a composition by Steve Swallow, one of many in the real book. apparently, when the Berklee students were putting the book together, Steve showed his support by donating lots of his lead sheets, so the students could copy them and include them. (that's why there's so many of his charts in the book.)
this tune is typically recorded at a slower tempo, with a much more contemplative feel. but for some reason i heard as feeling much more jaunty.
This intro sounds as kind of a pop song in early 70s. You really get in a good mood You said I had ”drifted tonally all over the place” in a piece. Well, I find it here too, in some places….nice!
How do they say - The more harmonics, the more rich and tonally interesting the music becomes.
I was reading much about Swallow and found out that “The Green Mountains” first appeared on Gary Burton’s album Country Roads & Other Places in 1969. Swallow played bass in Burton’s group at the time…..
Anyway, great tune, great playing. And I love those key changes all the time higher and higher….felt like you had to get up from the chair and stretch higher and higher. WoW Wonderful! Super budo And always, always always nice endings.
You know, I always enjoy listening to your music, it means something. And I have learned:
”What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead”.
Keep them coming!
Best wishes,
Stig
Pianoteqenthusiast, Organteqenthusiast, Harpteqenthusiast
thank you for listening and for your comments. yes, Gary and Steve played together quite often. there's great footage of them in various lineups on YT. they also (when very young) were part of Stan Getz's group. but they weren't playing tunes like this with him!
apparently Steve liked to write "circular" tunes. meaning tunes that kind of seamlessly cycle back to the beginning so one can't tell where they begin or end. that's not as apparent with this one if you play the little coda in G every time, but if you omit it during solos it does seem to cycle back.
here's another tune i posted a while ago by him that more clearly demonstrates this idea, I'm Your Pal. there are several others in the book (to be recorded/posted in the future) that also exhibit it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAUjJ48TSMA
here's the original recording that you mentioned, just in case anyone wants to hear what it's supposed to sound like: