Stella by Starlight

Consistently talented, proven here yet again. 

This is a fun tune Tippity Tap Tap Tap. Not the usual forum fare, that's for sure. Some of the guitar was just a little off? But one of the advantages of the Jazz genera? It's kinda hard to tell? high 90s was right on :-)

Scenes of a smokey nightclub, guys with slick hair, women in brightly colored form fitting dresses with their hair and makeup "perfect." And of course, everyone is drinking martini's (shaken not stirred) 

Good job on a fairly aggressive tune to even attempt. I'll never understand how people can play like this, but I did enjoy it.

Marlon Brando from "A streetcar named Desire..." STELLA!!!

Thanks Robbie... Yeah, there are guitar moments which weren't quite right.
This was a three take quickie. Two practice runs and a final take. Probably all done in an hour with about another hour fiddling with the mix and dump.

Jeff,
 I apologize for the potential misnomer and lack of clarity of the song. I'm currently in transition between houses and had to bring my near fields to my apartment. Since it's been a while since I've had my rig together, I plugged in the studio and found some old midi tracks to a tune labeled stella. I assumed it was Stella by starlight because I was previously on a kick to try and learn some jazz standards. I decided to plug in my new guitar and play along with the tracks. I clearly labeled the tune as a cover of Stella by Starlight with respect to the original tracks, I guess I took more than my share of liberties with the song. Thanks for the listen. I'll try to be more respectful in the future.

Hi Tap. I am sure you are quite respectful to the melody. I was just pointing out it would have been really nice to hear your interpretation of the head first then into the solo and take the head out as per usual. It just sounds like a solo that was disconnected from the tune. It is such a lovely melody too. I checked some great versions of it on You Tube from Miles Davis, Pat Metheny etc.. Nice playing though from you. 

Very nice, very nice. Jazz is always fun to play around with. Enjoyed.

Peace be with you. Blessings, John

Nice to see you James. Very tasty playing on this, good tone too.

It's always nice to hear some good, old fashioned jazz around here.  I look forward to great things from you.

Wow, Tap, super sweet... okay, what kind of guitar was it?  Kinda' sounded like an old L7, but you said it was new, so I guess not.  Very nicely played.  Post more often!

Jeff,
 I promise to revisit this one when I get the chance and try to focus on the separation of the head from the solo seeing as this is probably the most important aspect of learning a standard. Thanks again for the listen and comments.

Kevin,
 It's quite possible that the drums may be off. I'll give it another listen and try to adjust. I don't normally use Native Instruments but chose it for this tune. It wouldn't surprise me that the Synth is off seeing as I'm working on a dated computer system. BTW I'm using MC4  running on a single core Windows XP system. It does have issues but works well for what I'm using it for.

Grant,
Thanks for the listen and comments. I'm happy with the tone as well. it probably would have sounded better had I miked my amp instead of going direct and using soft effects, but it worked out O.K.

John,
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to listen. I really enjoy playing jazz and it's nice to have a guitar that finally works for this style. I was brought up on Fenders and finally retired my collection to my brother including my '74 Strat, 85 Jazzmaster and 65 duo-sonic.

James,
It's been a while. I've always enjoyed your style. Your songs are always an inspiration to the forums. Thanks for the comments.

Verchung,
Likewise. I've admired your versatlilty and devotion to your craft. You've come quite a ways from your first postings. I appreciate your kind comments. The guitar is certainly off in places. I obviously haven't spent the time and patience on this one. It could use some cleaning up.

Smooth and great playing.  I enjoyed it.  What is the new guitar?  

Rimshot

I listened to this earlier, and I listened to it again now. I did not know what to say then, still not too sure now. It sounds pretty good, but (keep in mind I know very little about jazz), it seems to me like you miss many an opportunity with the guitar, starting early on. I do not know how to describe it, but there were "hits" by the band that were overlooked by the guitar. To me (again) the three main elements (rhythm, beat, swing) were all on different stages. It feels disconnected. And of course, the main critique of Buddy Rich was his over use of cymbals, and I found that to be the case here. But... this may well be what it is supposed to be. I don't really know, so please correct me if my ignorance is showing.

I quite enjoyed that though I found the snare a little too present in some passages and just a little mechanical.

Thanks for sharing  

Amazing guitar playing Tap.

Wish i could play half as good as you are in this.

Good one.

wookie - Thanks for the listen.  Sorry about the snare.... I didn't program the backing tracks and had a difficult time picking a drum kit which would work. 

chasmg - Thanks for your kind words. sometimes I need the extra encouragement to push me on to another project. Hope to be back with something else in the near future.

Blipp - Your talent for production has been an inspiration to me. I'd love to swap some of my guitar talent for some of your eclectic production talent.  Thanks for the listen and kind words.

geeare1 - Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. I was hoping to achieve a nice sweet tone from this guitar and I'm happy with it. Hope you enjoyed it.

I like jazz!!!