Rehearsals are not parties. They can be fun and satisfying, but the bottom line is that rehearsals are work sessions.
The Flood is always trying to learn new songs, and since that’s where the songs are worked out, some rehearsals are just more fun than others. So the band usually try to end the evening on a high note.
At one such rehearsal recently, Charlie Bowen asked if anybody had a tune in mind to end with.
“How about something we know?” said Danny Cox with a chuckle and a grin.
The Song History
As reported here earlier, "Moonglow" was first recorded by Joe Venuti in 1933, with subsequent recordings by Benny Goodman and Ethel Waters.
Penned by Eddie DeLange and Will Hudson, the tune has since become a jazz standard, performed and recorded numerous times by a wide array of musical talents.
The Jazz Discography estimates that by 2016, the song had been recored 572 times, including in studio sessions, unreleased masters, live performances and radio transcriptions.
For more about the song’s creation and its history, click here.
Finding Other Tunes
By the way, if you have a specific tune you like to hear Floodified, drop by the Song Index on the band’s web site. More than 700 weekly episodes of the Flood podcast since its launch in late 2008 are linked from there.
On the page, you can browse the alphabetized list and click on the underlined date on the song you want to hear; then on the subsequent page, click on the title of the song and the audio will start.
A few words about the Song Index’s organization:
The first of the links with a specific tune is always the most recent performance, followed by earlier renditions.
Most of the links connect to audio, though some are to videos of performances, which are indicated with the *v designation.
Occasionally links lead to audio or video of multiple songs; in that case, a time designation (such as "08:22") indicates where your selected song begins.
Some songs also include a “Flood Watch” and/or a “Story” reference. Clicking either of those links takes you to further information about the tune, perhaps a Flood Watch newsletter article about the song’s history or maybe just a brief comment or discussion about it recorded at a jam session, rehearsal or performance.
It Had to be “Moonglow”!