song came up. The chord changes in this song have made me hate this song more so than anything else. Even more so for the other new guy, the sax player, kept messing up and making squeak noises, and the fact the tune of this song is kinda boring.

Result- repeating the same 8 bars of music for what felt like an ice age whilst the sax player learnt to play, to the point where I felt like throwing my bass out of the window.

5StringBlues · #2 06-26-2011, 03:18 PM

JumboJack · #3 06-26-2011, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5StringBlues

Munjibunga · #4 06-26-2011, 04:16 PM

Stella by Starlight. What's to hate?

MrLenny1 · #5 06-26-2011, 04:21 PM

Touche - Munjibunga

fingerbun · #6 06-26-2011, 04:26 PM

That's ok, I feel the same about "Girl From Ipanema". Still play it tho.

allexcosta · #7 06-26-2011, 05:33 PM

I bet Stella by Starlight hates you and your sax player even more...

TolerancEJ · #8 06-27-2011, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allexcosta

I bet Stella by Starlight hates you and your sax player even more...

LOL!

dvh · #9 06-27-2011, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fingerbun

That's ok, I feel the same about "Girl From Ipanema". Still play it tho.

+ 1. Seems to be the "Free Bird" of the jazz(ier) world....

Passinwind · #10 06-27-2011, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

I never thought I would hate Stella By Starlight as much as I do right now.

I remember suffering through quite a few people trying to learn the form, and presumably them suffering through me trying to do the same. It's still kind of a have/have not test at a few party jams that I go to a few times a year.

Hating it is a great step. Now go own it.

Blueszilla · #11 06-27-2011, 12:25 PM

Must be kickin' ur butt if you hate it. I'll agree that the changes are not particularly intuitive, but from a composer's standpoint they are rather clever. If you learn the straight melody, the changes become easy to remember, at least that's what happened to me. YMMV.

I'd wager you just hated that instance of playing it, not the tune itself.

trayner1 · #12 06-27-2011, 12:29 PM

I agree, Stella by Starlight is kinda obsolete. I prefer more modern technology, so something more along the lines of "Stella By Infrared High Particle Neutron Beam."
YouTube - ‪Scott Henderson - Stella by Infra-Red High Particle Neutron Beam‬&rlm;

Fassa Albrecht · #13 06-27-2011, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allexcosta

I bet Stella by Starlight hates you and your sax player even more...

Don't worry, I also hate sax players.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Passinwind

I remember suffering through quite a few people trying to learn the form, and presumably them suffering through me trying to do the same. It's still kind of a have/have not test at a few party jams that I go to a few times a year.

Hating it is a great step. Now go own it.

It's almost like an entrance exam for being a jazz bassist....it's proven to be a lot of fun for my shaky knowledge of jazz theory.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blueszilla

Must be kickin' ur butt if you hate it. I'll agree that the changes are not particularly intuitive, but from a composer's standpoint they are rather clever. If you learn the straight melody, the changes become easy to remember, at least that's what happened to me. YMMV.

I'd wager you just hated that instance of playing it, not the tune itself.

Eh, I'm making it one of my 'songs to work on'. I'll likely grow to like it at some point in time. TBH this was the first time I've ever played a jazz standard infront of an audience with some REALLY good musicians. Pressures like that don't help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trayner1

I agree, Stella by Starlight is kinda obsolete. I prefer more modern technology, so something more along the lines of "Stella By Infrared High Particle Neutron Beam."
YouTube - ‪Scott Henderson - Stella by Infra-Red High Particle Neutron Beam‬&rlm;

Win.

Jim Nazium · #14 06-27-2011, 02:19 PM

Listen to Tony Bennet sing it. It's actually a really nice tune. It'll grow on you.

The thing that always throws me is the third measure. In the first two measures you have Em7 followed by A7, so the next chord should be Dmaj7, right? Wrong, it's Cm7.

Fassa Albrecht · #15 06-27-2011, 02:23 PM

In some ways I kinda like it as it's been the first standard I've been able to play in a REAL band situation with some really good musicians, and I didn't mess up, make any really obvious mistakes or have any fretless intonation issues either.

And yes, I noted that set of chord changes when I read the chart.

I feel like a good musician now.

BassmanSBK · #16 06-27-2011, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvh

+ 1. Seems to be the "Free Bird" of the jazz(ier) world....

You mean there are always a couple of drunks in the crows yelling "STELLA!!!!"

okcrum · #17 06-27-2011, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Passinwind

I remember suffering through quite a few people trying to learn the form, and presumably them suffering through me trying to do the same. It's still kind of a have/have not test at a few party jams that I go to a few times a year.

Hating it is a great step. Now go own it.

+1. Next Stop: Giant Steps.