New fusion music project and others

[lightningduck]

Our group, "Purple Bamboo", is on a break (end of the school semester) so I have time to play around


Just for myself, I'm learning "Dawn In Naples" (just the melody) from SNH48. I already kinda know it, but I can't play it all at speed yet. No other reason than I needed a goal and it's one of my favorite modern Chinese pop song

Of more interest is that I'm working on a version of "Footprints" by Wayne Shorter. It's a modernization (in 4 with a pop drum groove) with an east/west fusion of western bass, drums and keys and small sanxian on lead, big sanxian complimenting the recognizable bass grove and maybe I'll mix in some other Chinese textures.  I'll probably mix the solos between the two sanxians and bass guitar So far, it's going very well, really fun to jam along to my backing tracks, but I need to work with luthier as I don't yet have a way to record (or amplify) the sanxian

I also got my luthier to install a few end pins so I can wear my sanxians on a strap

I'm thinking of an instrumental version of "Dawn In Naples", but that's for a later day

Ultimate goal is to work the sanxian in organically into my own writing style for original music

SNH48-"Dawn In Naples"
youtu.be/R-IahbHJaSE


Wayne Shorter-"Footprints"
youtu.be/3XvJFW0DHbU

[lightningduck]

Performance Notes:

"Dawn In Naples" is typical modern pop in that it's up tempo and has a lot of repeated 8th and 26th notes with less melodic movement. It's currently very hard for me because my right hand picking is not that fast and fluid yet. I'm using a fairly thick plastic pick; I could switch to a thinner nylon pick like I used to use for guitar, as it's much faster, but I would lose the strong tone my current approach gives me so I'm just trying to get more adept

"Footprints" is fairly typical slow waltz jazz in 3/4, but with a pronounced bass line. I am doing it up tempo in 4/4 at about 110bpm right now. I can handle at that though because the melody is simpler but with what I think is more interesting movement (comparing the Real Book chart to Wayne Shorter's cut, I describe it as "drive one tone hard for a measure, up a step, then noodle your way down until you resolve at 'D'") The hinky way it wanders down makes it exploratory

Both are interesting to approach and capture...in different ways

[paulv]

LightningDuck

Thanks very much for the Wayne Shorter tune - it brought tears to me eyes as during the '60s and '70s I was deeply involved in Jazz of that period playing vibraphone and had records of all the jazz greats as well as being a member of a small group playing jazz. I was also involved in arranging music and enjoyed it very much especially when I was in music school (I didn't finish school so I'm not going to mention the school's name as I feel that I shouldn't take credit for going there).

Here's a jazz number you can play with: look up Don Ellis 33 222 1 222 (19/4 time) it was a great arrangement back then.

Thanks again,

Regards,
paul...

Here's the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcIph0O_tnw

[lightningduck]

Very cool, thanks for the link...how many musicians look at a 19/4 chart and panic?

Glad you liked the "Footprints" reference