If I Had You (trio live)

[JazzPadd]

This old standard from the 1920s first came to my attention from, of all places, a cartoon. I can't recall which and when, but it was a lilting ditty with cats and other animals playing various instruments. I later found that Benny Goodman made it a signature song. Digging into other old recordings, it seems it began as a vocal favorite, rendered by many of the greats, including Rudy Vallee and Frank Sinatra. Several jazz guitarists recorded it in the 1950s and 1960s, including Tal Farlow and Kenny Burrell. There are so many takes on it, but what really made me want to try learning this song was recent live performances by the Duke Robillard Trio, and Bucky Pizzarelli with Frank Vignola and Tommy Emmanuel.

As an "amateur" musician (in the sense of Merrifield "the pleasures of doing what you love"), I'm not putting myself in the company of the greats mentioned above, but it's nice to have kindred spirit through this song done so wonderfully by so many. I thought there must be something interesting worth pursuing. After working on it at home for fun, I tried calling it at jam sessions. That led to a gig at a regional street jazz festival, for which the leader asked each of us to suggest a song or two. "If I Had You" was my first choice. We did it as a guitar trio and I'm playing my 1970s Gibson Johnny Smith into a Henriksen Blu Six and this was recorded by an audience member on a smartphone. I hope you enjoy it!

[brent.h]

I love this tune! Nice playing!

I wish I could meet more musicians in my area who enjoy playing these tunes.