Skip to main content

If I Had You

Here one of the tunes we played during our first gig last Thursday, "If I had You". We played many others but only this one was recorded entirely. Simple, no complicated harmony, not our best (some mistakes - ahem), but I'll remember this date forever as the first time I played 4 mallets in front of an audience, and without guitar or piano help ..., and as I owe this to VW, I think VW has to be the first to have access to the video !

Stephane Beuvelet - drums
Xavier Cortazar - Bass

Ladies in Mercedes (Steve Swallow) by Ted Wolff

I've been a fan of Steve Swallow for a long time, and not only for his extraordinary bass playing but for his compositions too. Ladies in Mercedes has been recorded many times by numerous artists, including Steve Kuhn, Carla Bley, Gary Burton, and many others.

Steve's famous Falling Grace may be his most well known tune, but I also love others that are not as well known, including Peau Douce, Radio, and the one I'm introducing here, Ladies in Mercedes.

Ed Saindon Solo Marimba - On The Sunny Side Of The Street

Hey guys, here's one we just taped last week at Berklee. It's an old classic that works great with the four to the bar feel. I recorded this song on my recording Swing On The Sunny Side with the great Herb Pomeroy. Herb's solo on that track is simply beautiful. This clip is also my nod to the great pianist Dave McKenna. If you haven't checked out Dave, I suggest you should. He has a lot of solo recordings out on the Concord Jazz label as well as some nice clips up on YouTube. Happy Holidays everyone! Ed

James (BillyJoel) 111205 by BarryK

I was practicing something and played a minor 7th chord. It reminded my of a tune by Billy Joel called "James" from the Turnstiles album, played on a Rhodes Piano. I thought it might sound good on vibes, so I started working on it. The backing track is the basic "Light Rock" style from Band-in-a-Box, with just the bass, drums and strings track. Here is one chorus from my practice session tonight.

Barry