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August Song Of The Month--Rose Room
This month's tune is a classic to end all classics, and tons of fun to play. My trio plays it in F, and I'll add the chart we use later. It was written in 1917, music by Art Hickman & lyrics by Harry Williams. It's named after the Rose Room in the St. Francis Hotel. My favorite Django version is up tempo & driving, recorded in Paris in 1937. Here's a link to it:
Jazz history buffs will surely know the famous story of John Hammond arranging for Charlie Christian to jam with Benny Goodman, in hopes of him wowing the extremely popular band leader. The story goes that the unknown Christian called it as an impromptu jam with Goodman's band & ended up jamming for 45 minutes with them on it, since no one wanted it to stop. That sealed the deal for Goodman, who asked Christian to join his band then & there. I'm a huge Charlie Christian fan, and I particularly enjoy the tunes that he & Django both recorded, like this one. Others include I've Found A New Baby, Honeysuckle Rose, Topsy, Stardust & Dinah, but that should be a topic for another thread here. Other notable recordings include those by Duke Ellington & Nat King Cole.
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Others include I've Found A New Baby, Honeysuckle Rose, Topsy, Stardust & Dinah, but that should be a topic for another thread here
@MikeK Sounds like you've got a "setlist" already queued up for future Song of the Month entries! Thanks for continuing to moderate this monthly theme....coming up on your 1 year anniversary!
Thanks Mike for continuing to do this! This is one of my favourite Django recordings. I always enjoy hearing the 'back-story' which you provide with the history of the songs.
Cheers Phil 🍻
Thanks Billy! I enjoy doing this, especially when others chime in on it. It's a great opportunity to dig in & learn about the songs from each other. I hadn't thought about it coming up on a year, but you're right. The first entry was September Song. I recall how Buco recorded himself blending the melody of it over Happy Birthday on my birthday. Fun stuff!
Thanks Phil! I appreciate your kind words. I'll keep doing it as long as I know folks on the forum are enjoying it. And I got your email about your friend moving to my area, I'll respond to it later.
Here's the chart my trio uses. Pretty straightforward but great, classic changes--
there is more fun stuff in the history of the Rose Room. (from wikipedia)
The Rose Room was located in the St Francis hotel. It was important in the early Jazz age. BUT WAIT there is more... read on:
Part of the fame of the St. Francis was because of its legendary chef, Victor Hirtzler. Hirtzler learned to cook in Strasbourg, France, and then cooked for royal courts across Europe. According to Hirtzler, he had created a dish for King Carlos I of Portugal, called La Mousse Faisan Lucullus, a mousse of Bavarian pheasant's breast and woodcock flavored with truffles, with a sauce of cognac, Madeira and champagne. The dish was so expensive, and the King ate it so frequently, that he bankrupted Portugal twice and was assassinated in 1908, followed by the downfall of Portuguese monarchy in 1910. Victor moved to New York, became the Chef of the Waldorf Hotel, and then was persuaded by the manager of the St. Francis, James Woods, to move to San Francisco.[6]
Charles Evans Hughes
In 1916, Hirtzler again cooked a dish which had political consequences. The Crocker family were fervent Republicans, and they hosted a dinner at the hotel for Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican candidate for President of the United States, who was locked in a close race with incumbent Woodrow Wilson. Twenty minutes before the banquet began, the waiters, who were members of the culinary workers union, went on strike. Hughes wondered if the banquet should be canceled, but Hirtzler insisted upon it going ahead, and served the meal himself. When the Union learned that Hughes had crossed a picket line and eaten the dinner, they distributed thousands of leaflets denouncing him as anti-union. On election night, Hughes went to bed believing he had won the election. The next morning he awoke and learned that he had lost California by only 3,673 votes, and by losing California had lost the election to Wilson. The margin of his defeat was less than the turnout of union voters in San Francisco. By saving the dinner, Hirtzler had lost the election for Hughes.[6]
Here's a link to Charlie Christian's classic version of this tune with Benny Goodman--
It's a shame that he & Django never got to play together.