Category: Jazz

Foothold (Psalm 25)

Update 10/2/20: Sheet music for this song is available here.

10 years ago, my friend Debra Rienstra wrote a hymn text based on Psalm 25, called “Foothold.” Not only that, she won the Fuller Seminary School of Psychology Fortieth Anniversary hymn competition with it. As I began to work on an upcoming service in which she, her bass/guitar playing husband Ron, and her jazz sax improvising son Philip would be playing, that song came to mind.

But I wasn’t wild about the KINGSFOLD tune that the text had been paired with. Don’t get me wrong–KINGSFOLD is a great tune. But it is overused: “O Sing a Song of Bethlehem,” “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” “I Sing the Mighty Power of God.” The list goes on and on. More importantly, the tune seemed like the wrong vessel for this text. It moved too quickly to allow the deep inner life of Deb’s text to emerge.

So I, being the incessant musical tinkerer that I am, set about to compose a tune that would do the text justice while also allowing Philip to unleash his inner Coltrane. I’m always nervous about changing the music a poet originally heard in her ear, but in this case the poet gave me permission to share, so I must not be too far off base.

Want to play it at the piano rather than listening to Greg croon? See the link above for the PDF.

Church Congregational Songs Hymn tunes Jazz Live

Come, Join in Cana’s Feast

Post author By Greg Scheer
Post date January 18, 2016
2 Comments on Come, Join in Cana’s Feast

Herman G. Stuempfle, unwitting collaborator

Update 1/11/22: Sheet music for this tune is now available at gregscheer.com.

A few months ago I wrote a tune for a text by Herman Stuempfle. Strangely, when I went searching for a text to accompany this week’s sermon on the Wedding in Cana, I was led again to Stuempfle. Even stranger? The new text, “Come, Join in Cana’s Feast,” fits the same tune!

Because yesterday’s service was led by the Joyful Noise Orchestra, I had some cool instrumental options. I’m a huge fan of jazz with orchestra, so I broke out my hollow body Ibanez and wrote some string parts, a la Wes Montgomery’s Bumpin’. Throw in Lauren Figueroa on vocals and Joel Klamer on tenor sax, I figure you can’t go wrong.

Here’s the the MP3 of the service. Below, for your listening pleasure is some real music: Wes Montgomery’s Bumpin’.

Demos Jazz

The 50 Year Shuffle

These two fine folks just celebrated their 50th birthday. Oh, to look so good at such an advanced age!

This bubbly little jazz tune actually started its life as “The Heineken Maneuver,” after a joke that emerged at a jazz cafe the Rienstra and Scheer families have been attending. Shortly after I finished it, Ron and Deb had their 50th birthday bash and I decided to rename it in honor of the event. It was premiered with their son Philip on alto sax.

So get out on the dance floor–you’re never too old for “The 50 Year Shuffle“!

Demos Jazz

Blue Step (with guest soloist Stephen Brown)

Post author By Greg Scheer
Post date March 22, 2015
No Comments on Blue Step (with guest soloist Stephen Brown)

Stephen Brown and I have been collaborating for decades, so I was really pleased that he added a sax solo to my recent song, “Blue Step.” Now that we’ve got the DropBox sharing kinks mostly worked out, I hope you’ll hear more collaborations in the future.

(Stephen also showed me how the HTML code for the snazzy audio player above. It turns out that only neanderthals use plain old links anymore.)

Demos Jazz

Nessy

I just got my hollow body Ibanez (hence, “Nessy”) set up with new flat wound strings. I began to play and the guitar suggested jazz. I complied. MP3, PDF

Jazz

Pickin’ Sixes

Chet_Atkins-certified — Some day I, too, will be a certified guitar player.

I was going through a pile of old ideas when I stumbled across a draft for a Chet Atkins style jazz song. How could I resist finishing it?

Of course, I’m no Chet Atkins, but I did my best on the demo. Feel free to show me how it’s done by downloading the lead sheet and making your own recording. Or you can use the comment section to guess why I called the song “Pickin’s Sixes.”