What fun workshopping the SSAA arrangement that Valley High School commissioned en français!
Ask and ye shall receive
In the middle of the pandemic, Valley High's vocal jazz director extraordinaire, Heather Nail, put forth a FaceBook query to see if anyone knew of an SSA arrangement of Charles Trenet's "La Mer" (aka "Beyond the Sea" of Bobby Darin and Kevin Klein fame) but in the original french.
I blithely responded:
"No, but I'd be happy to write one for you!"
And who'da thunk, next thing you know, it is on!
Copyright and all
After a brief tumble down the ASCAP/BMI rabbit hole — and with a little help from the esteemable Matt Falker and Jeremy Fox — I navigated to the original publishers of Charles Trenet's work here in France. Gratefully, they were kind enough to let us use the music & lyrics free of charge for the current purposes! How cool is that?
It don't mean a thing if...
But what would a coaching session with Keri Chryst be without some serious work on tightening rhythms and groove?
Behold the rhythm circle
I wish we had real video (and audio!) to go with this, but this animated photo montage was the best I could do for now. Feel that macro pulse and the subdivision, ladies!
Merci beaucoup
To Heather Nail and the Valley High music boosters for their help in making this visit possible!
I can hardly wait to hear the finished product!
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