Virtual Jam Session - "Laughter in the Rain"

Jam to "Laughter in the Rain"

No matter how much you enjoy swing and bebop, most players have to be able to play in other styles.  Here is a tune that was a big top-40 hit.  It isn't thought of as an "American Song Book" standard, but it is as worthy as any other tune in the book.  This is Neil Sedaka's brilliantly crafted "Laughter in the Rain".  It has strong lyrics, a very memorable melody and interesting harmonies.

This arrangement is a pop-funk style, so the soloist shouldn't approach it the same way one might go after "Bye Bye Blackbird" or "Indiana".  It might be worth listening to the Saturday Night Live band.  They often play grooves like this.  Generally the solos have fewer notes, allowing more time to develop emotion with timbre rather than a blizzard of notes.

The song is not terribly complicated.  It consists of three main parts.  After a catchy 4-bar intro, there is an 8-bar verse with simple chords in F major concert.  There is a 3-bar interlude ("I feel the warmth of her hand in mine.")  That takes us to the refrain ("Oh, I hear laughter in the rain. Walking hand in hand with the one I love. ...")  But Sedaka cleverly puts the refrain in a completely different key center (Ab major concert.)  The refrain is usually played as a 9-bar section (a one-bar extension to the last chord.)

In this arrangement the pattern is:
  Intro
    Verse - Interlude - Refrain
    Verse - Interlude - Refrain
    Verse - Interlude - Refrain
    etc.
 Intro played again to end.

It is also typical to simply repeat the refrain ad lib for the solos.  In that case, that is usually played as a repetition of 8-bar sections.