[sax1st]

I’ve had to upload this before Jared has announced that I’m hosting the March TOTM as I’m quite busy as of the next few days and this is the only time I have available to do this.

So it’s ballad time with this beautiful song.

I hope it provides a source of inspiration for those that participate.

There are many other backing tracks available on YT of course.

I’ll as always listen and provide whatever critique I can (FWIW) to each and every uploaded track.

‘When Sunny Gets Blue’

Dozens of examples on YT of course.

Looking forward to hearing your take on this superb ballad.

Best, Alex

Jamey Aebersold Play-A-Long - When Sunny Gets Blue.m4a

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

IMG_9063.heic

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

IMG_9064.heic

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[mrpeebee]

Nice pick Alex and thank for taking over the host.

I did record this song twice in previous years. Both versions without much preparation, as always with me!

This is my oldest version, recorded in October 2014. I just lost my old space to make home recordings and was visiting a pro friend that month and mentioned that to him. "Oh, but you can record here, no problem!" he replied. I didn't have backing tracks with me and tried to escape recording, but he said: "Go stand overthere in front of that mic and just play, I have all the backings you want." (I wanted to record 'Work Song' and 'When Sunny Gets Blue' that month).

So I did record both songs in just one take, without having listened to the backings or knowing how long they where. He just did put his finger up when the last chorus came along, for me the sign to go back to the closing theme. He recorded his own CD's with that equipment and had a good pro mic and an automatic mixing system, much easier than how I did things with my own (much cheaper) equipment.

I was surprised by the organ backing he did put on my ears, especially by the change in rhythm in the solo part. Actually didn't (and still don't!) like that backing, but here is my quick and dirty take from October 2014 anyhow!

 

[mrpeebee]

And here is the second recording of this song, which I made in January 2016. Had found another place to practise and make recordings, again with my own Samson condenser mic and own way of recording and mixing (with Audacity). Also didn't like this backing, but that has never stopped me to make a recording! A much more Bluesy version this time compared to the October 2014 organ backing version posted above.

 

[J-Moen]

Thanks so much for hosting the upcoming month Alex! Very happy to have you at the helm again!

I've updated the TOTM index to include this thread, which can be seen here:

SOTW TOTM (Tune of the Month) - MAIN THREAD INDEX since...

Dear all, Besides the main SOTW TOTM (Tune Of The Month) threads we also have a Beginners&Intermediates TOTM running on SOTW since about January 2010 (check >this< index). Each month an active TOTM thread member calls a new tune to work on. All SOTW members can post their attempts and results...

www.saxontheweb.net

 

[sax1st]

After Peter’s excellent additions I offer my own.

Recorded in my studio (or should I say sauna?) this afternoon. I’m going through the process of trying various brands of reeds. My usual are BSS. This is using a standard La Voz.

When Sunny Gets Blue (Fisher/Segal)

Soprano/Alto/Tenor Saxophones Piccolo/Flute/Alto Flute/Bass Flute Bb Clarinet/Bass Clarinet Akai EWI 4000s

soundcloud.app.goo.gl

Thank you as always for listening.

Alex

 

[olds1959special]

deleted

 

[sax1st]

Nice tune! I decided to jump into this and learn "When Sunny Gets Blue" - here's what I was able to record on the first day. C&C welcome.

Thanks for posting. The big problem I have with your track is the intonation. It’s inconsistent. It makes it, at least for me, very difficult to listen to.
You have a good feel and approach the tune in a really nice laid back way. Unfortunately there’s a lot of changes where you’re not playing anything that relates to them. I appreciate your application I just wish you would work that tuning a bit more.
Do you work with a tuner? To check how the intervals work on your horn? When you look at the chords what are you thinking as you’re playing over them? One of the more standard backing tracks from YT might be a good choice. Is your backing track one you made yourself? Is your set up a soft one? Reed strength? Tip opening? I’d be interested to know what you have. Thanks for the track.

 

[timboniface]

Forgive ignorance... Is the etiquette here to post a new recording of the TOTM, or can I submit something from last Spring? Or maybe both!

 

[mrpeebee]

Forgive ignorance... Is the etiquette here to post a new recording of the TOTM, or can I submit something from last Spring? Or maybe both!

Both are possible and allowed Tim, rules are not that tied for TOTM!

Would love to hear your take(s).

 

[timboniface]

Here's a slightly older one, then - from last Springtime. Conn 6M, Florida STM. Piano backing is mine. Hope you enjoy!

 

[mrpeebee]

After Peter’s excellent additions I offer my own.

Recorded in my studio (or should I say sauna?) this afternoon. I’m going through the process of trying various brands of reeds. My usual are BSS. This is using a standard La Voz.

When Sunny Gets Blue (Fisher/Segal)

Soprano/Alto/Tenor Saxophones Piccolo/Flute/Alto Flute/Bass Flute Bb Clarinet/Bass Clarinet Akai EWI 4000s

soundcloud.app.goo.gl

Thank you as always for listening.

Alex

Very nice take Alex. Very contemporary and good quality and alive tenor sound (I've used La Voz medium for many years and liked them, but for me they play on the brighter side of the spectrum and I wanted to go darker). Great quality backing track and recording quality too, as always with your recordings.

I would love to have a 'sauna' like yours to be able to make new recordings again!

 

[mrpeebee]

Here's a slightly older one, then - from last Springtime. Conn 6M, Florida STM. Piano backing is mine. Hope you enjoy!

Excellent version Tim.

Love the warm and gritty (when pushed) sound you get out of the old Conn 6M and the Florida STM. Beautiful piano playing too, must be nice to be able to create backing tracks yourself.

 

[mrpeebee]

Here is actually one of the nicest recordings you can find on the Tube.

It's a version by Sonny Stitt on tenor with the great brother Jack McDuff on organ from their great CD/LP "Stitty Meets Brother Jack", which I can really recommend as one of the best Stitt recordings on tenor, with lots of great blues- and jazz standard tunes.

 

[timboniface]

After Peter’s excellent additions I offer my own.

Recorded in my studio (or should I say sauna?) this afternoon. I’m going through the process of trying various brands of reeds. My usual are BSS. This is using a standard La Voz.

When Sunny Gets Blue (Fisher/Segal)

Soprano/Alto/Tenor Saxophones Piccolo/Flute/Alto Flute/Bass Flute Bb Clarinet/Bass Clarinet Akai EWI 4000s

soundcloud.app.goo.gl

Thank you as always for listening.

Alex

This is lovely, Alex. Really enjoyed listening. Tim

 

[sax1st]

Here's a slightly older one, then - from last Springtime. Conn 6M, Florida STM. Piano backing is mine. Hope you enjoy!

Fabulous playing Tim! Really enjoyed that. Great to have you along for this months TOTM. I hope you’ll be back for more.

 

[olds1959special]

Thanks for posting. The big problem I have with your track is the intonation. It’s inconsistent. It makes it, at least for me, very difficult to listen to.
You have a good feel and approach the tune in a really nice laid back way. Unfortunately there’s a lot of changes where you’re not playing anything that relates to them. I appreciate your application I just wish you would work that tuning a bit more.
Do you work with a tuner? To check how the intervals work on your horn? When you look at the chords what are you thinking as you’re playing over them? One of the more standard backing tracks from YT might be a good choice. Is your backing track one you made yourself? Is your set up a soft one? Reed strength? Tip opening? I’d be interested to know what you have. Thanks for the track.

Thanks for listening and for your comments. I'm always working on my intonation, and I agree there were some rough spots here. I took the video down because I wasn't totally happy with my performance, and I'm going to redo it. I also felt like I wasn't totally syncing with the backing track during my improv, my ideas were not congruent with the music. It's possible my mouthpiece wasn't adjusted properly on the neck because I was trying out my old mouthpiece that I hadn't played in a while and might not have gotten it properly in tune.

I did make the backing track myself. I used a medium soft fiberreed and .95 tip opening Brilhart Tonalin mouthpiece. I'm probably going to use the same setup next time and try to get the intonation better, because I like the sound I'm getting now. My other mouthpiece is a Ted Klum Acoustimax .94 but it's bright and the lowest notes are harder to play.

 

[sax1st]

Thanks for listening and for your comments. I'm always working on my intonation, and I agree there were some rough spots here. I took the video down because I wasn't totally happy with my performance, and I'm going to redo it. I also felt like I wasn't totally syncing with the backing track during my improv, my ideas were not congruent with the music. It's possible my mouthpiece wasn't adjusted properly on the neck because I was trying out my old mouthpiece that I hadn't played in a while and might not have gotten it properly in tune.

I did make the backing track myself. I used a medium soft fiberreed and .95 tip opening Brilhart Tonalin mouthpiece. I'm probably going to use the same setup next time and try to get the intonation better, because I like the sound I'm getting now. My other mouthpiece is a Ted Klum Acoustimax .94 but it's bright and the lowest notes are harder to play.

Cool.
I agree your sound is nice. Your reed set up might be a tad soft. This is possibly causing some of the intonation issues. And the mouthpiece maybe a bit too far onto the cork. A simple tuning session to get your 440 pitch mark would help. Thereafter it’s up to your ears.
Looking forward to your next take.

 

[PaulM247]

Hello. I'm fairly new to this site. Maybe someone can explain the difference of TOTM and SOTW?
It's the first time I've heard When Sunny Gets Blue. Sounds like a nice ballad. Tune is ok, and I can see the AABA structure, but there are lots of chords! Any tips on how to improvise over this sequence would be much appreciated.

I will have a go over this tune and post my results here soon.

 

[sax1st]

Hello. I'm fairly new to this site. Maybe someone can explain the difference of TOTM and SOTW?
It's the first time I've heard When Sunny Gets Blue. Sounds like a nice ballad. Tune is ok, and I can see the AABA structure, but there are lots of chords! Any tips on how to improvise over this sequence would be much appreciated.

I will have a go over this tune and post my results here soon.

Hi Paul.
TOTM = Tune of the month
SOTW= Sax on the web

It is indeed a beautiful ballad.

In terms of playing over it start by learning the melody so you get the feel of it.
As to improvising over it you don’t state at what stage you are with playing over changes so it’s difficult to know where to start.
Have you studied improv at all?

 

[PaulM247]

Hi Paul.
TOTM = Tune of the month
SOTW= Sax on the web

It is indeed a beautiful ballad.

In terms of playing over it start by learning the melody so you get the feel of it.
As to improvising over it you don’t state at what stage you are with playing over changes so it’s difficult to know where to start.
Have you studied improv at all?

Hello.
Thanks for the comment. Yes I have studied improvisation before but normally simpler tunes than this. I'll sit down with this tune this week and see what I come up with. Cheers.