Jonathan Stout chord melody playing and guitars !

**campusfive** · 10-14-2018, 10:38 PM

Two days until the session for my solo guitar record and I'm stoked because I've made great progress on tightening up and finalizing the arrangements and tune list. I'll be recording 4 historical "arranged" pieces (2 from the 1938 Reuss folio, 1 by Frank Victor for 1936, and a Roy Smeck piece from 1928), probably another 8-12 tunes of my own chord melody arrangements and chord solos. But I'm also excited to debut two of my own compositions that are very much steeped in the 1930's plectrum guitar tradition.

I'll be bringing my 1932 and 1939 L-5's to see what works better in the studio, and I'll probably do a couple passes of each tune on each guitar. I'm also planning to try using my Waterloo WL-14LTR for the Roy Smeck tune. I'll also bring my National and see if there's any tunes that it might fit.

**MarkRhodes** · 10-15-2018, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by sgosnell

There is no negativity in baseball. Hope springs eternal, and there is always next year.

And there's no crying in baseball either. ;o)

**campusfive** · 12-13-2018, 04:38 PM

Hello all,

Jonathan Stout chord melody playing and guitars !-sloppy-square-jpg

I'm excited to announce my solo CD is done and out for production!
It'll be released next Tuesday, 12/18 on Bandcamp, but you can check out the previews NOW here:
Pick It and Play It | Jonathan Stout
The CDs won't arrive until 12/21, so I can't guarantee Christmas delivery, but with bandcamp you do get an immediate digital download with every CD purchase. And it'll be on all the other digital services within a month.

I managed to get 15 tunes recorded - 4 historic swing-era arrangements, 2 original tunes, and 9 of my own chord melody arrangements of classic tunes:
1. Pickin' for Charlie - Jonathan Stout, 2018
2. Stompin' at the Savoy - Goodman/Sampson/Webb, 1936
3. Moonglow - Hudson/DeLange/Mills, 1934
4. Cheek to Cheek - Irving Berlin, 1935
5. Apartment G - Allan Reuss, 1938
6. It's Only a Paper Moon - Harold Arlen, 1933
7. Sunday - Miller/Styne/Cohn/Kreuger, 1926
8. Charlie's Lullabye - Jonathan Stout, 2018
9. Georgia on My Mind - Hoagy Carmichael, 1930
10. Itching Fingers - Roy Smeck, 1928
11. Ain't Misbehavin' - Waller/Brooks/Razaf, 1929
12. Pet Shop - Allan Reuss, 1938
13. Pick It and Play It - Frank Victor, 1936
14. Somebody Loves Me - George Gershwin, 1934
15. Over the Rainbow - Harold Arlen, 1938

I used a Waterloo WL-14L on "Itching Fingers", and the rest was about evenly split between my 1932 L-5 and 1939 L-5.
We used 6 ribbon mics (though 90% of what you hear is just a stereo pair of Ribbons) for a nice fat sound.
I'm very proud of it, and I hope you'll dig it.

Lastly, I'm planning to spend as much of January as it takes to finish writing a companion folio that will contain my original arrangements and tunes.

**clebergf** · 12-13-2018, 04:52 PM

Great Jonathan. I'm looking forward to hear this and for the folio.

**Rob MacKillop** · 12-13-2018, 05:00 PM

About time, Jonathan! Good luck with it. Love the graphics!

**Brion** · 12-13-2018, 09:10 PM

Congrats! I'll be picking this up ASAP.

**campusfive** · 12-13-2018, 11:42 PM

Alright the bandcamp store is OPEN:

Pick It and Play It | Jonathan Stout

And you can preview all the tracks now!

**clebergf** · 12-14-2018, 08:01 AM

This is so great Jonathan. Congrats.

I just need to do some lessons with you, please, start the Skype or exchanging videos lessons as soon as possible.

**djelley** · 12-14-2018, 07:23 PM

I’ve listened to most of this and I love it. I sometimes forget what real music sounds like in this age of pop garbage. Great work!

**campusfive** · 12-14-2018, 08:18 PM

Thanks guys!

Hey, so, I goofed actually published the album already instead of merely initiating a pre-sale.
So, yeah, feel free to buy it NOW. Oops.

**pcpicker47** · 12-14-2018, 08:48 PM

Thats great news ! I've been looking forward to getting my copy since you announced you were going to record one. I am sure I will enjoy it very much ! I wish you much success with the sales !

**Rob MacKillop** · 12-15-2018, 03:23 PM

My blog review of this great album (oh, I gave the game away - I like it!)

Album Review: Jonathan Stout – “Pick It And Play” – ArchtopGuitar.net

**TheGrandWazoo** · 12-15-2018, 06:19 PM

Finally! Someone recording a Frank Victor tune. Really looking forward to buying your recording. The sound samples sound great.

**rlrhett** · 12-15-2018, 07:13 PM

Bought it. Love it. Play it nonstop.

PS: did you say you were going to offer transcriptions of your arrangements? Not sure if that was this thread.

**Jerry Tubb** · 12-16-2018, 10:28 AM

Jonathan is such a fine player and nice guy. Most deserving of accolades!
On the Allan Ruess style Sunny Side of the Street, you really hear the influence of the plectrum banjo, on which many of those great players in the 30s started, then they swithed to guitar to keep up with the times, when Goodman brought in the swing era. The 1920s “rooty tooty” & “rat tat tat” rhythms are nicely played in correct syncopation. Kudos!
Jerry T

**KirkP** · 12-16-2018, 02:36 PM

Congratulations Jonathan! The samples are great. I’ve just got to decide whether to buy the digital version or splurge on the CD to get that beautiful graphic work.

**djelley** · 12-17-2018, 11:09 PM

Now you just need to write that technique book that we all want!

**Brion** · 12-18-2018, 05:01 PM

Picked this up today. Streamed the whole thing. Sounds great, I love it. I have transcribed a few of your arrangements off of YouTube including I got Rhythm, LA Fairytale and Stompin at the Savoy. I like the variation on SatS on your album. Did it evolve into the version you recorded or do you play it different each time? Just curious if your 'solo' sections are arranged completely or if you leave yourself room to improvise. Also, I'm curious if you plan on transcribing all of these pieces note for note in the matching folio you have planned and if it will be notated in standard as well as tablature. If so I am definitely going to buy it as well. I've learned a lot from the ones I've transcribed.

**campusfive** · 12-18-2018, 05:14 PM

Thanks for digging it.

To answer your question, most of the songs had improvised "solo" sections (not counting the "composed" pieces, such as my originals or the historical pieces from Smeck, Reuss, Victor, etc.).

The youtube clips tend to be the earliest stage in developing an arranged head and solo ideas - so there is often some evolution over time, refinement, added complications, etc. Plus, for the sake of recording them, I wanted to come up with some intros and endings to make it all little more complete.

All that said, two (I think) of the solos were composed, which I think is an important and overlooked part of swing-era jazz. The crafting of an improvised solo into a composed one, and repeating it is something that was very common in the pre-bop era. Charlie Christian, Lester Young, Cootie Williams, Sweets Edison, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong all had "bits" they would do on certain songs. And I think there's something to be said for the quality of crafting something that starts as improvised and refining it over time. Of course, like the way a stand up comedy routine needs to feel off-the-cuff to be believable, you then have the challenge of making the composition have a fresh life every time you play it. It's a different skill, to be sure, but a valid one.

The rest of the solos were improvised.

As far as the folio, I plan to transcribe to solos too.

**clebergf** · 12-18-2018, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by campusfive

All that said, two (I think) of the solos were composed, which I think is an important and overlooked part of swing-era jazz. The crafting of an improvised solo into a composed one, and repeating it is something that was very common in the pre-bop era. Charlie Christian, Lester Young, Cootie Williams, Sweets Edison, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong all had "bits" they would do on certain songs. And I think there's something to be said for the quality of crafting something that starts as improvised and refining it over time. Of course, like the way a stand up comedy routine needs to feel off-the-cuff to be believable, you then have the challenge of making the composition have a fresh life every time you play it. It's a different skill, to be sure, but a valid one.

This is something that I'm starting to try now. I think this is very important and it's nice to have a "skeleton" from a solo and try to add and try different things on it or just play it as it "needed to be".

Charlie Christian's solo on Stardust is one of my favorites solos from ever and I don't think that was improvised.

**Brion** · 12-18-2018, 08:39 PM

Thank you for taking the time to write that detailed answer. I appreciate it. I believe that improvisation usually occurs for me between ideas that have already been worked out previously. Kind of like new connections. After 35 years of playing music of many styles, I know that I better have starting and ending ideas in mind at the very least if I am to play something coherent.

**sgosnell** · 12-18-2018, 08:58 PM

Maybe Christian's solo on Stardust wasn't composed, but he played it almost note for note many times. From what I can deduce, he composed it, or at least played it, at a practice session and Benny liked it so much he had Christian perform it many times. This was common during the swing era.

**campusfive** · 12-19-2018, 02:31 PM

Stardust is my favorite example - bits and pieces likely improvised, and then strung together and honed over time until it was perfected and repeatable. Also, Charlie had another whole chorus on Stardust as well, and he played that chorus, followed by the more well known one on an after hours jam session recorded in 1939 in Minneapolis. That first chorus, was played by Charlie, or least part of it was, on a session for Una Mae Carlisle.

But I like the idea that in a mostly improvised medium, to occasionally make something crafted and concerted. Especially when you nail it. Things like the Illinois Jacquet solo to "Flying Home" become cannon for a reason.

**campusfive** · 12-19-2018, 02:40 PM

Stardust is my favorite example - bits and pieces likely improvised, and then strung together and honed over time until it was perfected and repeatable. Also, Charlie had another whole chorus on Stardust as well, and he played that chorus, followed by the more well known one on an after hours jam session recorded in 1939 in Minneapolis. That first chorus, was played by Charlie, or least part of it was, on a session for Una Mae Carlisle.

But I like the idea that in a mostly improvised medium, to occasionally make something crafted and concerted. Especially when you nail it. Things like the Illinois Jacquet solo to "Flying Home" become cannon for a reason.