This & That - Juggling Reality

RobRosenblat.com

1 - CHRISTMAS MEDLEY 7:05

Christmas Time is Here ( V. Guaraldi )
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy ( I. Tchaikovsky)
A Few of My Favourite Things ( Rodgers/Hammerstein )
Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring ( J. S. Bach )
The Christmas Song ( M. Torme )

THE GYPSY IN ME

2 - Nuages ( D. Reinhardt ) 1 :42
3 - Bistro Fada ( S. Wrembel ) 4:06

FROM SOUTH AMERICA

4 -Prelude No. 3 ( H. Villa-Lobos ) 3:51
5 - Manha De Carnaval ( L. Bonfa ). 3:13
6 - Tango - Verano Porteno ( A. Piazzolla ). 4:43
7 - Sunset in Rio ( L. Almeida ). 3:06

SOME GREAT POTPOURRI

8 - Yesterday ( Lennon/McCartney ) 2:26
9 - Crepuscolo Sul Mare ( P. Umiliani ) 3:11
10 - Danny Boy ( Anon. ) 3:02
11 - Chicago Style Blues ( W. Beauvais ) 2:33
12 - Summertime ( G. Gershwin ) 2:53
13 - Anything Goes ( C. Porter) 1:14
14 - Over the Rainbow ( H. Arlen) 3:27

MY ROOTS

15 - Sunrise Sunset ( J. Bock) 2:04
16 - If I Were A Rich Man ( J. Bock) 2:59
17 - Ma Navu ( Rabbi S. Nissim ) 1:54
18 - Oyfn Pripetchik ( M. Warshawsky ) 1:21

Several years ago, Doug Blais said he wanted to record me. I was somewhat skeptical at the time but finally agreed to it following some urging from my longtime dear friend, Linda Eggerer. Then Covid hit and priorities completely changed. Doug is an amazing guitarist and a terrific musician in his own right. His intimate understanding of guitar was a blessing in this process.

We started with countless selections of music and whittled it down to a variety of genres I have marvelled at over the years. They reflect influences from classical, jazz, soul, blues, rock, folk, Broadway, klezmer and anything else you can think of. I love them all. Some of the selections were ones that I learned by ear. I have incorporated a lot of poetic licence to these works. Many are ballad-like in nature with a slowed down pace… I’ve always been a romantic at heart. You will hear some string buzzing, breathing and other human sounds. It just lets you know that it’s truly me on the guitar and not some overdubbed AI version of me.

The opening selection is a medley of Christmas music that blends modern with classical, ending with an echo of jingle bells.

The section on The GYPSY IN ME features an abbreviated Charlie Byrd rendition of Django Reinhardt’s, arguably, most well-known piece called Nuages. This is followed by Bistro Fada, a great theme from the movie Midnight in Paris. Music from South America has always fascinated me with its rhythms and richness of sound. The first selection is Prelude No. 3 by Heitor Villa-Lobos, probably the most well-known of the Brazilian composers. This is part of the Cinq Preludes that he composed – standards in the classical guitar repertoire. The Manha De Carnaval (morning of the carnival) is the famous piece from the Brazilian movie Black Orpheus. The master composer of the Argentine tango is, of course, Astor Piazzolla. I have chosen the Verano Porteno tango as an example of his brilliant composing. Finally, one of Laurindo Almeida’s best compositions, Sunset in Rio, was too much to resist.

The next seven selections went under the catch-all phrase of SOME GREAT POTPOURRI. Yesterday has got to be one of the most recorded pieces in history, a classic composition by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Crepuscolo Sul Mare (meaning “twilight on the sea”) is featured in the movie Ocean’s Twelve. Danny Boy is a wonderful Irish folk melody. This version is a variation of a Johnny Smith arrangement. William Beauvais is a guitar professor, composer and performer from Toronto. I have chosen his Chicago Style Blues from a set of Blues pieces he wrote and recorded a few years back. Summertime is that star selection from Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. I have set down an abbreviated Howard Morgen version of this masterpiece. Things pick up with Cole Porter’s upbeat number of Anything Goes arranged by Stan Ayeroff, from the musical with the same name. The section then closes out with Harold Arlen’s Over The Rainbow song from the Wizard of Oz. This version is an arrangement by Toru Takemitsu.

The recording closes out with music of MY ROOTS. These are selection of Broadway, Hebrew and Yiddish pieces that form part of my makeup, going back to my early childhood. Sunrise Sunset and If I Were A Rich Man are selections from Fiddler on the Roof. Ma Navu (Hebrew for “how lovely”) emanated from 19th century Iraq and now, in Israel, forms part of the group of Hebrew folk dances known as Debka’s. There is a certain majesty about this one. I discovered this music in the late 60’s when I performed in Winnipeg with Chai, an ethnic folk group of singers, dancers and musicians. The last selection is Oyfn Pripetchik (Yiddish for “on the hearth”). It is about a 19th century Ashkenazic Rabbi teaching youngsters the Yiddish ABC’s in his home by the hearth where the fire is burning. I have left this piece very simple to capture the soul that underlies much Yiddish music.

I am grateful to everyone who encouraged and supported me in recording this music, especially my wife Sue. Wow…what a ride….

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