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Double Bass The New Standard

J

jolkszost

Jun 10, 2009
31
0
35
Detroit, MI
#1
Hey all, I was wondering what modern covers you guys play along side real book tunes. I saw Robert Glasper cover Smells like Teen Spirit, and i know Brad Mehldau and the bad plus do as well. My group covers Teen Spirit, Lithium, Eleanor Rigby, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite, Michelle, Moondance, Money, and a couple more beatles' tunes.

Audiences always respond when you play stuff they know, so I wanted to see what you guys were doing in that vein.
 
#4
A word of caution. To me 'jazz' versions of pop tunes run the risk sounding like elevator music if they are not arranged in an interesting way. Even the Bad Plus doing Nirvana ends up sounding 'cute'. I play with a groups that does a fair amount of pop material but everything is highly arranged.

like my arrangement of Let's Get It Started (pardon the sound effects, this is the only free recording of it I could find).

I'm not saying we are always successful but we do You Win Again, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Borderline, King Of Pain, and some others. Agreed that it helps the audience connect.
 
#9
Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me" album has a some good tracks. As written before, songs with strong melody, harmony and lyrics can be played successfully in many different styles. If said song has acoustic origins, even better. Try checking out more "chick" tunes. You know, 'girl with a guitar' or 'girl with a piano' type folk-pop-rock songs. If your jazz band has a singer delivering lyrics, a lot of recent tunes will work well.
 
#11
I've done this for years but only in the right setting. On a society gig you may be able to get away with some Beatles and Stevie Wonder ala Isn't She Lovely. Please remember that "Shadow of your Smile" is just barely older than a lot of the repertoire the jazzholes call into question. A good tune is a good tune. Period. Play "Blackhole Sun" on a bar gig and see how the girls all of a sudden start paying attention...:smug:

We can also fall into the trapping of trying to make a tune that isn't as good more relevant by cramming "modern" harmony into it. There is a way in which these over-arranged versions of "newer" tunes can sound convoluted and overwrought and leave a bad taste in EVERYONE'S mouth.

The only real way to know is to try them. Miles got crap for playing pop tunes. For most of the history of "jazz," pop tunes were all we played on the majority of our gigs.

I actually carry a "pop book" in the car just in case the client asks for us to "pick it up." Wedding planners and event coordinators love hiring bands that are flexible enough to whisper behind cocktail hour and then pack the floor once the bar opens up. My groups do that all the time. Ca-ching.
 
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#12
chicagodoubler said:
Please remember that "Shadow of your Smile" is just barely older than a lot of the repertoire the jazzholes call into question..........

Miles got crap for playing pop tunes. For most of the history of "jazz," pop tunes were all we played on the majority of our gigs.

Wedding planners and event coordinators love hiring bands that are flexible enough to whisper behind cocktail hour and then pack the floor once the bar opens up. My groups do that all the time. Ca-ching.
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I don't remember anyone stating in this thread that they do not play any pop tunes or that they have an aversion to playing pop tunes written within the last thirty or fourty years.
In point of fact, Marcus and Fingers were very specific about stating their desire not to play a specific pop tune. However, leave it to someone to make a broad blanket statement appear to slag others and call others names; "Jazzholes" as well as generally take a lighthearted subject and make it something it was not intended to be.

I live in the land of weddings; Hawaii! We play them all the time and make some rather good cake doing so. Obviously we have to be able to get people up and dancing. There are all kinds of great pop tunes that can be played.... Moondance is not one of them!:spit:
 
#13
Fingers I do agree that it is easy to cross the line into muzak, but I don't think that The Bad Plus covering Nirvana came across as cute, but that might just be me. Pat Harris what specific songs have you arranged? I am not looking to steal anyone's repertoire but I would like to see others' opinions on how audiences and other musicians have responded to pop covers, what specifically flies and what doesn't. Moondance won't go away though, whether you are tired of it or not, there will be requests and you gotta make tips!
 
#16
Treyzer said:
In point of fact, Marcus and Fingers were very specific about stating their desire not to play a specific pop tune.
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Thank you. Trey, as always, has his ears open. I love pop music. I just hate Moondance, and if you ask me to play it, I'll just rip out my own spleen or a testicle and give it to you rather than play it again.

Oh, crap... I just realized what tune Trey's gonna request next time he's at one of my gigs..... :D
 
#17
I play with a bunch of different pianists who just grab tunes out of the air and play them. Last week, somebody just played TLC's "Waterfalls" outta the blue, and it's no different if you play a "standard" or whatever. I can't remember the last time I discussed a "set list" with anybody I play with. On the the day after Nate Dogg died a couple of weeks ago, we just did "Regulate" without even thinking about it. We played Ellington right after, what's the point? It can't be any different than the way the previous generation of "jazzholes" did it.
 
#18
Jolkszost,

The tunes that I've done that get performed with regularity down here are:

"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" - Bob Dylan (by far the most requested)
"Don't Let It Bring You Down" - Neil Young
"You Can Never Hold Back Spring" - Tom Waits
"Hey Joe" - Billy Roberts
"Bird Song" - Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter
"Dead in the Water" - David Gray
"Wild Flowers" - Ryan Adams

There are definitely some liberties taken with respect to harmonies and song structure to make the tunes more "user friendly" to the jazz idom.
 
#20
Marcus Johnson said:
Thank you. Trey, as always, has his ears open. I love pop music. I just hate Moondance, and if you ask me to play it, I'll just rip out my own spleen or a testicle and give it to you rather than play it again.

Oh, crap... I just realized what tune Trey's gonna request next time he's at one of my gigs..... :D
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Word. Luckily the trip to Chicago might protect my testes. Moondance is not a bad tune but it is overplayed, badly and becomes the anthem for drunk white people... much like Mustang Sally. Too many bad associations... :bawl:

To me a good tune is a good tune. The only time that the new standard thing rubs me the wrong way is when it seems forced. Mehldau has done a bunch of nice versions of pop tunes but I have to skip over his take on Wonderwall whenever I listen to that disc. The Bad Plus makes them their own but certain tunes make me think "well that's clever" which is not the feeling I want when I listen to music. Plus their originals are SO strong I get a little bored when Iron Man comes on. Maybe that's just me.

I've arranged a few pop tunes for jazz and the main thing I listen for is a melody that really grabs me. Harmonization, meter, feel, etc can be tweaked but if the melody is not there I don't feel compelled to use my time arranging that tune.
 
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