Autumn Leaves - Fingerstyle Version

[RickW]

This is an amazing bit of finger style jazz. Incredible arrangement, beautifully played. I think I could actually play this, there’s nothing inherently insane here. But I would take me about a year to learn it, and get it reasonably smooth enough.

[Marshall]

Sept 4, 2021 10:06:33 GMT -5 RickW said:

But I would take me about a year to learn it,

Well, get cuttin’ then!

[RickW]

Sept 4, 2021 10:10:23 GMT -5 Marshall said:

Sept 4, 2021 10:06:33 GMT -5 RickW said:

But I would take me about a year to learn it,
Well, get cuttin’ then!

Lol.. I have finally reached the point where I no longer want to try. I spent so many years writing and trying to learn complex music, and came to the conclusion that it’s more fun to write and record songs that I can play well. 50+ years to get to that point.

[TKennedy]

Solid groove too. Never drops the beat. Impressive.

[Russell Letson]

The guy certainly has chops, and the individual sections are musical, but the arrangement comes across almost as an encyclopedia of techniques. It doesn't breathe much, and I don't know that I'd want to sit through an entire set of this kind of playing. I have a similar reaction to the playing of a keyboard guy of my acquaintance who sometimes lets his technical prowess overwhelm his considerable musicality--some of his uptempo solos are so notey that I lose track of the form of the tune. Igusa's playing isn't that busy, but I'd like it better if he let in a bit more air.

[Russell Letson]

Not comparable in a number of ways, but I found this demo more satisfying musically. (Also the X-versus-parallel experiment is interesting--and to my ears, surprising.)



And just for fun, another archtop-comparison video. (I prefer the Epi/Eastman over the Gibson voice.)

[Rob Hanesworth]

Sept 4, 2021 10:06:33 GMT -5 RickW said:

This is an amazing bit of finger style jazz. Incredible arrangement, beautifully played. I think I could actually play this, there’s nothing inherently insane here. But I would take me about a year to learn it, and get it reasonably smooth enough.

Don't care for it. He obviously has a skill level I can only dream of, but if I had the skill I wouldn't use it that way. The melody is in there, but my ears have to work too hard to find it. I prefer simpler.

[RickW]

Sept 4, 2021 12:26:06 GMT -5 Russell Letson said:

Not comparable in a number of ways, but I found this demo more satisfying musically. (Also the X-versus-parallel experiment is interesting--and to my ears, surprising.)

And I find that one wanders a bit aimlessly for me, and I lose the piece. But to each his own. As I said to another friend with whom I shared this with, I’m sure there’s a version of pretty much every famous jazz tune for every taste. There are probably Klezmer and Metal versions of Autumn Leaves out there, somewhere.

[drlj]

Here is my “any dummy can play it” version of Autumn Leaves.

Chords can be played in open or closed positions and the melody falls right out of the chords. Like me, it’s simple but nice.

[RickW]

Sept 4, 2021 13:39:20 GMT -5 drlj said:

Here is my any dummy can play it version of Autumn Leaves.

Chords can be played in open or closed positions and the melody falls right out of the chords. Like me, it’s simple but nice.

John has said many times that you’re simple….

Thanks, might muck around with that for fun.

[drlj]

Sept 4, 2021 13:41:19 GMT -5 RickW said:

Sept 4, 2021 13:39:20 GMT -5 drlj said:

Here is my any dummy can play it version of Autumn Leaves.

Chords can be played in open or closed positions and the melody falls right out of the chords. Like me, it’s simple but nice.

John has said many times that you’re simple….

Thanks, might muck around with that for fun.

Simple, but nice. You forgot the “but nice” part!

[Russell Letson]

I suspect that part of my reaction has to do with acoustic vs electric textures--I really enjoy the range of sounds an acoustic can produce. But there are indeed places where the Cranmer player (the luthier himself?) gets a bit lost in the weeds. But the arrangement breathes in both timing and texture. One of the things that I don't enjoy as much as many others is the way bop-and-later jazz guitar tries to emulate horns and piano. I get the desire to free the instrument harmonically from guitaristic limitations and to jam like Bird and be heard over the rest of the ensemble, but the guitar has its own resources and joys.

[james]

I did find klezmer and disco interpretations. But as you're all sophistimacated.....

[Russell Letson]

LJ's chart reminded me that I first encountered the tune (via sheet music I still have somewhere, 50 years later) in G, which is the key my jazz pals call it in. But the C version is easier for non-jazzers (aside from that pesky m7-flat-5). So I Googled and found this interesting post about the influence of Real Book on setting standard keys:

keyboardimprov.com/why-is-autumn-leaves-played-in-the-key-of-e-minor/

I recall that the old, illegal Real Book was full of errors and oddities that later, legal editions fixed. When I take on a tune that I'm not learning for the jazz group (all users of marked-up Real Books), the first place I check is the Frank Mantooth collections, whose renderings are quite accurate (and which I always simplify).

[TKennedy]

Francoise Hardy!! Knew that name rang a bell.

She was in one of my all time favorite films “Grand Prix”. She had several memorable scenes the best of which was the “I don’t dance” snippet.

[gbacklin]

Then there is Eva

[drlj]

Sept 4, 2021 15:07:46 GMT -5 Russell Letson said:

LJ's chart reminded me that I first encountered the tune (via sheet music I still have somewhere, 50 years later) in G, which is the key my jazz pals call it in. But the C version is easier for non-jazzers (aside from that pesky m7-flat-5). So I Googled and found this interesting post about the influence of Real Book on setting standard keys:

keyboardimprov.com/why-is-autumn-leaves-played-in-the-key-of-e-minor/

I recall that the old, illegal Real Book was full of errors and oddities that later, legal editions fixed. When I take on a tune that I'm not learning for the jazz group (all users of marked-up Real Books), the first place I check is the Frank Mantooth collections, whose renderings are quite accurate (and which I always simplify).

My chart is an acoustic guitar friendly arrangement. It sounds pretty good and can be easily done on my HD-28.
It’s not how a real jazz guitarist would do it.

[RickW]

Sept 4, 2021 16:28:55 GMT -5 gbacklin said:

Then there is Eva

I’d forgotten about that version. Brilliant.

[Dub]

From Wikipedia.

"Autumn Leaves" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by Joseph Kosma in 1945 with original lyrics by Jacques Prévert in French (original French title: "Les Feuilles Mortes"), and later by Johnny Mercer in English. An instrumental version by pianist Roger Williams was a number one best-seller in the US Billboard charts of 1955.

Background
Kosma was a native of Hungary who was introduced to Prévert in Paris. They collaborated on the song Les Feuilles mortes ("The Dead Leaves") for the 1946 film Les Portes de la nuit (Gates of the Night) where it was sung by Irène Joachim. The poem was published, after the death of Jacques Prévert, in the book "Soleil de Nuit" in 1980. Kosma was influenced by a piece of ballet music, "Rendez-vous" written for Roland Petit, performed in Paris at the end of the Second World War, which was itself borrowed partially from "Poème d'octobre" by Jules Massenet. The first commercial recordings of "Les Feuilles mortes" were released in 1950, by Cora Vaucaire [fr] and by Yves Montand. Johnny Mercer wrote the English lyric and gave it the title "Autumn Leaves". Mercer was a partner in Capitol Records at the time, and Capitol recording artist Jo Stafford made the first English-language recording in July, 1950.

I’m guessing the rendition by Irène Joachim from the French film Soleil de Nuit might be in the original key. It’s possible, though perhaps less likely, that Jo Stafford’s 1950 recording is in the original key, but who knows.



On edit: Given that Irène (Ee-ri-nay) is a man’s name it seems to me that Em is more likely than Gm.

[billhammond]

Jacques was such a Prevert.