Post 562: USING MOLESKINE MANUSCRIPT NOTEBOOKS FOR JAZZ

Until recently, I was only vaguely aware that in the stationers' shops there was a variety of elegant notebooks made by a company called Moleskine. Then I discovered that Moleskine produces a neat pocket-size (9 centimetres x 14 centimetres) notebook for the writing out of music. It has 192 pages of quality paper, each ready printed with eight staves. 

There is also a 'pocket' in the back that can be used to store business cards, for example.

Perfect, I thought, for making copies of the trickiest tunes and the ones easily forgotten because they are not often played, and also the tunes that have a Verse that is sometimes needed in addition to the more familiar Chorus.

So I bought three of these notebooks and have been filling them, to my great satisfaction. They are becoming - to me at least - little treasures.

Moleskine Pocket Music Book

I began by numbering the pages. I tried to keep the tunes roughly in alphabetical order, though I am also maintaining an Index which directs me to any tune at a moment's notice.

A typical 32-bar tune can usually be contained within one page. But for the longer tunes (with three parts, for example), I allow a couple of pages.

I shall also enjoy looking through the tunes and memorising some of them during bus journeys, of which I undertake plenty.

I think these little books will be extremely useful to me. Maybe I can recommend the idea to you too, if you don't already have something of the kind?

Post 204: 'MABEL'S DREAM'

One of the good old traditional jazz classics was Mabel's Dream (perhaps originally Maybelle's Dream). It was recorded by King Oliver and his great band in 1923. You may hear the Oliver recording: CLICK HERE. As far as I can tell, it was written that year by someone called Ike Smith, about whom nothing seems to be known for certain.

Nor do we know who Mabel was. A real lady known to Ike Smith? And what did she dream?

Whatever the background, it is a fine piece and - until about 1990 - was played a great deal by the traditional jazz bands. Today only a few bands still play it.

I worked out a version in a key to suit me (i.e. for the Bb trumpet). As usual, I noted it down in my mini filofax, so that I could learn it during a bus journey.

Section (C) is a clever bridge leading to a change of key at (D), on which solos are traditionally taken.