I have posted a YouTube recording of a 1903 vaudeville number called “Japanesa.”
The composition is credited to “Yama Sen (Arranged by J. A. Le Barge)”. I think Yama Sen is a pseudonym for Le Barge. Here’s him:
Thanks to paperclip design for the sheet music I learned it from:
I love this interview/riff/rant on participatory music by the stellar childrens’ musician Dan Zanes.
I have assembled a little PDF booklet for “African Polka”, a song which I have blogged previously here and here and .
My booklet has the original sheet music from the old olden days with chords added to make it easier to jam on. It has an introduction talking about the tune in general. It has new sheet music for my own version of the song. This new notation has less extraneous detail and more white space, so is easier to read. There are transposed versions of the new notation for Bb instruments like trumpet and for F instruments like alto horn. My booklet also has the Lilypond source code for my own version.
I did this as a hack, I guess. It’s an experiment in making ebooks for music.
Download my booklet here: http://soupgreens.com/africapolka/AfricanPolka-book.pdf
My Lilypond source code is also at http://soupgreens.com/africapolka/African Polka.ly
My solo gigs at an upscale local grocery chain called Andronico’s have bloomed into five weeks of steady bookings for a 3-4 piece band. It’s a neat idea: they’re in the food business, and food is a sensual experience that goes with music. Us live human musicians help to make their customers passionate. I respect that this is a solid business case for performers, Napster or not.
We’ll play noon-3 at the San Anselmo store the first four Saturdays in March and in the Berkeley store on the last Saturday. The band will have trumpet, alto horn, guitar, violin, dobro, mandolin, and standup bass (though not all at every gig).
A fringe benefit for the musicians is getting to wisecrack about groceries. The down side is interrupting your solo to help with bagging.