Oye Como Va... Sir Duke?

As we get closer to our departure, the pressure is mounting to get tighter as a band:  we have a LOT of tunes that are sweet and loose and very, very groovy - we have some that are tight and in-the-pocket and groovy, too - and... we have a few songs that could use some more practice.  We worked on Tito Puente's version of "Oye Come Va" tonight and it cooked. 

We made some real progress on "Istanbul Not Constantinople" that is pretty hot, too.  (Maybe not for Turkish consumption but for our final USA gigs it is a ton o fun.)  We got into a VERY sweet groove mixing up "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" with "Willie's Shades" (a tune we did in church this morning) that will be smouldering.  And made some good progress on the vocal harmonies for "All You Need Is Love."

Then... we spent an hour on Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" - the foundation of which is very solid - but there is an ass kickin' "scat" part of the song with a riff that just won't quit.  Andy and I worked on it for two hours straight.  How did John Lennon once put it?  "I got blisters on me fingers!!"  Not quite, but I have some serious wood shedding to do on this baby to get it fit for public consumption.  And if we nail it... OMG what a rush!