Medleys

[Blueszilla]

I'm posting over over here just because of the material, and you guys would seem to have more experience with this.

Along with various blues projects, I regularly with a jazz/standards trio. We do a lot of tunes that segue to others, mostly based on the same key. We'll start out with one tune, say 'Blue in Green' and then go to 'Nature Boy' or maybe 'Black Orpheus' goes into 'Crystal Silence'; this might take us into 'Corcavado' which will bring us back to one more go round with 'BO' and to the end.

What kinds of tunes do you guys string together in a 'medley' style? Do you have other techniques for playing these styles?

Just curious....

EDIT: Just realized this is probably the wrong forum, my mistake.

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Blueszilla

What kinds of tunes do you guys string together in a 'medley' style? Do you have other techniques for playing these styles?

Here's a kinda clever, fun thing I've done....especially if you have a singer on board (God forbid. ).
Pick some standards with the same topic.
"Moon" tunes. Like, "Moonlight in Vermont", "Moonlight Becomes You", "No Moon at all". Like that.
Spring tunes....."Spring is Here", "Up jumped Spring", Spring can Really Hang You Up the Most."
Autumn...."Autumn Leaves", Early Autumn", "Autumn Nocturn", "Autumn in NY".
I've done arrangements of medleys of all Charlie Parker "I Got Rhythm" changes tunes.
I do a medley of "Peace" by Horace Silver, then double up on the time and play Blue Mitchell's "Blue Silver", written on the same changes.
Use yer imagination.....

[davidAaronCarte]

I have this Rob McConnel Trio (with Ed Bickert and Don Thompson) record where they do a couple medleys
I believe they're all grouped by who wrote the tune, I know one of them is the "Macini Medley"
I think the record is called Three for the Road

[Blueszilla]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

Here's a kinda clever, fun thing I've done....especially if you have a singer on board (God forbid. ).
Pick some standards with the same topic.
"Moon" tunes. Like, "Moonlight in Vermont", "Moonlight Becomes You", "No Moon at all". Like that.
Spring tunes....."Spring is Here", "Up jumped Spring", Spring can Really Hang You Up the Most."
Autumn...."Autumn Leaves", Early Autumn", "Autumn Nocturn", "Autumn in NY".
I've done arrangements of medleys of all Charlie Parker "I Got Rhythm" changes tunes.
I do a medley of "Peace" by Horace Silver, then double up on the time and play Blue Mitchell's "Blue Silver", written on the same changes.
Use yer imagination.....

Cool ideas, Paul. But then I'd expect that from you.

We do a little of that kind of thing, like 'Bye, Bye Blackbird', and then a swing version of the Beatles' 'Blackbird'. We've done the Moon thing with 'Fly me to the Moon', 'Teach me Tonight' (it's got 'moon' references) and 'Moonglow'. It's fun to do, breaks up the usual flow of stuff. The singer is the keys/guitar front man, so it's a little easier that way.

[Paul Warburton]

Good stuff, David and 'zilla....(thanks for the stroke, man).
I was on the road with Stan Getz for a bit (might as well drop a name doncha' know.) He used to do an Alec Wilder medley...."South to a Warmer Place", "Blackberry Winter" and "Where is the One". The guys in the band would often request the medley just to hear him turn them inside out.
I used this idea later on.....instead of picking Alec's more known compositions like "While We're Young" and "I'll Be Around", Stan chose his more obscure material.
I kinda did some research of major composer's more obscure material. Came up with some damn nice stuff nobody seemed to know about. It's fun to announce a Cole Porter medley and throw some tunes out that most people have hardly ever heard.

[davidAaronCarte]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

It's fun to announce a Cole Porter medley and throw some tunes out that most people have hardly ever heard.

Ouch, that's sneaky

[Blueszilla]

What's cool about doing tunes in the same key is ending one tune that is the beginning of the next, the segue is easy, especially if you keep going and do a third or even a fourth. The set goes by quickly if you're doing a tune(s) that lasts 15 minutes!

[Menacewarf]

The main group I play with has been doing these occasionaly latley. We play django type stuff so the medley we have done most is of a bunch of minor jams. Swing 48...a fast one, Minor Blues...for spookieness....and then Douce Ambiance and Darkeyes so we can try and feel euro .

Like you said Blues it adds some contintity to the set but more importantly, ****S with the audiance. The expression on people's face for the first few beats in a new key and tempo is great enough alone, but then watching them ease up again as they make the transition to the new tune is piceless.

The best Medleys are the spontanious ones where one band member suddenly says in place of any pause after a tune "**** you guys I'm playing this ****. Join in if you like"

We also have been trying a slower swing tune (lulus swing) going from e-flat (6251) and vamping for a while and then dripping in halfsteps a few times to C and then hit a break into a fast rythm changes (swing 42).

Jeez...do you know the expression drunk dile? Is their a "drunk TB post" expression?

"Menacing?"

ok ok Im done....for real....



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