Sax on the Web Forum banner

Beginner and Intermediate TOTM for September 2020 - African Skies (Michael Brecker)

4K views 61 replies 13 participants last post by  mrpeebee 
#1 · (Edited)
Greetings,

I am honored to be hosting September SOTW Beginners/Intermediates TOTM. Thank you Mr. PeeBee for giving me a chance.

I have chosen a composition by Michael Brecker, "African Skies", for this month. With a challenging melody and the African 6/8 feel, it should be a fun one to learn and play. Michael Brecker, recorded this composition twice. Once with "The Brecker Brothers" "Out of the Loop" and once as a leader on his recording "Tales From the Hudson" with McCoy Tyner on Piano. I am looking forward to hearing the performances. The sheet music/lead sheets are included in one file as a PDF. The music is 2 pages in the keys of C, Bb and Eb. You can print pages 1&2 for C. 3&4 for Bb and 5&6 for Eb. The backing track is JA 83.

Respectfully,

Johnny Padilla

African Skies - Brecker Brothers


African Skies - Michael Brecker


African Skies - Michael Brecker Solo


JA Backing Track Stereo
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17ZOWX8UYVc0Hs6VkYqgBvEslDEswkhAs/view?usp=sharing

JA Backing Track Binaural
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hvNtyiUnDNYeAUPkRegfdcVCaJnNuljU/view?usp=sharing

African Skies PDFs
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yjk46qs4M4zkiQaV7iXaCRDAjkiRCGGO/view?usp=sharing
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Greetings,

I am honored to be hosting September SOTW Beginners/Intermediates TOTM. Thank you Mr. PeeBee for giving me a chance.

I have chosen a composition by Michael Brecker, "African Skies", for this month. With a challenging melody and the African 6/8 feel, it should be a fun one to learn and play. Michael Brecker, recorded this composition twice. Once with "The Brecker Brothers" "Out of the Loop" and once as a leader on his recording "Tales From the Hudson" with McCoy Tyner on Piano. Looking forward to the performances. The charts pdfs of C, Bb and Eb in one file. You can print pages 1&2 for C. 3&4 for Bb and 5&6 for Eb. The backing track is JA 83.

Respectfully,

Johnny Padilla
Great choice Johnny.
 
#3 ·
#5 ·
Although this is the B/I TOTM thread I offer my take on this Brecker track that I hope doesn't offend anyone as I'm not exactly a beginner but I know there is a lot of cross posting from various players but if this doesn't fit within the parameters of this thread then maybe Peter can move it or delete it.

Here is my take

Just by way of explanation it's just Tenor and Soprano however I've used a filter pedal on the Soprano in the solo during the 4 repeat sections.

Thank for listening if you have time.

Best, Alex
 
#10 ·
Here is my take

Just by way of explanation it's just Tenor and Soprano however I've used a filter pedal on the Soprano in the solo during the 4 repeat sections.

Thank for listening if you have time.

Best, Alex
That is an awesome version Alex! Really impressive on so many levels - great playing of course, but the way you have layered different sounds and instruments is amazing, and it completely captures the spirit of the piece. Great work!

Bill
 
#6 ·
Fantastic version Alex ! Love that soprano wah and the Brecker-ish tenor.
I'm glad you posted this ... I was having trouble getting Brecker's version and the lead sheet to line up.

The hardest part for me is the timing - can't really count, have to go by feel. :evil:
The backing track conspires to throw me off at every turn !! :mrgreen:
 
#8 ·
Fantastic version Alex ! Love that soprano wah and the Brecker-ish tenor.
I'm glad you posted this ... I was having trouble getting Brecker's version and the lead sheet to line up.

The hardest part for me is the timing - can't really count, have to go by feel.

The backing track conspires to throw me off at every turn !!
Yes. I know the feeling. But you can count in 4 too. J counts in 6. Either way listening to Mike enough times will help. Thanks for listening Brendan. Much appreciated as always.
 
#17 ·
Ok, Alex did it again - FANTASTIC VERSION! The Tenor sound great and the the soprano through the pedal is a very attractive option. Great singing lines, as always.

Now something different - I try to get into split screen videos, and as you can see I'm a beginner in this artform. I'm glad when everything is more or less in sync and if one sees several pictures. I want to do some arrangements with only flutes and percussion - so this is a rather free version of african skies with bassflute and some african percussion instruments (there is a log drum on the recording, but I lost the video somehow).



PS: Alles Geschmackssache - I love the swedish saying: "Smaken derlig some baken - delat" (without any spelling). It means: Taste is like the butt - divided.
PSS: Thank you for preparing such an inspiring TOTM, Jonny!
 
#18 ·
That's a great track and video Taragot. I love your interpretation. Great percussion work to set up a very cool vibe and some very nice Bass flute work. The overblown and lip buzz works very well. Highly imaginative and very well executed. And the Swedish saying is going to the top of my list. Apologies for the spelling of the German words. My opportunities to speak German are few and to write even less so. Thank you for sharing such an excellent video. Best, Alex
 
#21 ·
Thank you so much for listening, Jonny, Alex and Peter!
 
#29 ·
Such kind words, Michael, thanks a lot!
Tomorow I try to get an arrangement for flutes and percussion of "spain" recorded. Guess who inspired me for this?:)
 
#32 ·
just found the performance that I liked a lot... Randy Brecker here with Latvian Radio Big Band.

I guess could be interesting

 
#41 ·
African Alto Skies by J-moen on #SoundCloud

Nice smooth sound on the alto. I agree, the 6/8 time signature is challenging. You are playing the melody correctly, the rhythmic placement is a little off some spots. Nice bluesy solo, great feel and sound. Thank you for posting. I had a little trouble with the link so I copied it from SoundCloud and posted in my comment. I look forward to another post of this tune from you.
JP

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#45 ·
Johnny, very nice to see and hear you playing on the three horns. Agree fully with Alex, comprehensive and very musical. You manage all three horns well, but I preferred the tenor take the most, followed by the alto and the soprano. Well done. :)
 
#47 ·
Only five days left till the end of this month.

*** So we need a new B&I TOTM host for the upcoming month! ***

Please let me know in this thread or through pm when you're interested.
 
#53 ·
Well Here is my final sneaking in a few days before the end of the month! I hope the work I put into learning over the chords for this shows in my Improv, and I hope you can all enjoy it as much as I had fun playing this tune.



I chose a nice backdrop of a picture of a Sunset in Botswana for my video - seemed fitting!
 
#55 ·
Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the positive comments and replies to the musicians that posted their performances. Thank you to Mr. PeeBee for letting me host this month. My only regret is that more of the musicians, who make up the great group, didn’t participate. I think “African Skies” is a fun tune to play but it may not be to everyone’s liking. This was an honor to host and I hope to get to do it again.

Thank you,
JP


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#57 ·
Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the positive comments and replies to the musicians that posted their performances. Thank you to Mr. PeeBee for letting me host this month. My only regret is that more of the musicians, who make up the great group, didn't participate. I think "African Skies" is a fun tune to play but it may not be to everyone's liking. This was an honor to host and I hope to get to do it again.

Thank you,
JP

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi Johnny,

I like the songs, but it's a bit of a problem for my skills; I've been trying for two days and, right now, here's my best version.



I'll try again tomorrow.

Ciao and keep you safe.
 
#60 ·
Every promise (or was it a threat? :mrgreen:) is an obligation:



Ciao and keep you safe.
 
#61 ·
I would like to thank Johnny for hosting and picking this month B&I TOTM and all attenders for attending. :)

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

I'm also glad to announce that Jared (jmoen3) volunteered to host the October B&I TOTM. :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top