I took up the tenor saxophone six years ago, and
enrolled as a mature student at the local
Conservatory of Music.

Keith G was then one of the most
active contributors to this NG. His lady is a
very talented clarinet and saxophone player.
He was was tickled pink at my venture, and
sent me an mp3 (from vinyl of course:-) of
Count Basie Orchestra "Frankie and Johnny"
and said, "It would be great if you could play
this one day" Soon after, I was offered an
audition with Mosabacka Big Band.

The band, nineteen players - doctors, policemen,
architects, lawyers, graphic designers, teachers etc -
has just completed its second commercial CD, and
the piece which Keith suggested is the opening title.

We are fortunate to have among the band members
and associates, people with skills in photography,
design, graphic art, copyright, production, recording,
mixing, mastering, etc etc, so everything except the
physical manufacturing and printing can be done "in house".
We recorded at our rehearsal location.

The Count Basie version of "Frankie and Johnny"
is not published in print, and so each part had to be
written down bar by bar. With five saxophones, four
trumpets, four trombones, tuba, guitar, piano, drums
and bass that's a lot of bars:-)

An audio appetizer.
http://www.mosabackabigband.com/Music/F+J.wav


The CD, which contains two tracks from each of the eight
concert projects we are currently playing, is presented in
a digi-pack gatefold cover (not a plastic case) and has an
eight page booklet.

I am sure Keith would have enjoyed it, particularly
as we have made a "vinyl" CD.
http://www.mosabackabigband.com/atta.../MBB_LABEL.pdf

Iain