[Dixielandjazz] "Melody in F"
Augustine Daniel
ds.augustine at utexas.edu
Fri Feb 22 09:01:31 PST 2013
Back when i was in high school, i (or my parents) bought an LP on Verve MGV-2065 (1957) called "Freddy Morgan -- Mr. Banjo". It featured a cover with him with a full-bore grin, and on the recording there are some other (reputedly) members (not named) of the Spike Jones band, including a soprano sax, piano, drums, and a wonderful tuba player (might have been Country Washburne, i suppose).
There are a number of websites listing the songs (such as http://www.discogs.com/Freddy-Morgan-Mr-Banjo/release/1013139), one of which is "Pickin' Melody in F".
This has always been one of my favorite recordings, and i played tuba along with it for years. It's got some other nice tunes, such as "My Banjo at Thy Sweet Voice", "Libes-Strum", "Swingin' the Double Eagle", and "William Tell Rag".
I don't know of any other recording (at least that i have) with this tune on it. I just wish i had a better copy of this LP, as it's scratchy and i broke a wedge off the edge of it accidentally so i can't listen to the first two songs.
'Twould be nice to have more info about the personnel on this recording, as well as leadsheets for the tunes or the actual arrangements (long gone, of course).
Dan
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On Feb 22, 2013, at 10:03 AM, Ken Gates wrote:
One of my fakebooks of --"Dixieland tunes"----also includes
"Melody in F". Rather unusual title amidst the mixture of 20s jazz
and 30s swing tunes. Composed by Anton Rubenstein---world
famous pianist/composer during the 19th century. Wondering
how it got in there, I did find jazz versions by Art Tatum and
Teddy Wilson, but there must be jazz/swing band recordings
out there also.
I played around with the notes a bit---does seem to be a fun
tune to play with. Is that in the song list of any band members
on DJML?
Ken Gates
**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**
** Dan Augustine -- Austin, Texas -- ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu
** "O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet." -- St. Augustine (354-430)
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