JGBE Virtual Jam (Round 88) - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 09-19-2022, 05:42 PM

?..........

**grahambop** · 09-21-2022, 01:31 PM

I decided to try my hand at writing a horn arrangement for this to go with the guitar, thought it might sound cool. (I've been getting into this whole idea after doing Boplicity a while back, and studying the Birth of the Cool scores). Also I recently discovered a free plugin called SINE Player Big Band which has good horn samples, which looked like it might be good enough to do the job. So I wrote a chart in Finale, exported the midi files to Reaper, and plugged in the big band sounds. Seemed to work quite well!

The head arrangement was based on whatever I could pick out from the Jimmy Knepper arrangement on that Mingus Dynasty version. The rest of the arrangement is mine. (Piano, bass and drums are from BIAB). I decided to solo on both the 'head' changes and the original 'soloing' changes. (You can see me looking at the chart for the head changes, I nearly got lost there!)

**Boss Man Zwiebelsohn** · 09-21-2022, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by grahambop

[…] Also I recently discovered a free plugin called SINE Player Big Band which has good horn samples, which looked like it might be good enough to do the job.[…]

Thanks for the hint — might be a reason not to ditch my windows partition which is something I thought about recently. Playback sounds great, arrangement is great — and your playing and tone (as always) anyway.

**grahambop** · 09-21-2022, 03:16 PM

Thanks!

Yeah this plugin opens up a whole new can of worms/possibilities. Mind you it did take a lot of googling and tweaking to get it working properly in Reaper, and to find the best parameters to use.

I have to say the arranging thing is a great way to pass the time - took me about 3 days to write the charts!

**grahambop** · 09-21-2022, 03:39 PM

Actually this tune was my gateway from rock into jazz, I heard the Jeff Beck version and I liked the tune so much I ‘took the plunge’ and bought the Mingus Ah Hum album. Took me a while to get into all the other tunes on the album, but after that there was no looking back. (I did already know a bit about Mingus, simply because he got a big obituary in the Melody Maker paper which I read - he seemed to have a certain popularity in rock circles, what with the Joni Mitchell album etc.)

That was 40 years ago...

**ragman1** · 09-21-2022, 05:32 PM

Nice, Graham, obviously a lot of work and you really made something tuneful out of those changes. Not so easy.

**Boss Man Zwiebelsohn** · 09-21-2022, 06:41 PM

Just discovered this nice version. The singer uses Joni’s vocalese lyrics which span over the solo changes as well. There is a great Rhodes solo (that Nord keyboard sounds really amazing), too. I found out that the keyboarder whom I had not known died at 22 in 2012 and this was obviously his last concert.

**John A.** · 09-21-2022, 07:28 PM

Very cool, Graham. Goodbye Porkpie Hat was also one of my first jazz tunes, also via Jeff Beck.

**grahambop** · 09-21-2022, 07:30 PM

My son saved up and blew some of his wages on one of those Nord stage pianos, costly but they sound really great!

I remember hearing Joni’s live version on the radio once, I really liked it. Apparently they filmed it too. Good band with Brecker and Jaco.

Her lyrics are neat too, I like the ‘put them in an underdog position’ which is a reference to Mingus’ book ‘Beneath the Underdog’.

Reminds me that guitarist Henry Robinett used to post here sometimes, he was related to Mingus I believe.

Anyway here’s the Joni live version:

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 09-21-2022, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by grahambop

My son saved up and blew some of his wages on one of those Nord stage pianos, costly but they sound really great!

They'e also bulletproof. We've had a Nord Stage 2 since they came out in 2011, and it's still good as new despite being used for 3 or 4 shows a week and thrown around every time an act decides they need to rearrange the stage. The club has touring acts Fridays and Saturdays, most of whom are less than respectful of the keyboards and backlines they're provided. Our 2 year old Hammond XK5 Pro has already been in the shop for 3 weeks because of abuse - but after a decade, the Nord is as sound as the dollar and as solid as a bank vault (and about as heavy). You really do get what you pay for!

**wzpgsr** · 09-21-2022, 11:54 PM

Bringing up the rear, as always.

**Boss Man Zwiebelsohn** · 09-22-2022, 12:07 AM

Originally Posted by grahambop

[…] Anyway here’s the Joni live version: […]

With Pat Metheny showing an important rule: Sometimes it is good to lay out.

**Boss Man Zwiebelsohn** · 09-22-2022, 12:23 AM

This video from the official Montreux channel shows Mingus seems to have used the head changes in later years for soloing (w/ Benny Bailey and Gerry Mulligan).