It has been some time since I heard a band play The Miner's Dream of Home - one of the oldest tunes in our repertoire: it was composed in 1891.
It used to be a favourite of the late English trumpet-player and bandleader Sonny Morris. His playing was always tasteful and he enjoyed sentimental and gentle melodies such as this.
It is easy to play, since it has a simple 32-bar melody, to be taken only at a moderate pace; and the chord sequence is basic - pretty well intuitive.
So may I recommend it to you, especially if you are a 'learning' band wishing to increase your repertoire? Here's how I have it in my mini-filofax collection.
If you would like to hear the tune performed very pleasantly and with appropriate unpretentiousness by an English jazz quartet, click here. Should you wish to offer a vocal, the words are:
I saw the old homestead, and the faces I love.I saw England's valleys and dells.
And I listened with joy, as I did when a boy,
To the sound of the old village bells.
The log was burning brightly.
'Twas a night that should banish all sin,
For the bells were ringing the old year out
And the new year in.
