Right, it's high time I got something of my own stuff on here properly

For my first, I'm choosing a fairly simple 'boogie-woogie' type of tune I made in honour of my uncle, some 1-2 decades ago, who loved to play this type of music on his piano (and gave me my very first keyboard, so I guess owe my whole music meddling to him).
The reason I dug it up now and decided to rework it with my BBox is because he passed away this christmas. So in a way, it's another tribute of a sort. People may find this kind of snappy boogie a bit of an odd thing, considering his recent passing, but I'm telling you he would've absolutely loved it

Anyway, proudly presenting: The swinging must go on!

Oh, and before you ask - it is supposed to have lyrics (preferably performed by a quartet) but I'm rubbish in that department... any takers interested in collaboration for fun?

Nice tune for those past times. My condolences for your uncle. Hope you find a collaborator for lyrics and singing. Dani48 has barbershop quartet experience and the vocal and writing chops to shine on a song like this. This genre is way out of my league. Nice song.

Charlie

Interesting tip there, thank you. And thank you likewise for such swift feedback, it reminded me I forgot to include the "required specs", as it were:

I used the swinging New Orleans style as a base style, swapped its guitar with the Wes Jazz guitar and the drums with Jazz Shuffle - both of which served to give the tune an "older" feel, I hope. Then there's some acoustic guitar added (EZ) and the 40s piano kicks in during the choruses only. The brass decorations are mine, and the harmonisation of the melody as well.

OK, I'll take you up on that challenge:

The Swinging Must Go On
the clock says that our time is up
the swinging must go on
the band is slowly packing up
the swinging must go on
with me in my tuxedo
and you in your chiffon

up and down and round and round
the swinging must go on
your best friend says to hurry up
the swinging must go on
caught in syncopation
the horns are blowing strong

bennie goodman, artie shaw
they're gone, they're gone, long gone
father time don't wait around for you
string of pearls and stardust
and we just danced along
just a little slower
but the swinging must go on

though it only seems a moment
those years moved on and on
and grew into a lifetime i spent with you
lovely you
yes, i'd like stay and be right here
but i know it won't be long
my ride is here and honking at the gate
so late!

bright and clear and wonderful
horns sing out their happy song
blue skies with bright and sunny days
though I won't be there to dance with you
please say you'll carry on
just remember me with fondness
for the swinging must go on

bennie goodman, artie shaw
they're gone, they're gone, long gone
father time don't wait around for you
string of pearls and stardust
we just danced along
just a little slower
but the swinging must go on
please promise to remember
the swinging must go on
we'll miss each other dear
but the swinging must go on

What do you think?

Nice David, real cool.

And wow, you belted that out quickly!

Love the tune Icelander and David, you had me singing those lyrics to the song!
Croaking it anyway as I have a sore throat but it was still fun

Rec

Hello Icelander. Nice tune and a lovely tribute. David I am blown away! I find it very hard to write lyrics to a tune composed by someone else. Well done to you both!

Hello Ice and David,
This is very promising, could turn into a feel good swinging song.
Happy tune, great lyrics!
F

Well, that didn't take long, eh!
Very nice story there too, we may be on to something fruitful here

On a more technical note though, are you quite sure the words/syllables match the notes completely? Or maybe I'm just not 'hearing' he phrases right
Would you mind if I 'meddled' with it a bit and see if I can't make it all match & come together? For as I said, I really think we may be on to something here

They match pretty closely. If you could get me a copy of the song with the melody, I could add the lyrics. Otherwise, I could try singing it and send you that.

I've got no problem with you adapting the lyrics, but let's see if I can show you what I intended first... Then you can start making changes!

Thanks!

Roger that! Drop me a PM to work out the sharing specifics... and again, my highly impressed compliments to you for such a quality response to the 'challenge' in such a short time

Hi Icelander,

I'm very curious what will come out.

Guenter

Kind of a classic rock and roll meets jazz, great job on the melody line, thanks for sharing!

Hi, Icelander !:))

I take it you are
from Reykjavik or
Akureyri ? (In that
case you are a Scandinavian
brother of mine )!!!

I´ve been to your lovely country
and must say it is really like
a saga !:)) Like Norway,
Iceland is more or less a
National Park allthrough ?

About your tune, I like this
kind of music, and I can well
understand that your uncle liked
it too ! My condolences !!

David, you must be a wizzard.....

Take care

Cheers
Dani

Welcome back Icelander!! Have not seen you post in a while. Cool tune!! And amazingly good lyrics on the fly by David! Thanks guys. Take care. Greg

Thanks for the positive feedback!

Icelander, I've sent a PM so you can hear what I was thinking of when I wrote it.

Well, you've just described the essence of the "Boogie woogie" style right there, haven't you
It was really a sort of transition thing from Miller's jazz to the "Rock-a-billy", with some elements of both (check the Anders sisters "Bugle boy" sample ). The jazzy element in these 'full band' boogies comes primarily in the voicing of the vocals, while keeping the core chords of the band relatively simple.
Boogie woogie 'purists' would however say that a proper BW should be entirely performed on a piano (like here ).
In many ways songs in this style are basically just a fast 12-bar blues, only with major 6th chords rather than 7th. I confess I cheated a bit on that last part, by adding a dim chord, but oh well. For a first (and my only) swing song to date, I'd say it's close enuff!

That'd be Reykjavik, yes...and kudos for spelling it correctly
However, I think you're the first finnish person to refer to either of our countries as 'Scandinavian'. Most people only include the other three nordic countries in that definition (we get exluded for geography, you for the language).
Anyway, thanks for the compliments... although it now rather looks like David has stolen most of my thunder here already, grmbl!

Thanks for the compliments...and thanks for noticing my absence, which was mainly due to health reasons (I was actually in a coma for a bit), but I'm back with a vigour now!

Got it and we should be well hooked up by now!
just check your "Trash" folder in case gmail thinks I'm a spammer

OK, we've taken this off to PM-land.

In case anyone is curious, we've agreed not to continue with the collaboration.

Thanks for the folk who liked the lyric - including Icelander.

As Icelander put it, he was looking for someone to simply add some paint his completed house - not suggest remodeling it by tearing down a wall.

I'm just not clever enough to write a lyric that hits every note as written - even with my own songs!

In short: Challenge is still open!

Nice tune Icelander and we're curious about the result, when the vocals (and lyrics of course) come in.

Rob and Anne-Marie

This is a great tribute. I'm sure he is smiling down on you.

Good luck with the collaboration.

Well, thanks, but as stated in my last post - That 'challenge' is now reinstated and open for grabs, for you brave wordsmiths out there!

Hi Eddie



I totally agree with Greg. It's good to see you back in the forum again.

All the best,
Noel