on 7/2/02 9:20 AM, Benito Vergara at bvergara@sfsu.edu wrote:
O'Brien argued (I'm totally paraphrasing here) that Bacharach melodies simply did not lend themselves well to any sort of improvisation. Untrue, of course (a performance of "What The World Needs Now" by the Susie Ibarra Quartet comes to mind), but it makes sense that a "straight" run-through by either him or Dionne Warwick perhaps sounds best of all.
Later, Ben
I had read that piece myself (and it was great), and I don't think it's automatically the problem of improvising over such a thorny and specific structure. I'm convinced there's some kind fommagic that takes over when he's there, just for the strength of his personality. very few other musicians have that kind of strength that way. Which is why -- when you look at it -- the best covers of his material are generally done by people whose style and vision are so totally their own that maybe they look to Burt as more of an attitude role model instead of a guy whose licks they can cop. skip h