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Double Bass Tunes you love to hate (DB forum thread) - 2013 Edition

Huy Nguyen

Huy Nguyen

Official Forum Flunkee
Supporting Member
Mar 16, 2004
6,521
2,103
Richmond, CA
#1
Some tunes are downright annoying. Yeah, it's probably because I dont' spend enough time with them or what not, but I've been avoiding them. Some are weird, some are really cliche', etc etc.

So What
Polka Dots and Moonbeams
Whims of Chambers (sorry I'm not the biggest PC fanboy)
Don't get around much anymore

Of course I need to learn to love these and will be on the list to learn next. What do you love to hate?
 
#3
So What played really badly with at least one member of the band missing the change to Eb every chorus is one I can live without. When its done right its amazing, but when everyones lost it sucks! .... oh and what about Impressions. . that's even more likely to go off some where weird!

....Don't get me started about musicians missing the last 4 bars of F Minor from Cantaloupe Island. :-)
 
#8
Funny, just had an experience with this topic over the weekend.

"My Little Suede Shoes." I don't know if I've just never played it with the right people, but it's always felt like musical quicksand to me. Nothing good ever happens/can never seem to get anything to happen with that tune. It got called at the top of the second set on Saturday. I thought, "Man, I always hated this tune, but it's been a really long time since I've played it. Maybe I'll have a different perspective on it now."

I don't.
 
#9
Songs that I hate to play :

The Girl from Ipanema
A Night In Tunisia (because a lot of guys I've jammed with completely butcher this song)
So What (at the tempo on Kind of Blue because I know someone is gonna miss the change to Eb)
My Favorite Things (It's been called at least 5 times with one group I play in and it always turns out to be a disaster)
Giant Steps (It's always terrible from every group I've been in that has tried it)


Tunes I love to play :

St.Thomas
Donna Lee
Ceora
Oleo
In A Sentimental Mood
Billie's Bounce
Inner Urge
Joy Spring
Ornithology
My One And Only Love
So What (But at the tempo on Dexter Gordon's Stable Mable... here's a link me forever to learn it at that tempo and clean, NHOP make's it sound easy)
My Romance


Personally I enjoy listening to all these tunes.
 
#11
Heh. The Van Morrison mention makes me think of Moondance. *gag*
Also makes me think of Moonglow, which I have a partial aversion to. All those tunes make me think of wedding gigs and other tunes like Satin Doll (which I do know).

Yeah, also ppl attempting Giant Steps at tempos beyond their ability is equally torturous as those trying to show off.
 
#12
I’m with you with Polka Dots. I don’t typically care for tunes that don’t go anywhere unexpected harmonically. Even East of the Sun has an unexpected transition for a couple of bars. Fly Me to the Moon, Witchcraft, and These Foolish Things are on my hit-list, and I’m not too crazy about Blue Bossa, although I love Henderson’s solo on the tune. Moondance, I will do my best to persuade the leader otherwise. I suppose I cringe but comply for Watermelon Man and Cantaloupe Island because if you get a good groove they can be fun.

I’ve played Girl from Ipanema literally thousands of times, and I still get more from it, especially going back to the Getz recording. It was a masterful recording of a brilliantly composed tune IMO. To fully appreciate Girl, I think you have to be able to sing the bridge in tune. Not as easy as you might think. Not too many Jobim compositions I don’t enjoy. Or Horace Silver, another favorite composer.

I think tunes reveal themselves when you get into them deeply, studying the definitive recordings and really getting to know the tune. After that exercise, the tunes that just have a nice hook but little else to offer I find boring.
 
#14
Hearing Sonny Rollins reach moments of Universal Poetic Beauty on any number of trite and pedestrian vehicles has made me rethink how I classify compositions as "trite" or "pedestrian".

It ain't the song, it's the singer.
 
#15
Blue Bossa is another example of where it all depends on who you're playing with. If the guys on the stand can't make a melody to save their lives, it's a terrible tune. There's really nowhere to hide - no fancy changes to obscure how badly you suck or that all you know is how to play like a robot.
 
#16
Diddy, come on. Polkadots has a beautiful lyric. Learning the lyrics to these tunes really opened them up for me, but then again, some people hate chocolate. Go figure.

That being said, if I never play Softly or Little Sunflower again, I'll die a happy man.

Also, as usual, Ed is on point. Listen to Ray Charles play You Are My Sunshine. Only the shoddy carpenter blames his tools.
 
#17
A saxophone playing friend of mine once reminded me of something I said at a jam session years ago. He had asked to play Stella and then said "you're probably sick of playing that, would you rather play Giant Steps instead?". My response was "Tunes don't bother me Ron, people do!". Generally for me I agree with Ed, it ain't the song, it's the singer. Who I am playing with matters MUCH more than the song. I would much rather be playing Satin Doll with people I like and that play well than be playing anything "hip" with someone who has something to prove. The feeding on Giant Steps that Chris mentioned is something I can certainly live without!
 
#18
hdiddy said:
Heh. The Van Morrison mention makes me think of Moondance. *gag*
Also makes me think of Moonglow, which I have a partial aversion to. All those tunes make me think of wedding gigs and other tunes like Satin Doll (which I do know).

Yeah, also ppl attempting Giant Steps at tempos beyond their ability is equally torturous as those trying to show off.
Click to expand...

LOL! When my last band's band leader added Moondance to the set list during a rehearsal, I told him he'd be playing it alone. When he called the tune on our next gig, I turned off my amp and sat down until the song was over. Hate that song.
 
#19
chicagodoubler said:
Diddy, come on. Polkadots has a beautiful lyric. Learning the lyrics to these tunes really opened them up for me, but then again, some people hate chocolate. Go figure.
Click to expand...
There's a great video by Jane Ira Bloom, Fred Hersch and Drew Gress doing a clinic on the ballad. Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zznlnwdnj1k

Somewhere in there, Fred states that he dislikes the lyrics to Polka dots. He said they're terrible or somesuch. I think they're cheesy too, but w/e. My SO would be soooooo thrilled if I told her that I think she has a beautiful pug-nose. I can hear it now... "what?!? you think I look like a dog!!!!" :hmm:

I'd find that part in the vid but it's taking too long. The hour long clinic is def worth your time tho.

Anyways, yeah, this thread is an attempt to be a little tongue and cheek to poke fun at tunes/people/situations. By no means are any tunes actually "bad" but rather that we suck at playing them well and/or come up with excuses to make them better. Or we're just simply scarred by someone's terrible attempt at it.
:hiding:

Yeah, Little Sunflower can be excruciating. There are a number of those too... Song for My Father can be one of those.

This is my fav trite Sonny tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enWgnptvDO0

I'd take any of these "hated" tunes with a great player vs. a complex tune with a bad player any day of the week!!!

Please find your catharsis here: How many other "groaners" can you guys come up with?
 
#20
I see a few mentions for "Girl from Ipanema" - this is one of mine, but really it's not the song but rather any gentle bossa nova, where the drummer starts laying down this heavy beat that just stays static throughout and is their idea of what "Latin" should sound like! :p
 

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