Popular tunes that work in Django style

steven_eire

i agree with what jack said about the lost fingers being a kind of novelty act but i think theres room to throw in a small amount of humorous tunes in a set.

if you can put a smile on their face with a funny theme tune before you go into your ultra serious rendition of nuages you are giving the audience a wide range of different moods.

btw don't think anyones mentioned mr.sandman here yet. that's a recognizable tune that's been done by a few people. angelo's version is great.

Lango-Django

Burt Bacharach and Mr. Sandman... yes!

I'm always happy when some TV commercial starts using an oldie to sell their product, then people recognize it!

One artist who does a lot of these kind of pop crossover tunes is Diana Krall, and she does a lot of these kind of rehashed sixties tunes... "Cry Me a River" and "The Look of Love" etc.

Stackabones

Wow! I'm nonplussed by the hate for Jobim and Gershwin. I didn't realize those guys wrote songs that were so despised by the restaurant musician community.

The majority of restaurant gigs aren't really about the music, ya know?

Jack

Stackabones wrote:

Wow! I'm nonplussed by the hate for Jobim and Gershwin. I didn't realize those guys wrote songs that were so despised by the restaurant musician community.

Well, I don't really think it's about the composers as much as the tunes being played to death over the years...frankly, I feel the same way about Bossa Dorado these days...the greats can make them good, but otherwise it's all stuff we've heard a hundred times before.

And those guys wrote so many great tunes! Someone to Watch Over Me, Desafinado, Wave, Insensatez, Embraceable You, But Not for Me, 'S Wonderful, and so on...I can say from experience (we play restaurants pretty regularly) that people love those tunes, and often comment that they wish they heard them more often.

Stackabones wrote:

The majority of restaurant gigs aren't really about the music, ya know?

I think what you're saying is that those gigs are more about creating an ambiance, and I agree. We've been pretty lucky to play in places where the crowd is actually interested in the music, which lets us stretch out a bit, but if it's only ambiance the place is after, I really think those lesser known tunes do just as well as your Summertime or Ipanema. I guess that's different, though, from the question that spawned this thread, which was more about "songs that are familiar to an average audience circa 2008." No doubt more people know Summertime than do Fascinating Rhythm.

best,
Jack.

Lango-Django

Certainly not me! And frankly, most of the popular tunes we've mentioned here don't hold a candle to the greatest works of Gershwin and Jobim... though, to be honest, even those titans wrote the occasional clinker.

And, certainly, let's hope that audiences everywhere will continue to recognize and appreciate those composers for many more years.

But I think we've also gotta be looking constantly for new additions to our repertoire to keep it fresh... just like Django himself would have to be doing if he were alive today!

Michael Bauer

Actually Cream's "Wrapping Paper" works really well as a swing tune. It's a little slow for GJ, but speeds up well, makes a good instrumental, and will surely draw a comment or two from the '60's crowd.

wierdOne

Stackabones wrote:

Wow! I'm nonplussed by the hate for Jobim and Gershwin. I didn't realize those guys wrote songs that were so despised by the restaurant musician community.

The majority of restaurant gigs aren't really about the music, ya know?

I've been playing solo dinner music for 7 years now... and actually, i find it more satisfying than any of the bar gigs I used to play... you can actually concentrate on what your playing, instead of how you look playing it..

as far as gigging musicians getting tired of playing Gershwin or Jobim, i always laugh at those that complain about it.... it's not the song that they're getting bored with, it's usually how they play the song... we all know that you can do most any song in any style.... when someone asks me for summertime, i'll flatpick bluegrassy style one night... the next night, i'll play it in a 3/4 bossa rhythm... the next night, cool jazz walking bass line style...

if you can't get creative enough on a solo gig to entertain yourself, then you shouldn't be gigging in the first place..... imho of course...

There's this jerk guitarist in my town who's got a napolean complex.. i hadn't seen him in a while.. we ran into each other at the local guitar store a couple of weeks ago... I walked up and he was trying out an acoustic guitar asking his girlfriend how it sounded... then he saw me and said "hey man, how's it going?" we got to talking and he introduced me to his girlfriend as a "restaurant musician", then later in the conversation he said something to the effect of "yeah, playing in a band and trying to make it in the music business is getting old... i'm thinking about just giving up and playing in restaurants like you."... all the while he was fiddling with bluesy rock licks he plays..... I sympathized with him, and assured him that making it in the music business is hard... then i grabbed an acoustic and proceeded to rip his face off with some hardcore jazz/blues/gypsy infused nonsense.... as the crowd gathered, his girlfriend looked at him and said, while I was playing.... "If you played like this guy you might be able to make it.."

He didn't sit there for long...



I'm friends with quite a few nashville cats... monsters... and they actually LOVE playing restaurant gigs.. it's the only place they can stretch out and play the music that they love playing...

We all have delusions of grandure, and who wouldn't want to be on stage playing to a packed arena with millions of beautiful women (or men depending on your preference) throwing themselves at your feet... hanging on to every rapid fire note of an ascending diminished arpeggio....

most of us will never really live that life... ahh.. but to live is to dream...

Stackabones

wierdOne wrote:

I've been playing solo dinner music for 7 years now... and actually, i find it more satisfying than any of the bar gigs I used to play... you can actually concentrate on what your playing, instead of how you look playing it..

Great post, wierdOne! Welcome aboard. I like how you roll. 8)

I've been doing solo restaurant gigs for two or three years and I gotta say ... I ain't looking back. The solo gig is easier to rehearse, to book, to select music, and to divide the money at the end of the night. Though every so often I get the urge to play in listening room -- not an arena, just a place where the main dish is the music.

I've noticed that in the restaurant solo gig you've got to watch for discrete signs: the toe tapping under the table or on the side of a glass, the nod in your direction, the tips.

Tele295

I recall an interview with Danny Gatton about playing restaurant ggs back in the 60's with pianist/Hammond organist Dick Heintze. They used to create games to amuse themselves, like "Going to the Races" where every solo chorus you take you have to double the note. 1st solo would be quarter notes, second solo 8ths, third solo 16ths, etc. He made the comment that it didn't matter what they played as long as they kept the volume down.

klaatu

Tele295 wrote:

He made the comment that it did matter what they played as long as they kept the volume down.

I think you meant to say that it did NOT matter what they played as long as they kept the volume down. We've had more people come up to us after a set and say how nice it is to be able to carry on a conversation without shouting.