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Hi Guys and Gals,
I am wondering has there been a thread for what most of you consider overplayed jazz songs, and at the same time how about underappreciated jazz songs? Just curious what the summary verdict has been on both sides of the question.
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07-28-2012 06:57 PM
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i'm answering as a musician and a deejay. i hate it when a brazilian asks to hear something from his country and the hapless musician (or deejay) plays "the girl from ipanema." arrgh!
some brazilians are better than others in hiding the inevitable eyeroll.
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Well, I'll tell ya what . . . I'd like to ask a question within this thread . . because this song definitely gets played far too seldom . . if at all. Back in the '80s . . there was a sports talk show host in the NY market . . Arthur Rust JR. The man was absolutely phenominal. He could tell you the day, minute and second a ball player hit a home run and how far it went. He closed his show with a wonderful line. "Yesterday's a cancelled check . . . tomorrow's a promisary note. Today is all the time we have. Spend it wisely". His show started out and ended with a Lee Morgan tune. Name that tune!!!
Last edited by Patrick2; 07-28-2012 at 09:58 PM.
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Overplayed: summertime
For female vocalists: fever. Seriously, if i never hear that tune again...
Underappreciated: i should care, the peacocks
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Underplayed: "Frame For The Blues" by Slide Hampton
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Overplayed: Anything that you can call in a jam session with absolutely no fear that anyone in the room can't play (Summertime and any Monk blues head spring immediately to mind).
Underplayed: Anything that makes everybody else reach for their fake charts when called.
Seriously underplayed: Anything complex enough that you can't call it in a jam session, because the arrangement needs to be worked out in advance.
Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite parts of jazz and blues culture is how easy it is for people to get together and jam without talking out tunes too much before hand (something I hated about organizing rock band rehearsals). But because everybody learns essentially the same set of first tunes, it sort of stifles creative growth a bit. I have well over a thousand tunes in my library of charts but there's much less incentive for me to learn, say, Deluge, no matter how much I like the tune, when I could be working on Oleo instead.
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probably one of my two favorite lee morgan tunes: "ceora" or "the sidewinder."
Originally Posted by Patrick2
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No . . . both are great tunes. But, this particular tune was a slow, laid back ballad . . . not a cooker. Damn, I wish I could remember it. Originally Posted by patskywriter
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Back in the late 60s early 70s to me the most overplayed tune was More. I don't think I ever played a gig without that tune. Also, Feelings. Chuck Barris once did a Gong Show where every contestant sang that tune. Made me sick. It was also over requested.
Underplayed, Midnight Sun, Early Autumn. I think I'm showing my age.
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Overplayed:
Blue Bossa. Seriously, that's enough already.
Impressions. Nobody wants to hear the same two chords for 15 minutes. Wait, that's exactly what an audience wants...
Underplayed:
Inner Urge. Pretty obvious why.
Four In One. Again, pretty obvious.
Donna Lee. Nobody ever summons the nads to agree to this one, even when it drags at a medium tempo.
Lazy Bird. I only ever played this with a group after it had been well rehearsed for weeks. Never heard it played again, but it's a damn shame.
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aren't any overplayed jazz tunes.
underplayed are all that can't be readily done without charts or discussion.
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Overplayed - Autumn Leaves and Spain.
Though there is a reason those tunes, and the ones mentioned above, are overplayed - everyone knows them, and they are nice tunes.
Something I personally love is hearing someone breathe new life into an old standard. Hearing Kreisberg play Summertime in 5 for example, Adam Rogers changing Cheryl into a 13 bar blues.
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i just remembered that lee morgan did a gorgeous version of "you go to my head." i'll bet that's it … ? Originally Posted by Patrick2
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I just googled it from The Gigleo album. That's definitely it. Not quite the version Art Rust JR. opened his show with . . . but, that's the tune for sure. I'm going to look for that version. The version on The Gigleo album was a little faster and a little but more out there. It was nice, for sure. But, the version that Art had sounded like it was recorded in a very comfortable living room after Lee and the band had just finished playing for the room and the audience, and they did this tune for themselves. Even if I didn't have the time to listen to Art's entire sports talk show . . I would make sure I made it there for the opening . . just to hear that tune . . or the half of it the show used anyway. I didn't even know at the time that I was destined to become a jazz fanatic!! Originally Posted by patskywriter
Thanks patsky!!!
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This reminded me of how I got my radio-education in jazz, from a show called "China's Jazz Thing," which aired from midnight to 5:30 out of Coral Gables, Florida. I was working the graveyard shift then, so I heard hundreds of hours--heck, thousands of hours--of good jazz there. He always closed his show with the Basie band's "Lil' Darlin'." Originally Posted by Patrick2
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"All Blues".
Please, let none of us call this tune again.
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"So What" gets played an awful lot around here as well as "Summertime" and "Autumn Leaves". I think there are so many old standards that people hardly ever play. Tunes like "If I Had You", "It's The Talk Of The Town", "This Is All I Ask" are very pretty tunes but don't get played much.
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I remember Art Rust Jr. from local NY tv - channel 4? But that would have been the 70's - didn't know he had a talk show or was a jazz fan. Originally Posted by Patrick2
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You could be correct on the era . . . might have been the '70s. Yeah, he had a radio talk show centered around sports. He was the best man! Very colorful . . . called Yankee Stadium "The Big Ball Orchard in The Bronx". Call Shea Stadium "Shea By The Bay". Spoke of the old time ball players as if he had met them all and was intimately friendly with them. He was the consumate professional and an absolute gentleman. Originally Posted by Solo Flight
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I guess it probably gets called way too much. But, as for listening . . . I could never get too much of this . . . . . Originally Posted by Thoughtfree
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I first get know Fever as instrumental (my ignorance in the past), and liked it. Then I discovered I knew this tune since a quarter century as a Madonna pop song. I think Madonna did her contribution on it, But you are right, a standard female interpretation easily could turn either boring either too much, no middle way. Makin' Whoopee is similar for me some way. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Madonna - Fever (Official Music Video) - YouTube
...and a surprise see this following one live from 1993, its a shame, but I enjoyed it
Someone really did his homework on the bigband, and the guitar too.
Madonna - Fever Live at Arsenio Hall 1000th Ep (May 13, 1993) - YouTubeLast edited by Gabor; 01-11-2020 at 12:55 PM.
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Sunny (guess if I meant overplayed or under appreciated)
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Amen. These are great tunes for a reason and it's up to us as musicians not to go on auto pilot when we play them. Girl From Ipanema is such a beautifully constructed tune it doesn't deserve to be relegated to the musical dustbin.Making new with old, it's the challenge with these songs
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The more you play with others, the more groaning and whining you'll hear when you call different standards. Everyone hates something different.
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If I were a Brazilian I most probably would not ask musicians I do not know well personally to play something 'from my country'. Originally Posted by patskywriter
Otherwise what would I expect? That they would be experts in Brazilian music?
Everyone does cliches in those situations.
And I believe most musicians at such requests are also good at hiding the eyeroll)))
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