If I Could Write a Jazz Etude

If I could write a jazz etude
And play it Kind of Blue,
I’d spend A Night in Tunisia
With Plenty of Money and You.

Van Morrison would sing a song
As we would go Moon Dance,
And Django would play Nuages
When we arrive in France

We’d spend our April in Paris,
We’d Stomp at the Savoy,
We’d walk like Basie – Straight Ahead
In Autumn Leaves of joy.

We’d see the American Patrol
When we finally come home.
You’d show your Bossa Nova Soul,
But In a Mellow Tone

You’re the Girl from Ipanema,
My Funny Valentine.
I’m a Boogie Bugle Boy
who wants you to be mine.

I’d say that I am In the Mood
to Sing, Sing, Sing some more,
but I can’t write a jazz etude.
You’ve heard it all before.

Hey look, it’s me messing around on the ukulele again!  A couple of songs haphazardly arranged with questionable sound quality and without much rehearsal.  This is not perfect at all, but that’s okay.

halberdierminister:

understated homestuck wallpapers: ALPHAbETA

Reblogging this because I’m still rather proud of it.

understated homestuck wallpapers: ALPHAbETA

Literature After Hours

Hey Gang, so I decided to finally restart my Lit After Hours blog as a combination of literature appreciation and sharing my own writing!  I plan on updating a lot more frequently than I have in the past.  So take a look at it, and please let me know what you think!

Poem: “Sing It, Melody”

Sing it, lady
Sing that sad song
Of that time when you were alone
And needed a break
From all your troublin’ ways

Sing it, girl
Sing that soulful song
About the stars in the sky
And how you’d look at them
And ask for love

Sing it, sister
Sing that simple song
About the day that will come
When he’ll see the stars within your eyes
And that one day, he’ll be yours

Sing it, Mademoiselle
Sing that slow song
About how you’ll always be there
For your secret lover
That keeps you hidden, but you don’t care

Sing it, chica
Sing that swing song
About how you’ve been a fool
And think it’s cool
To fall in love

-Dave Briggs

Poem: “Musician on the Street”

Walking, one night, down the street
Hearing nothing but the sound of feet
Stepping on the cold concrete
I heard a saxophonist play
Into the night

I heard a saxophonist play
And he played the blues in such a way
That everything both night and day
Would turn out to be all right

And as I came upon the man
With hat on head, and sax in hand
He nodded and he played a song
He played a song I’d understand

I stood there and I listened well
I listened to the music swell
And as it rose and as it fell
My thoughts became clear as a bell

And when he stopped, he smiled at me
I smiled back, then walked away
When he started a new melody
I had the urge to turn and see
And stay some more and stand and sway
But I knew I must be on my way

So walking far away from there
A chilly breeze cut through the air

And I thought about the saxophone
And how he played it all alone

And who it was he played it for
And who had heard his song before
And if they knew him anymore

And if he called out to the night
To hope that he or she just might
Hear his song and think of him
And change their mind
and come back home

-Dave Briggs

As Jazz Day winds down, I figured I’d share some work of my own that is jazz-related.

A while ago, I arranged the chart from the last post (Tank! by Yoko Kanno) for my old high school’s Jazz Ensemble.  Here’s a little bit from one of the pages.  The second chorus starts three bars in.