will_tm
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« on: December 07, 2003, 04:56 AM » |
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With 3 gigs this month, it seemed appropriate that the band I am in have decided to do a nice cheesy cover of a christmas song. We chose to do Wham!'s Last Christmas. We rocked it up a bit and we have it as a nice surprise on the end of our set on Tuesday 9th December  Has anyone else here done any christmas covers just as a one off for the month of December? |
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Mister Acrolite
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« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2003, 08:02 AM » |
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My clubdate account (the tuxedo band I play with) always does a few Christmas parties, so we usually fake our way through a few holiday standards.
The tough thing is, most of the well-known holiday songs are NOT easy to fake - they've got unusual chord changes that most people cannot "wing" their way through. And then when you DO get the songs down, you've got eleven months to forget them. And because everybody in the audience knows these songs, the inevitable wrong notes that happen are VERY conspicuous. It drives me nuts for a band I'm playing with to make blatant errors, so I decided to do something about it.
This band uses sequencers on a lot of tunes, so I went out and found half a dozen decent MIDI sequences of Christmas songs, and bought them for the band to use. That way, the foundation of the song is there, and we just play along to it.
I just got them last week, and now the bandleader needs to load the sequences onto his gear and tweak them. His MIDI gear is outdated, so he said it won't be a quick process, so we may not have them ready for this season (last night we winged it without a sequencer, and butchered "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"). But I'm hoping next season we'll be ready to just play along with the sequences, collect the money, and go home!
On a hipper (non-sequenced) note, I've also done Springsteen's version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with Clarence's band, and that was a gas!
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Chris Whitten
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« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2003, 08:49 AM » |
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There are some groovy Christmas songs.
Of course there's the Phil Spector stuff, plus I have a great Christmas blues album (on Rhino I think) and there were a couple of great GRP cd's. Maybe you guys can cover them.
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paul
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« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2003, 09:13 AM » |
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My R&B group learned Blue Christmas, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, and a couple of others for the season. Not a big deal.
My big band has several Christmas charts in the book, including Tom Kubis's arrangement of I'll Be Home For Christmas, which is so good that we play it all year round, and it never fails to get great audience response.
Played a holiday gig this week with a pickup jazz quartet. The sax player brought half a dozen Christmas charts, and we breezed right through them, along with a few jazz standards. Having players who can read makes adding holiday tunes to the list a real piece of (fruit?)cake.
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The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely preferable to the presence of those who think they've found it. - Terry Pratchett My drum page |
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jameswalker
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« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2003, 09:33 AM » |
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The gigs I do (jazz vibes, mostly), I'll have my fake book with me if there's a request for The Christmas Song, etc. - but the one Christmas tune I add to my book, and call without having it requested, is Vince Guaraldi's "Christmastime Is Here," from the Peanuts TV specials.
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Mister Acrolite
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« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2003, 09:55 AM » |
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My big band has several Christmas charts in the book, including Tom Kubis's arrangement of I'll Be Home For Christmas, which is so good that we play it all year round, and it never fails to get great audience response. Was that the clip you posted a while back? It was GREAT! You should re-post that if possible. Played a holiday gig this week with a pickup jazz quartet. The sax player brought half a dozen Christmas charts, and we breezed right through them, along with a few jazz standards. Having players who can read makes adding holiday tunes to the list a real piece of (fruit?)cake.
Very true. Last night our lead singer was also our keyboard player, so she was reading and singing from a badly written chart laid on top of her keyboard, with no light to read by. It was pretty painful. The funny thing is, she's used that same chart for years now and never corrected it. You can lead a horse to water, but... That's why I bought some sequences.  |
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Scheming Demon
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« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2003, 10:17 AM » |
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We always do Christmas Eve - Sarajevo from Transiberian Orchestra or Savatage (if you like).
Always goes over great and is a killer rock version of the song.
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nudrum
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« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2003, 11:44 AM » |
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The gigs I do (jazz vibes, mostly), I'll have my fake book with me if there's a request for The Christmas Song, etc. - but the one Christmas tune I add to my book, and call without having it requested, is Vince Guaraldi's "Christmastime Is Here," from the Peanuts TV specials.
I bet that tune, Vince Guaraldi's "Christmastime Is Here," is tasty on vibes!! |
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Enjoying a resurgence in jazz gigs.
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jameswalker
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« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2003, 12:38 PM » |
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I bet that tune, Vince Guaraldi's "Christmastime Is Here," is tasty on vibes!!
Yep - but it's "tasty" on any instrument! When it came to instrumental jazz, Vince Guaraldi really DID "rool like Ozzy!"  |
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random
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« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2003, 01:39 PM » |
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i was trying to imagine death metal christmas carols the other night. *evil grin*
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bennyleb
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« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2003, 05:30 PM » |
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Well, last year I was in a U2 tribute band and we did Baby Please Come Home. Great song to play and very easy to learn.
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diddle
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« Reply #11 on: December 07, 2003, 07:10 PM » |
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Our Christmas gig opens with "Feliz Navidad". I enjoy playing that one. A lot of the other tunes have tempo ritards... I don't like thoses with only one practice... much harder to get it tight, but I'm sure I'll live through the experience  |
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SteamRhino
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« Reply #12 on: December 07, 2003, 11:26 PM » |
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The local "original music scene" does a charity show each year called the 12 Bands of Christmas. This year, they compiled a CD of one song from each of the bands. I get such a kick out of what the kids (Not all young, tho) come up with. Some original, some outrageous covers. If I can get their permission, I'll upload some of them.
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paul
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« Reply #13 on: December 08, 2003, 06:28 AM » |
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We did Silent Night as a blues waltz last week on the quartet gig, and it came off really nicely.
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The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely preferable to the presence of those who think they've found it. - Terry Pratchett My drum page |
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racindrummer
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« Reply #14 on: December 08, 2003, 06:37 AM » |
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My big band is doing some standards such as "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland", plus a very laid back Basie like arrangement of "O Christmas Tree".
Our coolest new Christmas chart is a great arrangement of "Rudolph" that switches back and forth between swing, salsa, and rock (think Blues Brothers "I Can't Turn You Loose" groove). It is a real challenge to get this 17 piece juggernaut through the transitions smoothly.
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redchapterjubilee
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« Reply #15 on: December 08, 2003, 07:08 AM » |
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You've gotta do Spinal Tap's "Christmas With the Devil." I also like JAmes Brown's "Soulful Christmas" as well as South Park's "Mr. Hanky's Christmas." Muppets Christmas and The Chipmunks are all fair game. Oh, and Martin Mull's "Santa Doesn't Cop Out On Dope" and Beck's "Little Drum Machine Boy..." Lots of good rock Christmas songs out there. On the serious side, Big Star's "Jesus Christ" is just beautiful. Also look for the Screaming Santa's "Let;s Get High For Christmas" too.
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BigBillInBoston
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« Reply #16 on: December 08, 2003, 07:15 AM » |
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The tough thing is, most of the well-known holiday songs are NOT easy to fake - they've got unusual chord changes that most people cannot "wing" their way through. I agree with this comment. Many of the Christmas standards are beautifully crafted songs that are really great tunes but not simple. I was reminded of this at my groups last rehearsal. We'll be working a corporate holiday party gig next weekend and wanted to work up a few Christmas tunes. "Have your self a merry little christmas", "The Christmas song (Chestnuts roasting...)", "Walkin' in a winter wonderland" and many others are really great tunes. We've decided to do the 3 above tunes (with "Walkin" being done as a slow reggae  ) as well as: "Rockin' around the christmas tree" (a la Brenda Lee), "Please be home for christmas" (the great Charles Brown blues covered by the Eagles a few years ago), a "jazzy" version of "Jingle Bells" and "Santa clause is coming to town" a la Bruce Springstein Should be fun BigBill |
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Drumlooney
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« Reply #17 on: December 08, 2003, 07:54 AM » |
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I just drummed all weekend on an album a friend is doing to give out as Christmas presents. The cool part is that it's done very Jazzy, a different spin on these songs, very tastefully done.
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You don't practice one day no one notices, you don't practice two days you notice, you don't practice three days everyone notices.
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« Reply #18 on: December 08, 2003, 08:12 AM » |
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i remember middle school christmas concerts. i played trumpet and was a maniac joker. sombrero tricks during feliz navidad, stuff like that. |
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cavanman
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« Reply #19 on: December 08, 2003, 09:29 AM » |
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Yep - but it's "tasty" on any instrument! When it came to instrumental jazz, Vince Guaraldi really DID "rool like Ozzy!" "Christmastime is Here" Absolutely one of my favorite Christmas songs. Buy the whole Vince Guaraldi "Charlie Brown Christmas" CD for some great holiday jazz. I love and have to watch the special every year but they clip off the ends of some great tunes. Check out Shawn Colvin's version for another great version of this tune. Also: Like Mr. A, I've done my share of Christmas 'tuxedo' gig songs. There needs to be a rider in the contract for these gigs requiring paramedics for the all the musical carnage that goes on. [WE'RE LOSING "I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS"...PADDLES!!!...CLEAR!! BzzzzzZZZZZZT!...no use....he's gone.....musta' been the bridge that killed him] Jim |
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