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HOT HOUSE WEST - WEEKLY NEWSLETTER - 12/19/2023

12/19/2023


 

Welcome to Hot House West!

Thanks for joining us for our seventh installment of the weekly newsletter, your source for swing, jazz and acoustic music inspiration!

Goodness Gracious! We've hit ONE MILLION views on our Bei Mir Bist Du Schön music video! We couldn't have hit this incredible milestone without all of your support. We love our community and are so excited that so many people around the

world get to experience our joyous friends—thank you for being so amazing!



In this week's newsletter, we've got some info on an upcoming workshop and a lot of fun events to check out. Rounding out the newsletter, Andres Reyes makes an appearance and David Baker discusses the Django Reinhardt tune, Swing 39.

Enjoy! Happy Holidays!

 

FEATURED EVENTS


Come learn the ins and outs of arranging with David Baker! David is Hot House West's staff arranger and has contributed to over 70 of Hot House West's charts. He teaches arranging at Utah Valley University and has a doctorate in Jazz performance and composition. Join him for a workshop where he will explore arranging considerations, arranging principles for large ensembles, music theory, orchestration, engraving, and lead a Q&A to answer all of your arrangement questions. This workshop is the first in a series and will be hosted virtually on google meet. The first course will be free and is open to all.


Arrange with David- Workshop

Wednesday, December 20 · 12:00 – 2:00pm

Time zone: America/Denver

Google Meet joining infoVideo call link: https://meet.google.com/equ-twgg-akr



 

Upcoming Community Events

  • Old-Time Jam - Trash Moon Collective - Woodbine Food Hall (all ages) Wednesday, December 20th, 6 - 9 p.m.

  • The Swing Collective - The Grand America Saturday, December 23rd, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.

  • All Ages Jazz Jam - Sugar Space Arts Warehouse Sunday, January 28th, 5 - 8 p.m.

  • Jeff Hamilton Trio - Brighton High Auditorium Monday January 8th, 7:30 p.m.

  • Rotating Jazz Trio - The Pearl on Main (21+) Tuesdays & Thursdays, 7-10 p.m. (on-going)

  • Flamingo Jazz - Lake Effect Cocktail Bar (21+) Wednesdays, 8:00 - 11:00 p.m. (on-going)

  • Jazz Jam - Hopkins Brewery (21+) Wednesdays 8:00 - 11:00 p.m. (on-going)

Our newsletters will go out every Monday as we begin to build a running list of jazz, swing and acoustic roots-related community events. If you would like to submit anything to this list, please message grayson@hothousewest.com by 5:00 p.m. the Wednesday prior. We will review it and add it to our events if it is a good fit! Thanks.

 

COMMUNITY NEWS


WEEKLY MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT - ANDRES REYES

This week's spotlight is on our dear friend, Andres Reyes. He is an excellent guitar player, teacher and a passionate community organizer that has made great contributions

to the vibrancy of our local jazz scene!


In addition to being a busy performer and improviser, he can be found around the halls of both Salt Lake Community College and the Salt Lake School for Performing Arts where he is an active mentor to a new generation of guitarists. Recognizing the need for playing opportunities as part of the musical process, he organizes an all ages jam at the Sugar Space Warehouse. As Andres was first learning the guitar he longed for an all ages space to connect, play and learn jazz. He is paying it forward by creating just such a space for others, demonstrating his community spirit and consideration for the

experience people are having.

Follow him on Instagram and find him at the next gig!

 

Nerd Corner

Exploring the tune, 'Swing 39'

Learning swing tunes can sometimes feel incredibly daunting! I remember how overwhelmed I felt in the beginning and how the tunes seemed like these huge mountains to overcome. One piece of advice I would have for folks learning tunes is to always check out recordings! You will find that lead sheets have discrepancies and bands will interpret songs differently from one another. If you can dive into the recordings, you will start to develop an ear for the musical language and more quickly learn all of the possibilities available to you. The fun part here is discovering new bits of information you would never find from the page. The way that I do this is to first listen for the bass notes to determine what the roots of the chords are and then test out what kind of 3rd, 5th, and 7th sound best. You can guess-and-check as you develop your ear and learn more about theory.


Helpful tip: If you have trouble hearing the bass, try shifting the track up an octave!


Here's an example of why this might be useful: If you were to reference the Django in June fake book to learn "Swing 39," you'd be playing a bunch of Gm chords on the A sections. However, if you check out Django's 1947 recording, he never plays a single Gm chord! You can choose to play the tune however you want, but by referencing Django's recording you now have two options to draw inspiration from. Check out the original changes here and have fun diving into records!

---David Baker

 

Patron Saint Django - Vinyl & CDs Available!


 

Thank you for hanging out with Hot House West! We are an organization devoted to growing and supporting Utah’s swing and acoustic roots music community. We believe that acoustic music—from swing and jazz to bluegrass, old-time, country and western— brings people together and creates opportunities for connectedness, learning, and joy.


Our goal is to provide and promote weekly and monthly events, from dances, to jams, concerts, and workshops, that support and build our acoustic community. If you’ve ever wanted to dust off the ol’ guitar, meet new players, find a dance partner, or even just find more live acoustic music, follow us, spread the word, and join our Hot House West community! We hope to see you soon!


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