Posted on April 13, 2020 at 7:25 pm

Quarantine does strange things to people. In this case, it compelled my old college buddy Mike Titlebaum (now the Director of Jazz Studies at Ithaca College) to reach out to me and ask if I wanted to do a social-isolation collaboration. Almost immediately, I thought of this song, and then improvised this totally arbitrary and cruel arrangement for Mike to figure out, which he did, with all his usual brilliance and sangfroid. Then Mike took it one step further and made this insane video, which includes, among other inexplicable things, terrifying footage of our band in college, the Eastman Chamber Rock Ensemble. And so here we have me playing piano, Mike on alto sax and recorders, and Lennon-McCartney (we know it was really just McCartney on this one but let’s not go there) in half-time with a beat cut off at the end of every phrase because of course that’s what I did.

When I’m Seven-Four
music and lyric by Lennon-McCartney, 1967
JRB: piano
Mike Titlebaum: alto sax, recorders, video editing
Everest: abominable snowman
Recorded Chez JRB and Chez Titlebaum 4/9 & 4/12/20