This is an updated version of my 2003 composition, Holiday Bell Waltz. I have posted it over the years to demonstrate new BIAB features, and this has the new style, _NYWALTZ.STY in the Bonus-49 Pak.

It also benefits from the new feature, Natural Arrangement. While I don't yet fully understand what's going on under the hood, it reworked 55% of my chords to make for smoother playing, especially voice leading. I really like most of what I'm hearing, but there are a few clams that I would normally edit.

And Danny Gottlieb is on drums - I've worked with Danny, and no one plays more cleanly. The drums really kick this version up.

Reminder, this is straight from BIAB 2017 with NO PRODUCTION. All I did was clip the beginning and end, save to MP3 and post. In the style, I made one change to accommodate the fast tempo: I used the SIMPLE option on Danny's drums. You can imagine what a dynamo he is when he isn't throttled back!

Matt Finley - Holiday Bell Waltz (2003) copyright Kingsmill Music / BMI

Matt,

That sounds excellent! I can't believe it was BIAB 2017 as is without any production. Very impressive.

I always like hearing this composition. Top class music all round!

Regards,
Noel

Beautiful. That's a nice arrangement. It's going to be a fun year with BIAB. Enjoyed my listen.


Charlie

Matt, thoroughly enjoyed this, the sound is clean, crisp, the balance is perfect.

I am very impressed with the way all instruments sit absolutely perfectly, never clashing, never getting in the way, but never sounding sparse. Busy, but not busy. This gave the melody great interest, intrigue in fact.

A classic 3/4 in a classic jazz waltz style. Ahhh, so good. This could be Bill Evans.

Danny's brush style is just so high-quality, and every so often he hits the ride just perfectly, subtly.

I'm guessing that's you on Vibes, as I didn't notice too much flugle or sax.

What a great arrangement, what a great ending. Going back for a third listen right now!

Impressive, in all regards, Matt... enjoyed the listen...

Matt,

I agree with all that's been said. This is Jazz of the highest caliber.
Also, such a clean production and open sound considering that it is more or less straight out of BIAB.
Your vibe playing also blends superbly.

The case for upgrading has never been so compelling

Jez

well, this is a treat we don't get on the user showcase very often... an appearance by Matt Finley! I have to admit that this is the first version I've heard any version of the song.. so now my curiosity demands that I listen retroactively to hear how previous versions of BIAB handled it!

Yes, I'm as impressed as you are by the new NATURAL ARRANGEMENT feature! Since their introduction in 2008, Real Tracks have always required tweaking to get a result that sounds as natural as live musicians interpreting the song. It blows me away to hear that this version of your song was not tweaked at all!

As more people start posting songs made with the latest version, it will be interesting to hear their comments about how much tweaking was necessary.

VERY nice job Matt! Thanks for sharing not only the song, but also the info about how a new feature impacted it.

As an aside to anyone who is thinking about attending the BIAB FORUM GET TOGETHER on July 25 2017, at Lake George NY ... Matt has indicated that this song will be on the set list! Having heard the BIAB version, I'm looking forward to hearing how his band interprets it!

Hey, thanks everyone! You are very kind.

I need to clear up two things:

When I say 'no production', I mean everything you hear is recorded directly as BIAB plays it. That is not me on vibes; it's the part I wrote on the Soloist channel. There is literally nothing changed or added. I do have a Roland Integra-7 playing the piano melody and the vibes, and those patches sound pretty nice. I'm glad my writing of the vibes part fooled some of you, though!

Pat, I promised to play my new song at Lake George, one I posted just for beta testers because of the complex chords I use to test the new features of BIAB 2017. Whether or not I perform this song depends on how my arthritis holds up carrying those very heavy vibes. A flugelhorn is a lot lighter! This song is for this season and I'm delighted you like it.

Very cool song. Loved it

My mistake... thanks for the clarification! So much info to digest, and I'm finding that only about 50% of what I read gets absorbed... so thanks for helping me to understand through multiple exposures to the same information.

On that note, I think I'll remove myself from the information pipeline for a while... my accuracy record so far is not good. ;-)

Pat, I think you're doing fine! All the testers are a bit blitzed at this point, though.