Downtown - Tony Hatch

Mahalo: Downtown 4 by Tony Hatch

This is my own interpretation - I use maybe more pedal bass notes than usual because I feel this is the spirit of this particular song. There is always a question, how many sevenths to use or not, etc, and this classic is from an era when the tension is entirely in the bass notes and differeent treble chords for extended periods.

I am new to this and so loving it, great software, and oh my goodness this sounds FANTASTIC on the standard swing auto play especially faster than 132 bpm.

"Downtown" is a 1964 composition by Tony Hatch and was inspired by a visit to Times Square in Manhattan, which Hatch incorrectly thought was downtown. He introduced the song to Petula Clark a few weeks later and she immediately recorded it. The recording became a mega-hit by the beginning of 1965. The tune itself is notable in not having a standard 32-bar form. Rather it has a non-symmetric ABA form with 8 measures in each A section and 9 measures in the B section. This is reflected in the chord chart by having two measures in the B section taking up two spaces rather than the ususal four, in order to improve the ease of reading.

The lyrics reflect the optimism of the early 1960s and refer to the Bossa Nova craze of the time.

This tune has a pop-rock beat but I don't like the way it sounds with the Pop - Rock style. Rather, as I do for other light rock tunes, I use the Jazz - Bossa Nova style (and not the Latin Bossa styles) at 125 bpm.

Downtown - Tony Hatch