Thanks for all who came out to support me Wednesday, March 31, 2004. For those who couldn't make it, but still want to hear some good music, I'll put some tracks here for you to download.
In general, I was pretty happy with the performance. I only wish that the solo bass stuff had "sung" out a little more - some of the harmonics got lost in the room... oh well.
01. Amerika (Jaco Pastorius) - As with many songs on my program, this one is from Jaco Pastorius. I learned this song way back in high school and I've kept it in my repertoire because it's the first song that really showed me what you could do on electric bass.
02. Bright Size Life (Pat Metheny) - I loved the chemistry between Jaco and Pat (Metheny) on the original recording, so I decided I should try and capture that chemistry. Besides, this song is just a really good song! To really capture the essence of Jaco, I learned and played about 95% of Jaco's solo (some of his runs I couldn't get right...). At the end of this song, as I'm introducing my band, I say, "Thanks for coming out tonight. We're going to play some new stuff, some old stuff, some good stuff and some, um, never mind..." But I guess no one got the joke... oh well.
03. Won't You Be My Neighbor (Fred Rogers; Arr. by H. Pham) - You read it right, I arranged this one. Borrowing HEAVILY from Mike Tomaro's arrangement (for big band). I heard this one when I was back home in Blackstone and decided I should gank it. I think it works well.
04. Days of Wine and Roses (Henry Mancini) - Just a standard... The melody in two keys is a nice change of pace though.
05. Portrait of Tracy (Jaco Pastorius) - Do we see a Jaco trend? Unfortunately, the harmonics did not sing well AT ALL. At least I can play it, I just wish the recording didn't suck so much.
06. The Promise (Gerry Niewood) - Not a very familiar song, but a good one! I learned about this one in Jazz Improvisation III and decided it would be a lot sexier at a slower tempo.
07. Someday My Prince Will Come/Waltz New (Frank Churchill/Jim Hall) - For a while, I got really interested in experimenting in songs that had the same harmonic progressions. Jazzers will know what I'm talking about - especially when you examine the blues and bebop tunes. All the same progressions with different melodies. That's where this song mixture came about.
08. Amazing Grace (Traditional) - This traditional piece starts of "traditional" but then gets funkified. If you've heard Victor Wooten play this piece, then you know where my inspiration came from!
09. Teen Town (Jaco Pastorius; Arr. by H. Pham) - Okay, the last Jaco song, I promise! I arranged this one. This was probably one of the most challenging songs on the program. I think it turned out pretty well, and I'm just glad to be able to say I can "play" Teen Town.
10. Chameleon (Bonus Track!) - Okay, so this wasn't on the program. Do you really need any explanation? It's Chameleon!
Selections from the recital: