PG Music Home
Posted By: aleck rand THE MOONTRANE - 10/28/13 05:16 PM
Dedicated to composer/trumpeter Woody Shaw, path breaking organist Larry Young, tenor titan Joe Henderson, and superdrummer Elvin Jones, all departed giants of the heyday of Blue Note records in the 1960's.

The source album is one of the important exemplars of that period. For comparison purposes, one can hear the original version of The Moontrane at www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOahyrmhnZo

The "trane" is not a spelling error, but refers to John Coltrane.

THE MOONTRANE https://soundcloud.com/aleckrand/the-moontrane

Aleck Rand: Horn arrangements, guitar, Hammond SK-1 (mini B3)
Real Drum artist Terry Clarke: Percussion
Posted By: PgFantastic Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/28/13 05:19 PM
Another fine piece of music, thanks for sharing!

My Music
Posted By: Guitarhacker Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/28/13 05:23 PM
Not my cuppa java but you do this stuff well.

It sounds good. nice use of the synths/midi. Nice guitar playing too...
Posted By: boehm Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/28/13 05:43 PM
Hi Dean,

I knew that you play keyboards.
But I didn't know you're such a good
soloist. Awesome!
Your guitar is good as always.

Guenter
Posted By: Steve Young Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/28/13 06:28 PM
Hi Dean,

Another outstanding piece of work here. All the solos are just great! You are one gifted musician!

Probably just the speakers I am listening on, but the drums seem just a slight tad too far back in the mix. I know in this genre, the drums are not supposed to overly drive the song, but at times I could hardly hear them. Again, it could be the system I am listening to.

Really enjoyed this one.

Steve
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/28/13 07:00 PM
Thanks Steve,

I think you may be right about the percussion being a little soft. It wouldn't hurt to bring them forward a bit, but after knocking myself silly on this tune, the idea of going back for more tuneups - well, you probably know the feeling.

But I'm pleased that you like it and appreciate your very kind remarks.

Dean
Posted By: bluage Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/29/13 05:49 AM
Hello, "aleck rand"...

That's my kind of jazz! Bright, driving, upbeat, and all lit-up with the glow from a percolatin' Hammond organ! The "changes" in the song -- and your musicianship in performing them -- are exhilarating.

It took me a l-o-n-g time to "get my head around" Mr. Coltrane's music. And then, one day I read that at a particular moment in his life when his addiction to drugs had him hanging by his fingernails at the edge of the "abyss", he told the "The Creator" that if He would help him get that "monkey off his back" that he would devote his life and his music to the glorification of God.

Up to that time I was not aware of any jazz musician who had made such a direct statement of the role that spirituality -- not religion -- played in his/her life. But after reading that, I didn't have any more problems "understanding" what Mr. Coltrane was doing, and why he was doing it.

Hoping to hear more of this,

bluage
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/29/13 01:03 PM
Hi Guenter, my friend

Your comments are very kind. I'm really glad you liked it.

I remember - not fondly - all the occasions when I had to move my old Hammond CV (basically the guts of a B3 in a church organ frame). The thing must have weighed 7,000 pounds.

Now, I just got a Hammond SK-1 - a Hammond B3 squeezed into a 16 pound keyboard. Barbara Dennerlein watch out!!

So much has changed, hasn't it?

Dean
Posted By: dani48 Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/29/13 10:12 PM
Hi, Dean !

I do not find words for this
display of superb musicianship !
I am outright awed !!!!!
You are actually playing both
guitar and the hammond ? :)))
Great !


Cheers
Dani
Posted By: Noel96 Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/30/13 10:29 AM
Hi Dean,

I'm sitting here thinking, "Very sophisticated music played with amazing skill and attention to detail." As others have already noted many times, you're a very talented man and have a flair for this genre. It's really easy to see you smiling as you put this one together!

I appreciated the opportunity to listen. Thank you.

Noel
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 10/30/13 05:42 PM
Originally Posted By: bluage
That's my kind of jazz! Bright, driving, upbeat, and all lit-up with the glow from a percolatin' Hammond organ! The "changes" in the song -- and your musicianship in performing them -- are exhilarating.

It took me a l-o-n-g time to "get my head around" Mr. Coltrane's music. And then, one day I read that at a particular moment in his life when his addiction to drugs had him hanging by his fingernails at the edge of the "abyss", he told the "The Creator" that if He would help him get that "monkey off his back" that he would devote his life and his music to the glorification of God.

Up to that time I was not aware of any jazz musician who had made such a direct statement of the role that spirituality -- not religion -- played in his/her life. But after reading that, I didn't have any more problems "understanding" what Mr. Coltrane was doing, and why he was doing it.

Hoping to hear more of this
Bluage, man, you have made my day. I'm grateful for your kind response, but I really want to chime in with "Yeah, Bluage, that's my kinda jazz too! Sure, the changes - so cool. And as far as the Hammond B3 goes, I rate it alongside the invention of the wheel as one of humankind's greatest creation, and the Hammond SK-1 the greatest invention since the B3.

Dean Clark (aka "Aleck Rand")

PS I think it took everyone a long time to get their heads around 'Trane's concept. The spirituality angle is another issue. Do you remember Sun Ra? He had a fairly bizarre "interplanetary philosophy" of some kind, but his is the only name that comes to mind. I think too many jazz players got their spirituality out of the end of a needle.
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/01/13 12:59 AM
Hi Guitarhacker,

I know we're light years apart in our musical worlds, but I have to tip my cap to you for being willing to listen to different things. I really admire that.

Aleck
Posted By: raymb1 Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/02/13 03:14 AM
+1 Very nice!! Ray
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/04/13 03:54 PM
Noel and Ray:

Thanks so much for your favorable reception.

Dean Clark (aka Aleck Rand)
Posted By: gibson Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/04/13 05:41 PM

One question: How on earth do you start recording that, one track at a time, what is first???? The finished product is excellent.

Alyn
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/05/13 03:11 AM
Hi Dani,

Thank you for the extravagant praise. Wow!

At one point, I had given up the guitar completely and concentrated on keyboards for about 10 years. Then, I gave that up. I didn't pick up any instrument for at least another 10 years.

In 2008 I retired from what most people would consider a very cushy job (unfortunately, it nearly drove me mad) and dusted off the old instrument cases to see if there was anything inside left intact. Intact enough to jump start my musical life. But the most profound event since then was my accidental discovery of Band-In-A-Box.

Dean
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/10/13 10:34 PM
Hi PGFantastic,

I am remiss in being so late in thanking you for your kind remarks. They are much appreciated.

Dean
Posted By: gruverider Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/16/13 09:34 PM
I enjoy a number of genres but this remains among the top of the list and you bring it to life so very well!
Posted By: SpaceDog Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/18/13 08:07 PM
Dean,
This is some virtuoso stuff. Wow! I can't even imagine achieving such a high level of skill.
SD
Posted By: AudioTrack Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/18/13 10:28 PM
Absolutely Swinging! The reflect on others comments, this is a great piece of work, nice balance, and some impressive chord changes.

I really appreciated the opportunity to listen to this one.

VideoTrack
Posted By: raymb1 Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/19/13 01:50 AM
Very cool, Aleck. Later, Ray
Posted By: tommyad Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/19/13 02:54 PM
Aleck, Great B3 solo that you played, also your usual stellar guitar work. I am currently reading a book by Peter Erskine of Weather Report and he talks a lot about Elvin

Jones, so I struggled a little to hear the drums. i know how you feel about going back to fix the mix . I am the same way. I like to keep moving on to the next one. Great

Job I enjoyed it. Tom
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/21/13 04:59 PM
Hey Tommy,

Thanks so much for your kind words. Yeh, the drums should have been louder, but evidently we see eye-to-eye on the endless mix process. After bustin' my chops on this difficult tune (trying to hear the changes off Larry Young's original recording - not easy), trying a thousand times to get that B3 solo nailed, etc. There's only so much energy left. And then you gotta mix and mix? Oh, man ...

Thanks again pal

Dean
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/21/13 05:01 PM
Hey Ray,

I've noticed you're a man of few words, but every one counts. Getting two complements from you on one tune ... now that really means something to me.

Thanks, man

Dean
Posted By: sixchannel Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/22/13 09:25 PM
Hi Aleck ;-{)
Just dropped by to see if I could get the hang of this Jazz Thing. Nah!Too many notes in each bar - lol!!
That B3 solo was awesome and what a great sound too. I guess the solo guitar break is you also?
I have to admit it - yes, I did enjoy this. A bit. OK, OK, quite a bit. OK, OK,OK - a LOT!!!! Will that do?
I know what you mean by endless remixing. I can hear stuff of mine from before and think "Shall I, Shall,nt I?" but I have to move on or I'd never get anything new done.
Excellent sound file even if the drummer is playing in another room! lol!!(joke)
cheers
Ian
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/23/13 12:49 AM
Hi Spacedog and Videotrack,

You have my profound thanks fellas - and I regret being so late to respond. I never thought this tune would fly on the Forum. No way. But, unlike my other "boat anchors," this one didn't sink out of sight in a day. It's still hangin' round!
Amazing.

Thanks again

Dean Clark (aka Aleck Rand)
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/23/13 12:51 AM
Hi Ian,

Well, well, well. I may be winning over a few converts. I got a big kick out of your favorable review, and appreciate it very much.

Dean
Posted By: kenbiab Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/23/13 03:51 AM
Aleck,

I would have thought that now that we have Mike LeDonne tracks in BIAB, nobody would every post themselves playing the B3. I'm glad that I was wrong, because you absolutely killed it! The entire track was awesome. There is nothing better in the world than guitar and B3 together (maybe peanut butter and chocolate?) and the horn head made for a swing-gasm when the organ trio kicked in.

I loved every minute of it. Great sound.
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/23/13 01:22 PM
Hey Ken,

Your comments make my day and I'm also glad that you brought up Mike and the B3 RealTracks. I have used them successfully, for example, in https://soundcloud.com/aleckrand/close-your-eyes and https://soundcloud.com/aleckrand/sonny. You may want to check these out to hear Mike's comping and soloing. He's the real deal alright.

But when I tried the B3 RealTracks in MOONTRANE the results were - how to describe it - let's say: incoherent, at best. The changes come too quickly and have few of the orthodox transitions.

The moral: BIAB/RealBand is an amazing feat of imagination and computer science prowess. But, at this stage, it isn't Deep Blue or whatever succeeded IBM's chess-playing program. It wouldn't survive the Turing Test, although it might hang on for a while with simple tunes. But MOONTRANE would defeat it. Who knows about the future?

But, in a more important sense, BIAB/RealBand is much better than Deep Blue, which relies only on refrigerator-sized CPUs and brute combinatorial force.

Instead, BIAB/RB is a kind of symbiotic weld of musician to machine. The better you are, the better BIAB does. And the better BIAB does - with voicings and sounds that you might not think of - the better you do. You learn from it. Of course, there are programs in other fields for which the same thing holds. But I can't think of anything else remotely like it in music.

Thanks again for your compliments.

Dean Clark (aka Aleck Rand)
Posted By: kenbiab Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/23/13 09:37 PM
Originally Posted By: aleck rand


The moral: BIAB/RealBand is an amazing feat of imagination and computer science prowess. But, at this stage, it isn't Deep Blue or whatever succeeded IBM's chess-playing program. It wouldn't survive the Turing Test, although it might hang on for a while with simple tunes. But MOONTRANE would defeat it. Who knows about the future?



I know what you mean. For me it fails the Turing test when I want the solo to cleave close to the melody, or come back and quote a little piece of the melody. Since it can't really do that, I'm sometimes forced to pull out a guitar and do those parts myself.

But I could swear that on some songs, like Steve Nelson on vibes soloing to All The Things You Are, that the chords are so recognizable they assume that is the song and just generate the solo with that assumption. That one definitely passes the Turing test IMO.
Posted By: aleck rand Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/25/13 02:35 AM
Ken,

You're the first one I ever heard mention Mike LeDonne or Steve Nelson. As you know, Mike is one of the B3 monsters of the day (along with Joey, Dr. Lonnie, and a few others), and Steve and Joe Locke come in a photo finish as best vibes player. Your comments on BIAB/RB and the Turing Test now prompt me to marvel at how PG Music was able to corral these and other powerhouse players to create the RealTracks.

Yeh, you're right about the TT. BIAB/RB could hang around for quite a while - you're example of All The Things You Are - before someone asks the question that brings forth the response, "Ah, yes, now we know which one is the computer."

But, I suspect that before too long, something like BIAB/RB will be able to handle tunes like we've mentioned and hang around still longer ... and longer ...

Scary, man.

Dean
Posted By: sixchannel Re: THE MOONTRANE - 11/25/13 10:12 AM
Originally Posted By: aleck rand

.....The better you are, the better BIAB does. And the better BIAB does, the better you do.....

Dean Clark (aka Aleck Rand)



Ya know, Dean, that would make a great strapline statement for PG Music. smile
cheers
Ian
© PG Music Forums