To all my SZ buddies - Remember Dorothy (of Ozland) and the calamity she faced? This song helped her. Hoping those of you who give a listen will gain some positive energy from my recording of "Over the Rainbow". This one is from the archive of 2013... Also, this recording is from one of my joyous (and rare) "reunions" with my trusty old Selmer Mark VI Alto Sax! Got that horn after deciding to study Music at Frostburg State University... 1970 - for $425! Money well spent. GodSpeed and God Bless everyone here on SZ and keep the great music coming!

PS - I posted on here a while back that I wrote to PG Music and asked if they would please get Beegie Adair to sit down and record some "Real Tracks" of her comping style. Of course that hasn't happened, but the backing track on this tune is Beegie playing (done for a vocalist). Hence, you can see why I would love to be able to have Beegie Adair as a resource in my BIAB toolkit!

Randy super song so well done and heartfelt
the Selmer Mark VI sounds terrific....

Randy, that is beautiful ... Had the family listen to it at breakfast ... must be nice to have Beegie as your back-up band ... Keep the music coming ...
But why the "rare reunion" with the Mark VI? I would think you would want to play it every day ...

I may have mentioned that the sax player from our band has a Mark VI Alto ... He had the closest sound to Paul Desmond I ever heard ... as he has gotten older, I think his sound has become more 'raw' ... In his will he states that the horn is never to be sold, but must remain in the family ... knowing his family, they would never sell it anyway ...
I think the last offer he got for it was $10,000 ...

On another note, it is funny that I was thinking of posting a much different version of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World" ... then Gary posted 'World'. so I held off, and now here is 'Rainbow' ...
I'll let people enjoy yours for a while ...

Fantastic. Great improv. And yes, that piano accomp is world class, up there with Billy Childs.

chas

I heard this when you first recorded it and loved every note - Over The Rainbow is my FAVORITE song, and I fell in love with Dorothy when I was just a little kid and saw The Wizard Of Oz for the first time.

Gary

Thanks all for the kind words and for checking out the song! Yes, the house is only as good as its foundation, and that backing track was meant to help that melody ring for sure. Makes it always a pleasure to perform this song!

Tony - yep, the Mark VI's are sought after. The older Selmer horns from Paris are said to have character. I heard that Dave Sanborn is always on the "hunt". I have a '68 model with the original (weathered now) finish. I got a phone call 13 years ago and was offered $5000 unseen for the alto. Definitely worth a lot more now days. Most of the time my vintage horns (also have a King Super 20 Silver Tenor and Mark VI Soprano) are asleep in the safe. For beach gigs and even the restaurant jobs, I play Taiwan-made copies of the Selmers and they play very well with no risk. I definitely have not played alto enough - when I was working a lot of beach gigs (since 2012 or so) I started playing Tenor all the time since my practicing was usually always for preparing wedding songs on the Tenor. Will be changing that and playing more Alto and Soprano as I go forward (making a new CD).

Thanks again for the listens and the kind words! It is a great and inspirational song for sure.

Randy,

There's plenty of great things already written, I say plus 1 to all those comments. I love Beegie Adair's piano work. You are a man with many talents! A little known fact is you are the guy who egged me on to study to get my ham radio operators General Class license when I first retired.

Thanks Brother Steve (W1DAM)! I also wrote to Beegie's staff and asked "would you consider marketing some backing tracks?". They said "not at this time". Fortunately, there are a few tracks floating around from a vocalist's album. Still think it would be an amazing addition to the "Real Tracks" series of BIAB. They have Kenny Baron already...now to complete the set.... just sayin'.

Thanks for the listen and stay safe over there in Adult Disney World!

Hi Randy,
beautiful version of a wonderful song.

I always got the impression it was my neighbours favourite recording , when he was with Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs. They had quite a few hits, but I think this song was special. I was helping him do some backups of his cd’s and when Somewhere over the Rainbow popped up, I could see a tear in his eyes. Suppose he was thinking back on a friend he had lost.

Amazing how this song is full of of hope and sadness.

Hi Randy,

Although I am no judge of saxes this sounded truly wonderful to my ears and the piano accompaniment made it extra special!
thanks for sharing,

regards,
John

Rikki and John - thanks for the listen and your comments! It is a song that will live forever and it definitely spurs emotion. About 30 years ago, I saw one of my heroes (Kirk Whalum) perform this live out in a park in Los Angeles. Have always wanted to play it in a similar fashion and this track fits the bill. Thanks again!

So so cool..sets a perfect mood.

Definitely agree Sparky! It's an uplifting song for sure. Thanks for the listen and for the kind words!

Really god stuff, Randy. Not only were variations on the lead line great, but the tone, is unique and soothing. Tone is something you can improve, but can't really learn. Yours is TASTY.

Russ

Awesome Randy,

Love the "fills" and octave changes were impressive. Very relaxing rendition of Over The Rainbow. Piano backing was equally impressive.

$450 for a Selma MarkIV? It's now a collectible and probably worth 10 times, or more for that today

Even the video was cool. Did you record that in Florida?

Thanks for sharing

Randy, that was super nice! I could listen to your sax work all day long.

Scott

Russ - thanks so much! For such kind words coming from you I am most honored! On the tone, I usually tell budding sax players that getting a sound out is the easy part but getting a good consistent tone is the bigger challenge on the sax.

Larry - thanks for the listen - the Selmers made in the 50's and 60's are definitely worth some hefty $$$$ today. That's one reason I rarely take it out - hardly ever on gigs. I will be doing another CD soon and will use the high-end horns on that project. I recorded the video here in FL - love using my video editor, which is Magix Movie Edit Pro. Lots of fun and opportunities to experiment.

Scott - thanks buddy! Hopefully some day soon we will run into each other at a gig in Pensacola.... stay safe over there and thanks for the listen and the kind words!

I absolutely love your playing Randy! Keep em’ coming!

That was tremendous randy . Really enjoyed that . I am now nearly three months in with my new alto sax and having a blast !

Thanks Montuno and Spalding! Glad you guys enjoyed the listen!

Spalding, I salute you and "Welcome to the sax players' club!"! It is a cool instrument and a joy to play. The more you play the more you enjoy it! Have fun and keep us posted! Sounds like you have a horn that is keeping you moving forward so congrats on that! I am sure by now you have checked out "Better Sax" on YouTube and found that he offers an amazing wealth of content and help to us all!