Jazzy Claire de Lune

I love this version from Kamasi Washington of Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune, or “light of the moon.” Here’s the Paul Verlaine poem that inspired the original composition:

Your soul is a chosen landscape
Where charming masqueraders and bergamaskers go
Playing the lute and dancing and almost
Sad beneath their fanciful disguises.

All sing in a minor key
Of victorious love and the opportune life,
They do not seem to believe in their happiness
And their song mingles with the moonlight,

With the still moonlight, sad and beautiful,
That sets the birds dreaming in the trees
And the fountains sobbing in ecstasy,
The tall slender fountains among marble statues.

3 thoughts on “Jazzy Claire de Lune

  1. Thanks so much for this post, Matt! I’ve added their version of “Cherokee” to my warm-up routine. Playing long tones…or simply freely playing…over short, seamless loops of this track is a total blast. Five minutes (Pomodoro Technique) is a nice amount of time to dig into four bars. 🙂

    I love Kamasi’s tone. He plays his father’s Selmer MK VI, but I can’t find any information on his mouthpiece / reed combination.

    Your posts have been really, really heavy lately. I’m still digesting your “Chicken and Eggs!”

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