culture / music

Open Mic Adventures CII: “Boneyard Blues”

The Portly Politico13 Comments

Pickup my newest release: Spooky Season III!  Use promo code spooky to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp!  Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Thursday, 31 October 2024.

Today I’m featuring the fourth track from my latest album, Spooky Season III, “Boneyard Blues.”  It’s a swingin’ little tune that evokes a cool skeleton jiving about in the old boneyard.

“Boneyard Blues” is a funky, jazzy blues piece for two alto saxophones, baritone sax, and percussion. It’s in 5/4 time, giving it a slightly off-beat feel—much like that of a skeletal shuffle.  It’s built around a concert D minor pentatonic blues scale.

I love the groovy sing of this piece, as well as the big horn blats and percussion fills.

Happy Listening!

—TPP

Other Editions of Open Mic Adventures:

  1. “Open Mic Adventures I: Oingo Boingo’s ‘Just Another Day’“
  2. “Open Mic Adventures II: Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’“
  3. “Open Mic Adventures III: Joanie Sommers’s ‘Johnny Get Angry’“
  4. “Open Mic Adventures IV: KISS’s ‘I Still Love You’“
  5. “Open Mic Adventures V: ‘There’s a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place)’“
  6. “Open Mic Adventures VI: Journey’s ‘Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’“
  7. “Open Mic Adventures VII: ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’“
  8. “Open Mic Adventures VIII: Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’“
  9. “Open Mic Adventures IX: Journey’s ‘Faithfully’“
  10. “Open Mic Adventures X: ‘Time Warp’“
  11. “Open Mic Adventures XI: Spooktacular Supergroup Covers ‘Monster Mash’“
  12. “Open Mic Adventures XII: ‘Ghostly’“
  13. “Open Mic Adventures XIII: The Penguins’ ‘Earth Angel’“
  14. “Open Mic Adventures XIV: ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’“
  15. “Open Mic Adventures XV: ‘O Holy Night’“
  16. “Open Mic Adventures XVI: ‘Please Come Home for Christmas’“
  17. “Open Mic Adventures XVII: ‘L’il Divertimento in C major’“
  18. “Open Mic Adventures XVIII: ‘Satiean Motion’“
  19. “Open Mic Adventures XIX: ‘Two-Day Minuet for Left Hand’“
  20. “Open Mic Adventures XX: ‘Sleepy Student’s Serenade’“
  21. “Open Mic Adventures XXI: Styx’s ‘Come Sail Away’“
  22. “Open Mic Adventures XXII: ‘Blessed Assurance’“
  23. “Open Mic Adventures XXIII: ‘Gabbi’s Gavotte’“
  24. “Open Mic Adventures XXIV: ‘Softly and Tenderly’“
  25. “Open Mic Adventures XXV: ‘Venite, exultemus Domino’“
  26. “Open Mic Adventures XXVI: ‘Sonatina’“
  27. “Open Mic Adventures XXVII: ‘Heavenly Sunlight’“
  28. “Open Mic Adventures XXVIII: ‘Song of the Bigfoot’”
  29. “Open Mic Adventures XXIX: ‘Lavender’s Blue’“
  30. “Open Mic Adventures XXX: ‘Chorale for a Sleepy Wednesday’“
  31. “Open Mic Adventures XXXI: ‘Carousel’“
  32. “Open Mic Adventures XXXII: Hymn Medley“
  33. “Open Mic Adventures XXXIII: ‘Spore Song (Mushroom Dance)’“
  34. “Open Mic Adventures XXXIV: ‘Chase’s Dilemma’“
  35. “Open Mic Adventures XXXV: ‘The Rings of Saturn’“
  36. “Open Mic Adventures XXXVI: ‘The Rings of Saturn’ LIVE!“
  37. “Open Mic Adventures XXXVII: ‘Private Lessons (Goth Chick)’“
  38. “Open Mic Adventures XXXVIII: ‘Quasi-Date’“
  39. “Open Mic Adventures XXXIX: ‘(I’m in the) Business of Love)’“
  40. “Open Mic Adventures XL: ‘Parada’“
  41. “Open Mic Adventures XLI: ‘Serenade for a Sleepy Student No. 2’“
  42. “Open Mic Adventures XLII: ‘1001 Arabian Nights’“
  43. “Open Mic Adventures XLIII: ‘Greek Fair’“
  44. “Open Mic Adventures XLIV: ‘Skeleton Dance No. 1’“
  45. “Open Mic Adventures XLV: ‘Skeleton Dance No. 1’ – BASS“
  46. “Open Mic Adventures XLVI: ‘Canon Event’“
  47. “Open Mic Adventures XLVII: ‘Skeleton Dance No. 2’“
  48. “Open Mic Adventures XLVIII: Sloppy ‘Hipster Girl Next Door’ Medley“
  49. “Open Mic Adventures XLIX: ‘Lament of the Lizardman’“
  50. “Open Mic Adventures L: ‘Bigfoot Boogie’“
  51. “Open Mic Adventures LI: ‘Minuet for a New Moon’“
  52. “Open Mic Adventures LII: ‘Andante in D major’“
  53. “Open Mic Adventures LIII: ‘I Need Thee Every Hour’“
  54. “Open Mic Adventures LIV: ‘”Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus’“
  55. “Open Mic Adventures LV: ‘Orange Roll’“
  56. “Open Mic Adventures LVI: ‘Firefly Dance’“
  57. “Open Mic Adventures LVII: ‘Kartofelsalat’“
  58. “Open Mic Adventures LVIII: ‘Listless Chorale’“
  59. “Open Mic Adventures LIX: ‘Silent Night’“
  60. “Open Mic Adventures LX: ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’“
  61. “Open Mic Adventures LXI: ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’“
  62. “Open Mic Adventures LXII: ‘FRANTIC!!’“
  63. “Open Mic Adventures LXIII: ‘Snowfall’“
  64. “Open Mic Adventures LXIV: ‘Uninspired Étude in E major’“
  65. “Open Mic Adventures LXV: ‘Scribblings I: Post-Christmas Concert Scribbling’“
  66. “Open Mic Adventures LXVI: ‘Ode Napoléon’“
  67. “Open Mic Adventures LXVII: ‘Cook’s Brief Bourrée in E minor’“
  68. “Open Mic Adventures LXVIII: ‘Triumphant Processional’“
  69. “Open Mic Adventures LXIX: ‘Moody Noodling’“
  70. “Open Mic Adventures LXX: ‘Epistemology’“
  71. “Open Mic Adventures LXXI: ‘Three Chorales in Diminishing Length’“
  72. “Open Mic Adventures LXXII: ‘Blue Mage’“
  73. “Open Mic Adventures LXXIII: ‘Red Mage’“
  74. “Open Mic Adventures LXXIV: ‘White Mage’“
  75. “Open Mic Adventures LXXV: ‘Black Mage’“
  76. “Open Mic Adventures LXXVI: ‘The Blind Prophet’“
  77. “Open Mic Adventures LXXVII: ‘Robobop’“
  78. “Open Mic Adventures LXXVIII: ‘Pink Princess’“
  79. “Open Mic Adventures LXXIX: ‘Purple Prince’“
  80. “Open Mic Adventures LXXX: ‘Yellow Knight’“
  81. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXI: ‘Green Knight’“
  82. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXII: ‘Brown Friar’“
  83. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXIII: ‘Advanced Funkification’“
  84. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXIV: ‘Funk Chorale (Hymn to Funk)’“
  85. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXV: Steelheart’s ‘I’ll Never Let You Go’“
  86. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXVI: ‘1001 Arabian Nights’ Redux“
  87. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXVII: ‘Heptadic Structure’“
  88. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXVIII: ‘Angularity’“
  89. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXIX: ‘White Boy Summer’“
  90. “Open Mic Adventures XC: ‘Balladic Processional’“
  91. “Open Mic Adventures XCI: ‘Tu Me Manques’“
  92. “Open Mic Adventures XCII: ‘Jaunt’“
  93. “Open Mic Adventures XCIII: ‘C20r4735 (Chorales)’“
  94. “Open Mic Adventures XCIV: ‘Nobles Gases’“
  95. “Open Mic Adventures XCV: ‘Akhenaten’“
  96. “Open Mic Adventures XCVI: ‘Summer Vibes’“
  97. “Open Mic Adventures XCVII: ‘Perambulating’“
  98. “Open Mic Adventures XCVIII: ‘Mellow’“
  99. “Open Mic Adventures XCIX: ‘Pythagoras’“
  100. “Open Mic Adventures C: ‘Dancing in the Graveyard’“
  101. “Open Mic Adventures CI: ‘Curious Little Ghosties’“

13 thoughts on “Open Mic Adventures CII: “Boneyard Blues””

    • In this case, the computer is “playing” each part. I write the parts in my software, and what I am “recording” is the playback. That said, I write (most) of these pieces to be playable on actual instruments; for example, this piece would be pretty easy for an intermediate or even late-beginner level Eb sax trio to play (although the percussion part is a bit more challenging).

      In other words, what you’re hearing are computerized/digital instruments. I apply a basic reverb effect to give a bit of a rounder sound to the digital instruments in NoteFlight, but otherwise, you’re essentially hearing MIDI saxophones and drums.

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