| Author | Message | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7673 Registered: 5-2002 |
Today is the 50th anniversary of an exceedingly important tune in the history of music. So What | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 2122 Registered: 6-2002 |
Dave, "exceedingly important" as it is (arguably) the first tune where the bass takes the lead? | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 724 Registered: 11-2004 |
I totally agree and there have been a few cover versions...Ronny Jordan does a funky version with a cool swing part in the middle. Played it many times, the arrangement sometimes catches other people out if they miss the semitone change to Ab. A great tune that has stood the test of time. | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 2123 Registered: 6-2002 |
It will also catch the bassist out if you're playing it at the Ronny Jordan speed, and you forget that the theme starts just after the 1 on the very last measure of the AABA form. Ah - the memories ... | ||
| pas
Intermediate Member Username: pas Post Number: 166 Registered: 3-2003 |
Check out the version by Brian Melvin on his disc "Standards Zone"...more upbeat than Miles version. Oh, and they have a bass player on that session who is not too shabby...Jaco Pastorius. | ||
| 3rd_ray
Intermediate Member Username: 3rd_ray Post Number: 193 Registered: 2-2008 |
Excellent tune! I like these old videos... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8QhjwVy7Ng&feature=related Too cool! Here's Ronny Jordan's version (I never heard it before)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPAQUpW-wdc&feature=related I wasn't able to find the Brian Melvin version. | ||
| hydrargyrum
Senior Member Username: hydrargyrum Post Number: 467 Registered: 3-2004 |
I'll never forget the first time I heard Kind of Blue. I was about 20, and in college, and I think I went through one of the greatest musical revelations of my life within the period of about an hour. | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7680 Registered: 5-2002 |
Mike; that Miles and Coltrane video is very cool! | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 726 Registered: 11-2004 |
The Ronnie Rordan version is excellent, there is a second version where the swing middle part is extended with Ronnie playing a nice solo. One band I was did that version...was always a winner as most audiences know the original version by Miles..which is really hard to beat at any time! | ||
| dadabass2001
Senior Member Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 1029 Registered: 6-2002 |
Thanks for both of these links , Mike. I got turned on to So What by a keyboard player (Lisa) at a jam in Aurora about 8 years ago. Okay, I was sheltered (perhaps blinkered) as a child. Frequently when we get stalled on-stage (waiting for sound check or a broken guitar string) I'll softly start "All Blues" just to see if anyone in the (young) crowd notices  Mike | ||
| southpaw
Advanced Member Username: southpaw Post Number: 208 Registered: 12-2004 |
Terry, a question; you mentioned Ab change in So What. I have always played it in the key of Dm with the bridge moving up a half step to Eb. Everything I have read supports that too, including this months Bass Player Magazine with Paul Chambers on the cover. Perhaps the Ab was simply Ronnie Jordan's version? Thanks. | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 727 Registered: 11-2004 |
I mean on the theme, the bass starts on G in myxolydian them moves up to Ab, I know the whole tune is Dm to Eb when it gets rolling. | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 2133 Registered: 6-2002 |
Terry - it's actually Dorian mode. That's the minor scale, but with a b7 (ascending as well as descending). It's one of the Gregorian modes - on a keyboard, you pick any white key as the key, and you hit only the white keys as you go along. Dorian starts from D - but obviously you can play minor with a b7 in any key. IIRC, this was from the system before they started adding black keys on organ keyboards. But it is a little confusing, because the first key to be added moved Bb away from its "white" key to add B natural. The Germans still call a B an H - and a B in German is what the rest of the world considers a Bb. | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 2134 Registered: 6-2002 |
Ah well - you must have meant that the intro to So What is in mixolydian. | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 728 Registered: 11-2004 |
adriaan..yep that is what I meant but I do get the other stuff...and we all thought that music was simple!!! |
