Always Know the Lyrics

[VJOFan]

Jazz players always say one should learn the lyrics to every tune.

I’m glad I took that advice today.

I usually do a pBone number at the school Christmas assembly-wearing a giant paper bag decorated like a Christmas present.

Well this year, the combination of playing the whole song with plunger and the energetic dance moves I choreographed, combined with a sticky slide for an equipment malfunction during the final 8 bars of the song.

I went to extend for a longer position and suddenly I was holding two pieces of trombone (not broken just detached), and because of the bag I was wearing, no hope of reattaching them.

After maneuvering my mouth into the costume cut out for the trombone mouthpiece, I was able to belt out the last line of Blue Christmas vocally and then dance off stage during the outro of my backing track.

Always know the lyrics

[jazztonight]

Jazz players always say one should learn the lyrics to every tune.

I’m glad I took that advice today...

After maneuvering my mouth into the costume cut out for the trombone mouthpiece, I was able to belt out the last line of Blue Christmas vocally and then dance off stage during the outro of my backing track.

Always know the lyrics

Funny story!

Although pretty new to the trombone, for many years I've been a jazz musician and am still a piano accompanist/music director for a vocalist. Knowing the lyrics to all of the songs is a must, especially when she forgets some lyrics and needs help (this has been the case for all singers from Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra--that's why scatting was invented).

There's another element to this, and that has to do with how many of the songs were written. Sometimes the lyrics would come first and sometimes second (Oscar Hammerstein II generally wrote the words first, then Richard Rodgers wrote the music; with Lorenz Hart, the music/melody from Rodgers typically came first and then Hart wrote the lyrics afterwards. With Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, each of whom wrote both words and music, the process was more integrated.). The deeper you delve into the origin of such standards the better you, as a performer, can interpret and execute them. That's my feeling, anyway.

As far as "Blue Christmas," I'm sure Elvis would agree.

[Gary]

The Blue Christmas you did wasn't this one was it? >:-D

[VJOFan]

The Blue Christmas you did wasn't this one was it? >:-D

Sadly, I wasn't able to be quite that hip for the crowd I was playing....

No, I did a "Charlie Brown adult" (ie. radical plunger) version of this Buble arrangement.