I'm dropping 3 "leftover" tunes here in this post, for what they are worth.

First is "Ridin' The Main Line." This is a bebop-blues tune I wrote in tribute to Roy Main, the man who taught me to play the trombone. I'm so incredibly grateful to him. He changed my life.

Trombone: Dana Douglas

Trumpet: Mike Rocha

Tenor Sax: Jacam Manricks

Guitar: Barry Finnerty

Piano: Joe Gilman

Bass: Ben Kopf

Drums: Tim Metz

<YOUTUBE id="HREivxcZY2s">https://youtu.be/HREivxcZY2s</YOUTUBE>

The second tune is "Oblivion." This is a last minute substitution miracle. I had worked out a great arrangement of this tune with just me and a wonderful guitarist, with his absolutely gorgeous sounding Martin guitar. We spent a couple months working it out. I was so excited about recording it. But the morning of the session (which we had scheduled specially, just for the guitarist), he called in sick and said he couldn't make it.

So, I obtained an arrangement for trombone, cello and piano, and my (jazz) pianist and a cellist who was there for something else jumped in, and we all sight read the "replacement" arrangement. I'm grateful to those guys for filling in at the last minute and doing such a marvelous job. This isn't the unique guitar and trombone version we had worked so hard on, but I'm happy with this one. I suppose it was meant to be! Maybe I'll get to do the guitar version some other time.

Anyway, Oblivion is offered in tribute to Frank Rosolino, who fought pain, desperation, and hopelessness for as long as he could. Most folks play this tune haunting and cold. I tried to make it more melancholy than haunting, and more warmly reminiscent than cold, because that's how I feel about Frank. Here it is.

Trombone: Dana Douglas

Cello: Jia-mo Chen

Piano: Joe Gilman

<YOUTUBE id="psDcdjwE-Dk">https://youtu.be/psDcdjwE-Dk</YOUTUBE>

Last, and probably least, is this third tune called, "Funk For St. James." I offer it in tribute to James Pankow, trombonist for the rock band Chicago, who was such an influence in my life. In my youth I was a huge Chicago fan, and Jimmy taught me that trombones can actually play hard rock! :) And it was a childhood dream come true when I was able to record an album with Jimmy and Chicago as an adult. In fact, the very last gig I did before taking 30 years off from music was with Chicago, so they are a big part of my musical life.

It's not much of a tune, frankly. And it's definitely the shortest. It's basically one lick repeated a few different ways, with "sneaky" solos (that's what the composer/arranger/pianist wanted), in-between. So, here is Funk for St. James.

Trombone: Dana Douglas

Guitar: Barry Finnerty

Piano: Scott "Scootie" Collard

Bass: Ben Kopf

Drums: Jeff Merriweather

<YOUTUBE id="ITtvNVbuIjc">https://youtu.be/ITtvNVbuIjc</YOUTUBE>

That Oblivion recording was "left over"??

:roll:

When are you going to go pro already? It sounds so good.

[quote="harrisonreed"]That Oblivion recording was "left over"??

:roll:

When are you going to go pro already? It sounds so good.[/quote]

Well, it was more a last minute substitution.

I will be a happy hobbyist for the rest of my musical life. <EMOJI seq="1f642" tseq="1f642">🙂</EMOJI>

Dana! It all sounds so good. My favourite is Oblivion. The "Main lane" is maybe your homeland? The "Funk St James" is your next home? I like that version of Oblivion! You once asked about teaching and how to teach. Be yourself 100% is my best advice. Both for children and adults.

Who play the bass trombone in your recordings? He also sounds great.

Anyway, love your playing!

Leif

[quote="Savio"]Dana! It all sounds so good. My favourite is Oblivion. The "Main lane" is maybe your homeland? The "Funk St James" is your next home? I like that version of Oblivion! You once asked about teaching and how to teach. Be yourself 100% is my best advice. Both for children and adults.

Who play the bass trombone in your recordings? He also sounds great.

Anyway, love your playing!

Leif[/quote]

Thank you,Leif! :) I appreciate the kind words.

And I’m playing bass trombone. I play all the trombone parts, so thank you for your nice comment there, too. You are too kind.

Thank you, Dana.

I was fortunate to hear Frank the year before he died. I was in middle school when he visited the local community college big band and played a concert. I had never heard anything like it. Your version of Oblivion reminds me of his Last Recording.

And I, too, grew up listening to Chicago. St. James, indeed!