Song
List:
1. GRATEFUL
2. SWEET DREAMS
3. THAT SMILE
4. IT FEELS LIKE HOME
5. A POWERFUL MAN
6. UNEXPRESSED
7. TEMPORARY
8. DANCING
9. IF I EVER SAY I'M OVER YOU
10. SEPIA LIFE
11. THE SONG WITH THE VIOLINS
12. IN A RESTAURANT BY THE SEA
13. NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY
14. TAKING THE WHEEL
15. BETTER THAN I
16. THIS MOMENT
(Now
Available: Note for note transpositions of all the
songs! Click here
for information.)
Author's Note
Since I don't read music, getting these songs onto paper has
meant translating that which is most dear to me into a language
I don't speak. Add to that the fact that freezing something
which I see as a living, evolving piece of art onto a page feels
much like pinning a butterfly to a board. I never play the songs
the same way twice -- there's always the serendipity of the
moment affecting a chord choice, tempo or a bit of counterpoint.
So, determining the essence of each song and how to standardize
it for a printed version posed a problem. And then there was
the issue of trust -- finding someone to facilitate the notation
process who would be as committed as I to transcribing my truest
intentions. Through a long series of phone calls and referrals
I was led to the only person I believe could have seen this
project through. His name is Mario Vaz De Mello. Mario came
to New York City from Brazil where he had a very successful
career as a composer, primarily of incidental music for plays
and films. He is the most patient person I've ever met, an attribute
which may have saved both our lives -- anyone else would have
surely killed me and/or themselves! We worked like this: I would
play the song into his computer via two electronic keyboards,
the left hand part on one and the right hand part on the other,
so the computer could tell what was in the treble clef and what
was in the bass clef. Then came the tedious tasks (usually at
least 10 days) of cleaning up the computer's inaccuracies and
over-accuracies, separating voices, playing in the melody, changing
notes and rhythms again and again, typing in the lyric, deciding
on the appropriate expression markings and, finally, coming
up with chord symbols that would encapsulate the often contrapuntal
harmonic motion (pianists, PLEASE read the notes as much as
possible!). Through it all, Mario served as friend and expert
guide. And so it is to him that I owe the greatest debt of gratitude
for this songbook. It would not exist were it not for his talent,
good humor and able assistance.
Enormous
thanks also go to Maxyne Berman Lang and everyone at Williamson
Music. Again, this book would not exist without their faith,
support and hard work on my behalf.
Thanks
to pianist/songwriter Steve Sweeting who generously lent his
time and expertise proofreading the manuscripts, and pianists
Christopher Denny and Alex Lacamoire who gave them a final once-over.
And
thanks to you, dear reader, for doing me the honor of singing
and playing my words and music. The best advice I can give you
is to sing them conversationally. The written rhythms of the
melodies are as close as we could get to the natural rhythms
of speech. When in doubt, sing it the way you would say it.
I hope you enjoy!
John Bucchino
New York City
2000
