May 2019 - Prelude to a Kiss

**M-ster** · 04-30-2019, 11:16 AM

Our standard for May 2019 will be Prelude to a Kiss (Duke Ellington, 1938).

Background:
Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Prelude to a Kiss)

(Two Ellington tunes in a row?

Strayhorn really was a genius, no?)

**gtrplrfla** · 04-30-2019, 11:29 AM

A great choice and an example of Ellington's chromaticism. A chordal work out, for certain !
I found this version by Eddie Duran , which I think is beautifully done.

**ragman1** · 04-30-2019, 03:30 PM

I was just looking at it... very weird tune in parts. Still, there's always a way.

**M-ster** · 04-30-2019, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by gtrplrfla

A great choice and an example of Ellington's chromaticism. A chordal work out, for certain !
I found this version by Eddie Duran , which I think is beautifully done.

There's a solo version by Joe Pass, too, that's nice. But, let's hear you do it, gtrplrfla!

**Bahnzo** · 05-01-2019, 01:12 AM

Originally Posted by gtrplrfla

I found this version by Eddie Duran , which I think is beautifully done.

Not only is that very nice, but he's wearing a puffy, pirate shirt. Seinfeld might not agree, but I think that's cool.

And just to actually post something besides snarkiness...a Jim Hall version.

**Irez87** · 05-01-2019, 02:01 AM

I'm still learning the in's and out's of Sophisticated Lady.

I still think Satin Doll is a cool tune to play and solo over--still not sure why it is always classified as an easy tune...

Prelude to a Kiss is a haunting melody.

If I could only play jazz tunes by one composer for the rest of my life--it would be Billy Strayhorn tunes.

Dig that Mood Indigo quote by Jim Hall!

Another moving tune that I've played on occasion is Chelsea Bridge--those augmented harmonies and what a melody there as well.

And I still get chills when Johnny Hartman sings Lush Life on the Hartman/Coltrane album!

**medblues** · 05-01-2019, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by Bahnzo

Not only is that very nice, but he's wearing a puffy, pirate shirt. Seinfeld might not agree, but I think that's cool.

And just to actually post something besides snarkiness...a Jim Hall version.

All Across the City (the album) is my desert island album.

**Bahnzo** · 05-02-2019, 01:21 AM

Originally Posted by medblues

All Across the City (the album) is my desert island album.

I've been listening to pieces of it on Youtube (Spotify doesn't have it) and it's real nice. His tone and playing are supreme.

**Roberoo** · 05-04-2019, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by gtrplrfla

A great choice and an example of Ellington's chromaticism. A chordal work out, for certain !
I found this version by Eddie Duran , which I think is beautifully done.

Mighty fine playing... and those cuffs are fabulous if you are one of the three musketeers!

**lawson-stone** · 05-04-2019, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by ragman1

Getting round it's not a problem, doing something more interesting with it as a chord-melody probably is :-)

Part of the problem is that the tune has already incorporated compositionally the tritone subs and chromaticism that we typically use for variety and improvisation. I enjoy chord-melody playing of this tune, but I can't do much with melodic improvisation yet.

**fathand** · 05-04-2019, 05:56 PM

This song is not that hard if you use the right arrangement. That said, I haven't learned it yet but Steve Crowell has a really nice arrangement. Here's Dick's take on his piece, youtube. ~Cheers!

**ragman1** · 05-04-2019, 05:59 PM

Man you seem to have a low tolerance on the boredom front.

I do, you're right. I've played this now several times and... what can I say? I wasn't bored with Satin Doll, that was fun. This one, not so much.

I've already done a CM. All the right sounds, etc, but a bit so what. Probably the way I play them :-)

That new version above has been reharmonised with tritones. It's acceptable because it echoes the chromatic melody lines.

**lawson-stone** · 05-05-2019, 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by ragman1

I do, you're right. I've played this now several times and... what can I say? I wasn't bored with Satin Doll, that was fun. This one, not so much.

I've already done a CM. All the right sounds, etc, but a bit so what. Probably the way I play them :-)

That new version above has been reharmonised with tritones. It's acceptable because it echoes the chromatic melody lines.

Just kidding around with you!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

**ragman1** · 05-05-2019, 06:01 AM

Originally Posted by lawson-stone

Just kidding around with you!

No, no, it's important. Some tunes hit the spot and it affects how you play them. Really, Prelude is basically just quite a sweet tune that's been spiced up a bit with syncopation in the bridge and chromatic runs. But really it's fairly basic.

**ragman1** · 05-06-2019, 10:25 AM

Here you go. Tune starts at 2.32.

**gtrplrfla** · 05-06-2019, 12:15 PM

I thank you for the invitation, but I haven't the equipment necessary , just an old acoustic and a vast music collection !

**gtrplrfla** · 05-06-2019, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by M-ster

There's a solo version by Joe Pass, too, that's nice. But, let's hear you do it, gtrplrfla!

I thank you for the invitation, but I lack the necessary equipment and only possess an old acoustic round-hole
and an enviable music collection !

**lawson-stone** · 05-11-2019, 05:17 PM

So here's my shot at this tune. The chord-melody for the head I first learned in the 1990's using the Crowell arrangement DutchBopper shared above, but I've drifted a long way from it in the mean time. The attempt at improvisation could be better, but I decided I wanted to try, and post it, even though this is where I always fall short. For now I just seem to land on arpeggios. I guess it could be worse.

I'm playing this 1970's Aria Pro II PE180 *(L5ces clone, and a fantastic one) through a 1960's Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve Head, and using the 2 10" speakers in the Yamaha G100-210 as the cabinet. It's a very nice combination! This old 6L6 powered Silvertone is a lot of fun to play through.

**M-ster** · 05-11-2019, 07:09 PM

I still have Satin Doll to complete, but here's my Prelude ...

http://www.noiseinthebasement.com/mp...0kiss%2001.mp3

**ragman1** · 05-14-2019, 09:20 AM

Hi Bahnzo -

Well, it took a bit of time but not much if you know the subs. You remember all that minorisation stuff.

On the first effort, not very good, I saw the first two bars as a run-down to F, the second as a run-down to Dm, and the next as a run-down to C. So I just played major scales, I think. The bridge was just E and G major, G because playing the relative major over the minor works (F#m7b5/B7b9 = Em = G maj). The dissonance doesn't matter as long as it resolves. That's the theory anyway :-)

Then I thought it was slow enough to do something with each bar using subs, mostly minor triads for altered sounds over the doms, so D7 (Ebm) - G7 (Abm) - C7 (C#m) - FM7 - B7 (Fm, alt sub off the 3rd) - E7 (Fm) - A7 (Bbm) - Dm. Most of those minor subs represent alt scales/melodic minors so that gives you more notes than a bland triad so you can do lines. I was probably lucky it worked.

The bluesy one used different subs and turned them into blues pentatonics a lot - D7 (Ebm blues) - G7 - C7 (Am, 13 sound) - FM7 (Dm) - B7 (Bm blues) - E7 (Dm, b9 sound) - A7 (C7, relative maj) - Dm.

That's the idea. Takes a bit of experimentation but it's easier once you get into it.

**Bahnzo** · 05-14-2019, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by ragman1

Takes a bit of experimentation but it's easier once you get into it.

That's true. I'm still working on the thread Lawson posted(btw Lawson, very nice take up there, re: Prelude) about TWNBAY, experimenting with different ideas while trying to keep the melody in mind. I keep telling myself I'm going to work on these monthly standards...and then I get sidetracked.

**andyb** · 05-23-2019, 09:43 AM

Here is my go at the tune.

andyb

**lawson-stone** · 05-23-2019, 07:39 PM

What I'm enjoying about "Prelude" is that it gives a great workout for dominant-7th chords in a cycle pattern. I've never been good at linking arpeggios so I decided to make this tune a little project in doing that.

**mr. beaumont** · 05-23-2019, 08:06 PM

Lawson...

Well, first of all, I like your arrangement of the head enough that I think I'll learn it from this video.

I think the biggest thing for you to work on here is time. You're rushing on the head, and then floating a bit on the solo.

You settle in a bit on the second chorus, but then you pull out some of those lines from a book...which are just terrible. The lines are terrible in the first place, not your playing, and they're not YOU.

When you play YOU you always sound great. Put the books away and just play. You're far better than mediocre, you certainly dont suck.

**lawson-stone** · 05-24-2019, 05:46 AM

Thanks Mr. B. You have a great gift for truly constructive criticism that I appreciate very much. As I said in the post, one thing I'm "drilling" on in this is arpeggios, so the 2nd chorus has some mechanical parts. I'd love to know what lines specifically you think are terrible so I can banish them from my life forever. I don't recollect any of them being from books, but some I do recall were just scale runs.

I am still trying to figure out what is actually "me" in my playing. Still not sure, but having fun flailing around in it.

Thanks for your substantive and helpful feedback!