[78-L] The Lost Chord ^

[David Lennick]

And then there's this chord (not discord):

Stevie Wonder is playing his first gig in Japan and the place is
absolutely packed to the ceiling. In a bid to break the ice with his new
audience he asks if anyone would like him to play a request. A little old
Japanese man jumps up out of his seat and shouts at the top of his voice
"Play a jazz chord! Play a jazz chord!"

Amazed that this guy knows about the jazz influences in Stevie's varied
career, the blind impresario starts to play an E minor scale and then goes
into a difficult jazz melody for about 10 minutes.

When he finishes the whole place goes wild. The little old man jumps up
again and shouts "No, no, play a Jazz chord, play a Jazz chord".

A bit annoyed by this, Stevie, being the professional he is, dives
straight into a jazz improvisation with his band around the B flat minor
chord and really tears the place apart. The crowd goes wild with this
impromptu show of technical expertise.

The little old man jumps up again. "No, no. play a jazz chord, play a jazz
chord".

Well and truly pissed off that this little guy doesn't seem to appreciate
his playing ability, Stevie says to him from the stage, "OK smart ass. You
get up here and do it!

The little old man climbs up onto the stage, takes hold of the mike and
starts to sing ....

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"A jazz chord to say I rub you..."

dl

On 4/17/2011 11:40 PM, Cary Ginell wrote:
>
> No. You can't copyright a chord, a note, or even most chord progressions. There are certain instances where a brief musical phrase is distinct enough that it can be attributed to one composition, such as Ellington's "C Jam Blues," which basically has a two note melody, but there aren't many like this.
>
> Cary Ginell
>
>> From: stevenc at interlinks.net
>> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
>> Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2011 21:11:39 -0400
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] The Lost Chord was Re:  Obscene Jim Reeves record
>>
>> From: "Steve Shapiro"<steveshapiro1 at juno.com>
>>>
>>> This is even more than I am prepared to pay for the Lost Chord.  Not the
>>> song, just the chord itself.  Once I find it, I'll copyright it and
>>> license it for the next 17 years./steve
>>>
>> Interesting point here...! Could someone copyright a chord...or a note...
>> and then claim that anyone else who subsequently recorded
>> that same chord/note was infringing their copyright and thereby
>> owed them royalties?
>>
>> Steven C. Barr