Category: Jazz

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2022 Psalm Collaborations Church Congregational Songs FAWM 2022 Jazz Psalms

Psalm 135: I Know the Lord Is Great! (with Hunter Lynch)

Update: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

Almost exactly one year ago, Hunter Lynch and I released our first song together. Now we’re back at it with something very different. Hunter sent me a lyric based on Psalm 135 that was an exuberant ode to God’s might. My first draft was folk rock. I let it simmer for a while. When I came back to it, I knew I wanted to keep the syncopated phrase “i KNOW the LORD is GREAT,” but now I was feeling it in more of a pop gospel style.

As it developed, it became more and more complex until, quite frankly, I doubt it could be sung by a congregation. But maybe someday, some kind gospel choir will adopt this as their own.

1. Praise the name of the Lord;
every servant, sing out!
You who serve in his house,
in the courts of our God:
praise the Lord, our God is good;
sing unending praise.
We’re the people that God chose by name.

I know the Lord is great!
I know the Lord is great!
I know the Lord is great,
above all gods.

From sky to sea, he reigns!
From sky to sea, he reigns
above all gods.
I know the Lord is great
above all gods.

2. Where God’s people were bound,
he brought wonders and signs.
Casting kings from their thrones,
showing nations his might.
God’s renown and mighty name,
sing til end of days.
Those he loves, he pardons and he saves. (Chorus)

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FAWM 2022 Jazz Live

Hey You!

With ten more Psalms to go in as many days, you would think I would have my nose to the grindstone. I do. But I also can’t resist chasing a rabbit trail or two. In this case, the rabbit trail is a new jazz tune we tried out last night at Euro Bistro.

Earlier in the week, I was drinking my afternoon coffee when this little opening lick popped into my head. Pretty soon I was spinning it out into different pitches and keys until it became this delightfully twisty little song that would be at home surrounded by jazz standards like “Have You Met Miss Jones.” Indeed, Euro Bistro patrons didn’t seem to think anything was amiss when we snuck this new tune in one of our sets.

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Demos FAWM 2022 Jazz

The One More Note Samba

When I’m not furiously writing Psalms this month, I’m being lured into various FAWM challenges. Every week in February at fawm.org, someone posts a writing prompt, like “Write a song with a body part in it (a la Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie”). This week’s prompt was “Write a song with one note.” Of course, the gold standard example is Carlos Antonio Jobim’s “One Note Samba.” If you don’t know it, you need to listen to it. Right. Now.

Jen and Greg, being ridiculously cute.

I decided to write a song as an homage to Jobim, the great Brazilian composer whose name is synonymous with bossa nova. The homage is self-explanatory if you read the lyrics. Musically, I patterned the song after his, but whereas his B section is a flurry of scales, mine is a rapid-fire one-note melody.

Of course, since it’s nearly Valentine’s Day, my little bonbon of a love song is also an ode of love dedicated to my wife Jen. As you can see from this picture, we are ridiculously cute together and fantastically in love.

Jobim wrote a one-note samba–
a classic full of wit and charm–
but his masterpiece left eleven notes
to be used by other bards.

I’ll lay claim to two of them:
an E flat and a G.
I need twice as many notes:
I’m half as clever as Jobim.

I will use my second note to
tell you you’re the only one who
makes me sing of song of love so
true. For I was just a
lonely one who wondered if I’d
ever find a love just like the
love that I have fin’lly found in you!

That brings me back to my first note;
back to my first theme.
And though it’s not as elegant
as a samba by Jobim,

two notes are better than one note
because they make perfect harmony.
Just like the two of us–you and I–
go together perfectly!

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FAWM 2022 Jazz Live

Take 3.0

I’m sure you all know the jazz standard, Take 5. This one’s like that, but in 3/4 time. And while it may seem they have nothing more in common than a number in their title, they share a similar rhythmic foundation. Take 5’s underlying rhythm is:
| eighth, quarter, eighth, quarter | quarter, quarter | = 3+2
and mine is:
| eighth, quarter, eighth, quarter | quarter, quarter, quarter | =3+3

I wrote this a month ago and gave it a try at my Euro Bistro gig. It went…okay. I decided the lackluster performance was not the fault of the players, but of the song itself. Back to the drawing board. I moved things around and began to feel a little better about it, but still, it was just…okay. Back to the drawing board again. The third time, as they say, is the charm. Indeed, version 3.0 was a keeper. The form felt more satisfying and the harmonic movement pushed forward with vigor and vim. You can hear it in this rough live performance. Even though the trio was sight-reading the song, there was a naturalness to their playing and improvising.

Why an Oakley pants ad? Simply because it had “Take (Pro Pant) 3.0” in the product title.

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Jazz Psalms

Psalm 143: O Lord, Hear My Prayer

Update 2/4/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

The latest in my ongoing exploration of jazz Psalms is what is known as a responsorial Psalm. This is a form of chant in which the bulk of the Psalm text is chanted on a chant tone, a single note which continues until the phrase of text is finished and closes on a cadence. This allows for texts of varying lengths and a song that follows the Psalm very closely. The chanted verses are usually sung by a cantor (a fancy word for lead singer) and then the congregation sings a short refrain in response. (Hence, responsorial.)

This is way more complicated to explain than to sing.

This song uses the traditional Roman Catholic chanted text for Psalm 143, intended for use in funerals. The refrain is a singable melody over a ii-V-I jazz harmony. The verses work like a regular chant tone except that the musicians vamp under extended chant sections and add a quick turnaround between each phrase. Once again, I’ve made it more complicated than it sounds. Just take a listen.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

1. O Lord, hear my prayer; hearken to my pleading in your faithfulness;
in your justice answer me.
And enter not into judgment with your servant,
for before you no living man is just. [R]

2. I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all your doings; the works of your hands I ponder.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like parched land. [R]

3. Hasten to answer me, O Lord;
for my spirit fails me.
At dawn let me hear of your mercy,
for in you I trust. [R]

4. Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your good spirit guide me
on level ground. [R]

Categories
Demos Jazz Quirky

Stupid Things

Boomer and Joe, the original stupid things

Sometimes people ask me how I come up with ideas for songs. It can happen in a variety of ways: sometimes I’m working with a text that suggests a particular melody; other times a particular series of chords proves fertile for development; I’ve even been known to write songs based on wrong notes I played trying to learn another song!

But in the case of “Stupid Things,” my dogs were my musical inspiration. They must have been doing one of their trademark stupid moves like wanting to go on a walk so badly that they can’t stop jumping long enough or me to put their leash on. I exclaimed, “You are stupid things!” and a song was born.

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Jazz Psalms

Psalm 13: How Long?

Update 1/25/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

I continue to experiment with the intersection of Jazz and Psalmody. Will my experiments prove fruitful? Who knows. But I’ve learned that experimentation–play–is an important part of music growth, so I’ll continue to follow this path to see where it leads.

In this case, it led to Psalm 13, the loneliest of Psalms. It begins with the famous words, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” Many people have set this Psalm to music, so it’s unlikely that anything I will say will be entirely original. In my setting, I cast the “enemy” named in the Psalm as depression. The clues are all there: endless sorrow, feeling forgotten, emotional turmoil–even the lethargy and over-sleep that often accompanies depression. The Psalmist poignantly prays to be seen: “Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.” Certainly, we’ve all felt some of this at some point.

Musically, I accompanied this sad Psalm with a descending chromatic melody, mirroring the emotional plunge that depression brings. The opening melody is also a large hemiola, with 3-note “how longs” against the 4/4 meter. It’s not the easiest song to sing; I’m not entirely sure how well a congregation would do with it.

As you listen to the recording, you may wonder “Who are those fine musicians accompanying Greg?” They are all virtual instrumentalists! This is my first foray into using Band-in-a-Box as part of my demo process. I would say it worked exceedingly well. (Now if we could just do something about that singer!)

How long? How long? How long, O Lord?

1. How long will you forget me?
Will you keep turning away from me?
How long to drown in sorrow?
Lord, will tomorrow bring no relief? (refrain)

2. How long until you see me,
until you save me from endless sleep?
How long until your light shines
and hope fills my eyes? Lord, rescue me! (refrain)

3. I trust in love unfailing;
of your salvation, my heart will sing.
How long to lift God’s praises?
I will proclaim: you’re so good to me! (refrain)

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Jazz Live Psalms

Psalm 141: O Lord, I Call to You, Please Hear Me

Update 1/25/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

Any regular follower of this blog knows that I am on a quest to set every Psalm to music. A quick perusal of recent blog posts reveals that I’ve also been writing a series of jazz tunes for my trio to play at our weekly gig. This week, I combined those two seemingly different compositional threads: Voila! A jazz Psalm!

To tell you the truth, I don’t know what inspired me to combine Psalmody and jazz. It’s not my original idea, to be sure. Frankly, jazz is a performance music–and a virtuosic one at that. In my estimation, it adapts poorly to the demands of congregational worship music, which focuses on group singing. Nonetheless, I thought I’d give it a try to see if I could bring these disparate contexts together.

The lyrics of my Psalm 141 setting are a straightforward metrical versification. To that, I’ve added an optional Intro/Outro/Chorus. If I were leading this in a congregation, I’d likely have them sing that simple eight-measure phrase only, leaving the (more complicated) verses to a soloist until it became familiar. Of course, I didn’t lead it in a congregation; I led it in a bar. And that’s just what this recording sounds like.

1. O Lord, I call to you, please hear me;
may my prayer like incense rise.
And may my lifted hands, imploring,
be to you a sacrifice.

Oh, sanctify my lips
to sing the praise you’re due.
Though evil offers fare so sweet,
my heart will feast on you.

2. I count it as abundant blessing
to receive a saint’s rebuke.
For if it keeps my feet from wandering,
I will gladly hear hard truth.

For evil will fall down,
its power overthrown,
and all its might will turn to dust
that’s plowed into the ground.

3. My eyes are fixed on you, my Savior.
My help comes from you alone.
In you alone I find my refuge;
guide me safely to my home.

For danger marks my way
and evil lies in wait.
I safely pass while they are snapped
within the traps they’ve made.

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Jazz Live

One More Christmas Song

I have a confession to make: I hate Christmas music. There. I’ve said it.

I don’t know if this hatred grew because I’m a liturgically-leaning worship director who dislikes the way the Season of Walmart displaces the Season of Advent. Or the sickly sentimentality of most popular Christmas music. Or the soundtrack of Yuletide dittes that accompanies the binge/purge cycle of consumerism that begins as quickly as the Halloween decorations are put away. Who knows? But I’m not a fan.

You can imagine my dismay as the last three weeks of my jazz gig turned exclusively to Christmas repertoire. Yikes. But I’m a good sport and have played along. This week, however, I was overcome by a strange desire to compose a Christmas song of my own. What?! It’s true. I sat down at the piano and an hour later there was “One More Christmas Song.”

My goal was to write a song that could sit comfortably next to all the other standards we would be playing. Indeed, I borrowed liberally from existing songs. You’ll hear echoes of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “The Christmas Song,” and “Jingle Bells.” Not bad for a 16 measure song!

Do we need one more Christmas song?
Do we all need to sing along?
We need tidings of good cheer
that will last throughout the rest of the year.
It would be so glorious
to sing of peace on earth
and bring a message of good will
to all whether near or far.
Yes, we do need one more Christmas song!

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Jazz Live

Simple Lee

This jazz tune was a long time in the making. It started its life as the 4 bar phrase that begins the song. I developed it into a full song and named it “Sprite Lee” because it was (wait for it…) sprightly. With time, however, it grew more and more complex, with shifts in and out of the key and weird phrases of uneven length, rendering it virtually indecipherable.

When I get lost in the musical weeds, I always think of Occam’s razor, which can be paraphrased as, “the simplest explanation is usually the best one.” In music, I take that to mean, “cut away the frills and doodads and get to the point.”

And that’s just what I did. I soon had hacked it down to a simple AABBA form that is delightfully tuneful and memorable. Since it was now an entirely different song than the previous version, I needed a new title, too. I chose: “Simple Lee (The man who shaved with Occam’s razor).”

Note: The trio was sight-reading this, so you’ll hear B naturals (instead of B flats) in the first time through the head.