Good-bye Pork Pie Hat

So today is a damp Monday here in California and its a holiday - President's Day (one of the earlier President's Birthdays). Not much of a day for doing anything outdoors and we have a music lesson this evening so we are practicing the guitar today. This week's tune is "Good-bye Pork Pie Hat". A great tune by bassist and composer Charlie Mingus from the late 50's. The song is a tribute to saxophonist Lester Young ("The Prez") who must have worn a Pork Pie Hat. The song has been recorded by a multitude of people. I remember it from the 60's when the English folk band Pentangle did it. From that same era there is a great rendition by Jeff Beck that is well worth checking out. Then Joni Mitchell wrote some lyrics and it was on her Mingus album (1980's?).

No matter how good a song it is, I still end up mangling it and, as with all the other pieces that I have been learning, I will likely completely forget if I don't play it for a week. There's something about that musical memory, and any other kind of memory for that matter, that is not so good these days. Oh well.....