Monday, December 11, 2023

Music Monday: Ding Dong Merrily On High

It’s Music Monday for December 11, 2023 https://on.soundcloud.com/e8CPT https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEjER1AAA4_b1hZvhmS9NDFSvPND6DVU4 Today’s Music Monday is going to feature my son, Matt, on the bass guitar in another of my Christmas Album songs - Ding Dong Merrily On High. This song is not nearly as popular as a lot of other Christmas songs, but I picked it for a reason - playing 4 and 4. Ok, haha, what does that mean. Well, here’s the slighter longer explanation. Years ago I played piano and occasionally trombone in s Big Band in the Lynchburg, Va area. Sometimes I would sub on piano for another group that played fairly regularly at the Green Briar Resort, in West Va. And I had several smaller groups - mostly trios, quartets or quintets I would play in here locally. This was all Big Band or light Jazz music. That’s where I learned the concept of 4 and 4. We would play a song and maybe on the 2nd or third time through, we would each take turns playing a solo - for 4 measures. So we would all be playing for 4 measures, and then maybe the bass player would take a 4 measure solo, usually with the drummer keeping time, and then we would all start playing again. In 4 measures maybe the drummer would take a 4 measure solo then we would all join back in - I think you get the idea. So Ding Dong Merrily On High lends itself to that 4 and 4 concept. So on the first verse and chorus, Lynn, Matt and I play. There is a little interlude and then Matt takes a 4 measure solo on bass, I take 4 measures on piano, Lynn takes 4 measures on Flugelhorn, I take a RARE trombone solo for 4 measures and then we finish with Matt taking another 4 measure solo. We then play the whole song again with Lynn and I using mutes for the last chorus - kinda gives it a New Orleans flavor. Enough explanation - here’s Ding Dong Merrily On High