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This month we are off to the Opera!
Berlin 1928: Die Moritat von Mackie Messer from Die Dreigroschenoper .
In English: The Ballad of Mack the Knife from the Threepenny Opera.
It is a song about a cold-blooded serial murderer written by a Marxist playwright and a leftwing composer.
Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, is based on John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera of 1728 .
In 1955 Louis Armstrong brought it into the jazz repertoire. If you would like to read more about it's history of the song click here.
There are lots of versions on You Tube. My favorite is
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI5fU6ZbyaA
and she ad libs it without missing a beat, she even admits during the song that she has forgotten the words.
Other good versions are by Sonny Rollins, Kenny Garrett, and Ben Webster.
Here is a backing track that is 2 choruses long at 105 beats/min with a 4 bar intro and Eb and Bb sheets courtesy of Chris.
There is also a challenge courtesy of Herr Schriebinger of Munchen that I found on Muse Score however if you wish to use that you will have to sort out your own backing or play acapello.
I have included the lyrics for those who want to sing or who, like me, find it easier to keep time if they "sing" in their head as they play.
The tune is in the ABRSM Jazz Sax grade 1 tunes book, albeit with a slightly different timing and approach, so I am hoping that I have chosen a tune that all cafe members can have fun with.
Have fun.
Berlin 1928: Die Moritat von Mackie Messer from Die Dreigroschenoper .
In English: The Ballad of Mack the Knife from the Threepenny Opera.
It is a song about a cold-blooded serial murderer written by a Marxist playwright and a leftwing composer.
Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, is based on John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera of 1728 .
In 1955 Louis Armstrong brought it into the jazz repertoire. If you would like to read more about it's history of the song click here.
There are lots of versions on You Tube. My favorite is
and she ad libs it without missing a beat, she even admits during the song that she has forgotten the words.
Other good versions are by Sonny Rollins, Kenny Garrett, and Ben Webster.
Here is a backing track that is 2 choruses long at 105 beats/min with a 4 bar intro and Eb and Bb sheets courtesy of Chris.
There is also a challenge courtesy of Herr Schriebinger of Munchen that I found on Muse Score however if you wish to use that you will have to sort out your own backing or play acapello.
I have included the lyrics for those who want to sing or who, like me, find it easier to keep time if they "sing" in their head as they play.
The tune is in the ABRSM Jazz Sax grade 1 tunes book, albeit with a slightly different timing and approach, so I am hoping that I have chosen a tune that all cafe members can have fun with.
Have fun.
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