The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Harold Arlen's Over The Rainbow must be considered one of the best known songs worldwide I would suspect. This morning I happened to be listening and playing along with a couple of versions on YouTube. I rather like this ballad, but the question arose in my mind as to whether it is truly a song that is a "jazz" tune. I don't know if there is such a thing as "legitimate" jazz criteria, but what do you guys and gals think?

    I certainly love Keith Jarrett's trio version, but then again, Keith can make anything sound amazing. Do you guys ever play this tune at gigs or if you don't perform out, do you consider it fodder for playing jazz?

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Hell yeah!

  4. #3

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    I prefer Someday My Prince Will Come.


  5. #4

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    ask bud powell!

  6. #5
    Jazz composition, I would assume, is its own thing. But any popular song , or unpopular for that matter, can be interpreted in a jazz STYLE. Songs of the Great American songbook aren't "jazz tunes " mostly, though they are very often interpreted "in a jazz style" by jazzers . If you play them from a real book, You're at least playing closer to jazz harmony, because all of the "re-harmonizations" of these tunes, in a real book, are more jazz-oriented. ( by the way, the changes in the real books are mostly NOT the ORIGINAL changes.) I would think that JAZZ is, first and foremost, a STYLE, with less respect to composition, at least the way it's being talked about here, with the Great American songbook tunes.

    In my mind, this is a major area which needs disambiguation on this forum. There's a kind of predominating idea, which I used to partly hold to myself, ...

    Basically, something like : "Songs which comprise the Great American songbook (or songs in the real book) = JAZZ." This simply isn't true. You can play the chords from the real book and not be playing in a jazz style, and you can play all sorts of tunes which AREN'T really considered "jazz tunes", and absolutely play them in a jazz style.
    Last edited by matt.guitarteacher; 06-28-2016 at 12:51 PM.

  7. #6

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    I sure the hell hope so.

    and if you want to hear a proper jazz version, like Joe says...check out Bud Powell playing it. That's the version I have in my head when ever I play this one

    this is a nice to tune play for people who are stuck in a nice restraunt and forced to listen to a jazz combo

  8. #7

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    Yes!

  9. #8
    destinytot Guest
    I find everything about Over The Rainbow beautiful - music, lyrics, message... if I have my way, it's ballads all night (which is what I like about making background music for diners).

    I often find myself disappointed by interpretations of favourite ballads (insipid lines that stray beyond the bounds of what I think of as beautiful), but this Ted Greene performance is anything but disappointing.

    I find it beautiful (on many levels):

  10. #9
    destinytot Guest
    OMG... Paging Mr Grasso...

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by destinytot
    if I have my way, it's ballads all night
    You're lucky, Mike. I have to resort to collective bargaining to get my drummer to agree to more than a couple ballads a night

    its probably my fault for running our band like a democracy

  12. #11

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    Bud's version is a little frenetic for my taste but obviously he had a lesson or two. Matt, I agree with you on the thing about what makes a tune "jazzy", though I don't think I could define it. There is a difference between Ted Greene's beautiful and relatively straightforward interpretation and Bud Powell's.


    I don't know why, but every now and then I just need to be reassured that I'm studying/playing jazz rather than just pop music. Not that it matters much in some ways. Maybe it's all just ....music.

  13. #12

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    Btw, Nate, if you can keep Powell's version running in your head while you are playing this tune, you got it going on! I can hear Ted's but I confess not Bud's in my old brain.

  14. #13

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    There's no such thing as a "jazz tune". But some tunes are easier or more satisfying to play in a jazz style. "Jazz style" to me means a high degree of improvisation, reharmonizing, taking great liberties with the melody & phrasing, playing alternate melodies, and introducing complex usually syncopated rhythms. O. T. R. seems like a great tune to play in that style.

    Since it's such a familiar and loved tune, some listeners might be annoyed if you screw around with it too much. But if your interpretation of it is consistent with the message in the lyric I think most people will accept it.

  15. #14

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    Generally, anything a jazz artist does becomes, momentarily, a jazz tune.

    The Percy Faith Orchestra or Yanni doing Falling Grace would not be jazz.

    Wayne Shorter doing Over The Rainbow would most likely be jazz.

  16. #15

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    At my younger daughter's middle school they gave a final music concert. Stage band, jazz bands and combos. One of the combos did their own version of "hotline bling" and it was very cool.

  17. #16

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    I'm gonna have to check up on "hotline bling" - I have no idea what that song is .....

  18. #17

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    Some really great tunes have suffered from various abuses over the years (Girl From Ipanema, Misty, Blue Bossa) enough so that calling one can trigger some kind of jazz musician wedding gig disaster PTSD. I suppose "Over The Rainbow" could suffer from that. But check out what Sonny Rollins did with the changes (no bridge).



    PK

  19. #18

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    Here' a version by the Oscar Peterson Trio with Herb Ellis on guitar. (Not that you hear a lot of Herb on this take. The trio did an album of Harold Arlen tunes.)


  20. #19
    destinytot Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Nate Miller
    You're lucky, Mike. I have to resort to collective bargaining to get my drummer to agree to more than a couple ballads a night

    its probably my fault for running our band like a democracy
    I think it's just me.
    I usually play solo at restaurants - and when I do sing and play with a drummer, I often find it too loud!
    https://www.facebook.com/laferrerare...6320252164852/

  21. #20

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    Mark - That was a beautiful version as played by Oscar and his talented trio. True, Herb was in the background, but he complemented Oscar just fine. And of course Ray Brown knows his instrument.

    Just being reflective here a moment. I am self taught on piano over many years of rudderless exploration. And I find myself actually mastering piano. Simply put, I just play along to the masters like Oscar. And to tell the truth, it is one of the most thrilling things to see progress in this direction. Almost on a par with playing guitar.

    Don't misunderstand. Oscar can rest in peace as he won't be threatened by my version. But just as with guitar, if you keep at it long enough the music just starts to emerge. I only wish I had started as a youngster. It's a beautiful thing.