Dear Chuck...
THANK YOU for those comments on (mis)interpretation of popular song...I have 
pasted them in several locations (with your name redacted) for people to see.
Jim

________________________________

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Chuck Israels
Sent: Thu 30-Mar-06 12:42
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Finale] TAN: req fake book recommendation




On Mar 30, 2006, at 8:59 AM, Andrew Stiller wrote:

> Chuck Israels noted the poor quality of songbooks post 1960 (I 
> mistakenly deleted his posting so I can't quote it).
>
> I realize that he was talking about recent publications of old 
> standards, not of recent music,

Yes, that's what I meant, but even some old ones vary in quality.  
I've heard pretty poor piano accompaniments to Cole Porter songs used 
by Ben Heppner's accompanist (for one example).  I'm all for people 
with trained voices singing popular songs, as long as the rendition 
at least approaches the accepted standards set by the better 
performers of that material, just as I'm happy that Rufus Wainwright 
sings L'Invitation au Voyage.  (Not the best I've heard, of course, 
but pretty decent, and it introduces his audience to that wonderful 
song at what I consider to be an acceptable, and certainly heartfelt, 
level.)  I just don't enjoy ignorant performances - where "classical" 
singers go slumming.  Ugh!

I'm always surprised that people who are supposedly trained in the 
nuances of interpretation can be so far off that it's embarrassing 
when they sing popular material.  The result sounds as if they've 
either never heard it, or that they mistakenly believe they are 
elevating the material by performing it in grossly pretentious and 
bizarre ways.  When I hear that kind of thing, it casts doubt, in my 
mind, on the integrity of all of their other work.  Makes me think 
they have no more understanding of the stuff they normally perform 
than they do of the pop stuff.

End of OT rant.


> but I thought it would be worth mentioning that piano-vocal 
> publications of rock music, of which I have many, vary tremendously 
> in quality, and some of them are very good. The best, not 
> surprisingly, tend to be those in which the original accompaniment 
> is keyboard-based: The Doors, for example, and Joni Mitchell.

Good to know this.

Chuck



>
> Andrew Stiller
> Kallisti Music Press
> http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/
>
> _______________________________________________
> Finale mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale

Chuck Israels
230 North Garden Terrace
Bellingham, WA 98225-5836
phone (360) 671-3402
fax (360) 676-6055
www.chuckisraels.com

_______________________________________________
Finale mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale


Dear Chuck...
THANK YOU for those comments on (mis)interpretation of popular song...I have 
pasted them in several locations (with your name redacted) for people to see.
Jim

________________________________

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Chuck Israels
Sent: Thu 30-Mar-06 12:42
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Finale] TAN: req fake book recommendation




On Mar 30, 2006, at 8:59 AM, Andrew Stiller wrote:

> Chuck Israels noted the poor quality of songbooks post 1960 (I 
> mistakenly deleted his posting so I can't quote it).
>
> I realize that he was talking about recent publications of old 
> standards, not of recent music,

Yes, that's what I meant, but even some old ones vary in quality.  
I've heard pretty poor piano accompaniments to Cole Porter songs used 
by Ben Heppner's accompanist (for one example).  I'm all for people 
with trained voices singing popular songs, as long as the rendition 
at least approaches the accepted standards set by the better 
performers of that material, just as I'm happy that Rufus Wainwright 
sings L'Invitation au Voyage.  (Not the best I've heard, of course, 
but pretty decent, and it introduces his audience to that wonderful 
song at what I consider to be an acceptable, and certainly heartfelt, 
level.)  I just don't enjoy ignorant performances - where "classical" 
singers go slumming.  Ugh!

I'm always surprised that people who are supposedly trained in the 
nuances of interpretation can be so far off that it's embarrassing 
when they sing popular material.  The result sounds as if they've 
either never heard it, or that they mistakenly believe they are 
elevating the material by performing it in grossly pretentious and 
bizarre ways.  When I hear that kind of thing, it casts doubt, in my 
mind, on the integrity of all of their other work.  Makes me think 
they have no more understanding of the stuff they normally perform 
than they do of the pop stuff.

End of OT rant.


> but I thought it would be worth mentioning that piano-vocal 
> publications of rock music, of which I have many, vary tremendously 
> in quality, and some of them are very good. The best, not 
> surprisingly, tend to be those in which the original accompaniment 
> is keyboard-based: The Doors, for example, and Joni Mitchell.

Good to know this.

Chuck



>
> Andrew Stiller
> Kallisti Music Press
> http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/
>
> _______________________________________________
> Finale mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale

Chuck Israels
230 North Garden Terrace
Bellingham, WA 98225-5836
phone (360) 671-3402
fax (360) 676-6055
www.chuckisraels.com

_______________________________________________
Finale mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale


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