[Dixielandjazz] Burning CDs - Sending Lead Sheets

[Tramette89 at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/3/2005 3:05:21 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
stridepiano at tesco.net writes:
It is all very well occupying the moral high ground on this subject - but in
a music store just try to purchase the sheet music for most of the classic
tunes in our specialised area of interest and you will find that it is
almost impossible to do so.  Furthermore practically all the sheet music
which is available in stores has been stripped down to an "easy-to-play"
skeleton and the changes simplified, little wonder that we look elsewhere
for music with some guts in it.

It is a similar scenario with many commercial fake books, they contain
boring and sometimes downright wrong changes.
I know how that is, I've experienced it firsthand a number of times. I was 
trying to find music, or at least the chords, to "After You've Gone" (a rather 
popular song). I found a version of it in a book at the library and made a 
copy. I went home and played it and discovered that there were some wrong chords 
in it. I then found a different version of it...and that one had wrong chords, 
but in different places. I found a lead sheet, but that had some bizarre 
chords too(it's like they were trying to turn it into bebop or something). Someday, 
I'm going to take the four versions I have and synthesize them into one 
version with the correct chord progression.

You know, that's a problem with published versions of old music nowadays. (In 
addition to the fact that everything is simplified for poor pianists) It's 
that they don't leave the chords or in some cases, even the melody alone. If a 
musician wants to tailor something to fit their tastes, they can always do 
that, but would it kill the publisher to at least have the original song? 

You know what else...no one ever puts the verses in anymore. Shame, shame, 
shame. I like verses. (I'm still looking for a version of "Blue Moon" that 
includes the verse.)

Of course, there are some songs that you just can't seem to find in books 
anywhere. I was lucky enough to find sheet music for "Pardon Me, Pretty Baby" a 
couple years ago. I'm still looking for a lot of other obscure stuff, though. 
(In my endless quest to buy Harry Barris and Joe Sanders ephemera...VBG :-) )

Lily Korte