Manhã de Carnaval (Black Orpheus)

Manhã de Carnaval performed by Rob Lunn

Manhã de Carnaval, by Luis Bonfa is a favorite of mine. I first heard it played by the guitarist, Baden Powell:

I run a jazz band at Lake Michigan College and this past year we played a version of it for jazz band which was a lot of fun. This is not my jazz band but is a fun performance:

In this recording I am reading from a lead sheet.

-Rob

Eyşan Unutamıyorum, Abana in Heaven, Godfather and More…

This is a practicing video. I turned the camera on and just started playing. No edits and I crashed and burned at the end of the Godfather theme. Here is the order:

Eyşan Unutamıyorum (0:07) This is a piece I started playing a few years ago when an Instagram friend suggested I make a guitar arrangement of it. It is now one of my favorite pieces to play.

Funky Soul Butter (1:42) This is a piece I composed a couple of years ago. I wrote a bass line to a dance track I wrote. I wondered if it would work on the guitar (it did) and the piece was written in a couple of days.

Abana in Heaven (4:43) This is a piece I arranged a two years ago. It was played a lot in the church that I go to and I love love love this melody.

A Beautiful Flower (6:56) I composed this piece two years ago. It started out as a musical cryptogram I composed out of the letters of a friends name. I will often compose pieces for friends birthdays based on the letters of their name. I loved this one so much that I gave it a different title.

The Godfather Theme (8:18) I remember watching these movies back in high school and was really struck by the music. I have been playing this theme since then. I also love that Slash (my favorite guitarist) plays this in his live shows.

-Rob

A Soup of Beethoven for Erhu and Guitar

A Soup of Beethoven for Erhu and Guitar

A Soup of Beethoven for Erhu and Guitar. Includes Für Elise, 5th Symphony, Sonata Pathétique, Violin Concerto, and the 9th Symphony. This has been a lot of fun collaborating with Onion. She lives in Hawaii and I live in Michigan. I would record my part and then send it to her. She would record her part and then send that back to me and I would then put the video together.

Scarborough Fair

Scarborough Fair

Here is my arrangement of Scarborough Fair. Score/tab is available here. I’ve always loved this melody. It’s an old English folk song that uses the dorian mode.

To create the dorian mode, you first begin with the natural minor…

E Natural Minor

and then raise the 6th note in the scale (C becomes C-sharp)….

E Dorian

Like many people, I first heard this song from the Simon and Garfunkel version….

Amazing Grace/Jesus Loves Me for Erhu and Guitar

We wanted to do something special for Easter this year. It’s going to be a different kind of Easter with the virus. She lives in Hawaii and I live in Michigan so I recorded my part, sent it to her, she recorded her part and then sent that back to me. I then put the video together. It has been a lot of fun collaborating with her.

The Erhu is a beautiful instrument. You can hear her perform with an orchestra here: