Double Bass "Failing" by Tom Johnson

[FrankDeets]

Has anyone here played "Failing"? If so did you like it? What are your thoughts? I have played it before and was going to wipe the dust off again for a concert in January.

 

[J.R.]

Bonjour, Frank, you play "Failing" or "Échec"?

I'm not a bassist, but a big fan of Tom Johnson's music, and have collected many recordings of that piece, official or not, and in several languages and versions (Japanese, Dutch..., for marimba, guitar...), but have never heard it in French...

 

[FrankDeets]

I am playing "Failing" but I know of Tom Johnson's transcriptions of pieces in different languages. Hope to talk with you more in the future.

 

[J.R.]

And I also hope to be able to hear your version in the future...

By the way, I read once that Mr. Johnson had noticed that bassists did not usually follow his instructions about the last and improvised part, that is the references to the performance of the piece. He was not upset, anyway, as there are some really funny improvisations (or not, one never knows), like that of Mr. Barker.

Do you really improvise at the end, or cheat a little?

 

[J.R.]

It's not a solo, but the bassist has also a hard job both as player and "conductor" in TJ's Recycled ostinato:

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(Sorry I didn't see your mp until now, already answered)

 

[J.R.]

Probably, the funniest final ever of Failing, in Italian: