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-Name: David Jenkins
-Age: 28
-E-mail: Please go to the Contact Me page and write to me from there
-Hobbies: Listening to music, singing, making MIDI files, working on web site, working on/with computers, collecting sheet music, watching movies, writing (songs, factual articles, some poetry/lyrics), web surfing, eating, sleeping, shopping (when I have extra money), and of course, spending time with my wife!
-Vocal range: F#1 – E4
-Singing/Piano Lessons: None. Taught myself both, though I'm a one-finger pianist still (sometimes two-finger). I did take band class and learned a lot of theory in there.
-Married?: Yes
-Ever seen "42nd Street" on Broadway?:  No.  I was too young for the Original stage version, and never got up that way to see the Revival.  Funny, huh?  The biggest Warren fan out there has never seen the stage version of "42nd Street."  Then again, Harry did not view it as a good experience, since one still had to hunt through the original version's playbill to even find his name.
-Favorite word: Ethereal (believe it or not, this word is used in ONE Harry Warren song: "Kublai Khan's Song")
-Favorite song (SLOW): "When We Are Born Again" (Lawrence/Lee/Warren)
-Favorite song (MEDIUM): "Boa Noite" (Gordon/Warren) TIE
-Favorite song (MEDIUM): "This Night (Will Be My Souvenir)" (Kahn/Warren) TIE
-Favorite song (FAST): "Yes, My Darling Daughter" (Adams/Warren)
-Favorite musical movie (HW): "Summer Holiday" (1948)
-Least favorite musical movie (HW): "Gold Diggers In Paris" (1938)
-Favorite non-musical movie: "Midnight Alibi" (1934)
-Favorite book: "Rebecca" (1938)
 


 FAQ
Q: Are you Harry Warren?
A: No. I wish! I am often referred to by some as "Harry Incarnate," because he died the year I was born, and I seem to be continuing his legacy with this web site, but no, I lay no claim to being half as good as Harry Warren was. When addressing me, "Hey you" or "Hey David" will be fine.

Q: Are you a relative of Harry Warren?
A: No. I wish that, too.

Q: Where exactly did Harry's parents come from?
A: I've seen information based off interviews of Harry that state that Harry's father, Antonio (Anthony), came from the Cosenza area of Italy, in the Calabria district.  Harry's mother, Rachele (Rachel), appears to have come from the De Lucca area.

Q: How did you get interested in the music of the big bands and Harry Warren?
A: My interest began in late 1995, when I was 14.  In short, my grandfather had me listen to Glenn Miller recordings, and through Miller's two movies I "discovered" Harry Warren's music. HW wrote all of the new songs for both of Glenn Miller's two films. Not long after I saw those films, I bought a songbook published by Four Jays Music Co. and Warner Bros. Publications called "The Great Songs Of Harry Warren From 42nd Street To Hollywood."  In the back was a song list showing about 50-60 movies and about 200 song titles that Harry had written for those movies.  I soon watched one of those listed movies with his songs, "That Night In Rio" (1941), and the song "Boa Noite" was another major inspiration.  I started actively collecting sheet music singles in the fall of 1997, when I was 16.  The first two sheets in the collection were "The Kiss Polka" and "People Like You And Me."

Q: Why the interest in Harry Warren and not, say Irving Berlin?
A: I was familiar with more Warren melodies at the time my interest was sparked, plus the songs are of better quality, both in melody and in piano accompaniment. He also wrote more top-ten hits than any of the other songwriters of his day, including the household names like Berlin, Porter, Rodgers, and Gershwin.

Q: Do you like any composers other than Harry Warren?
A: Time really doesn't allow me to delve fully into the music of other composers, but yes, I like the music by several other composers, from both the classical and 1930's-ish pop/jazz/swing/Latin genre. To name a few: Jerome Kern, James Van Heusen, James V. Monaco, Sanford Green, Ernesto Lecuona, Lorenzo Barcelata, Giacomo Puccini, Johann Strauss Jr., Pietro Mascagni, Peter I. Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler, Ludwig Von Beethoven.

Q: What is the rarest piece of sheet music in your collection?
A: I have a lot of rarities in my collection, but among the published material, I would have to say either "Down The Fairway" or "The Pig And The Cow (And The Dog And Cat)." I also have a mint copy of "March Of The Doagies." Yet another pair of ultra scarce materials are from the United Kingdom, and are the only published versions of the two songs, "There's A Sunny Side To Every Situation" and "Swing Trot."  Among the rarest unpublished but "out there/available" sheet music is "The Mason Dixon Line," written for a Shirley Temple film.  I also have the very scarce "You Discover You're In New York" original sheet music.

Q: What songbooks of Harry Warren's songs are available and where can I get them?
A: There are several out there, mostly from the early 1960's. The most recently released songbook was released in 1989 by Warner Bros. Publications, but that book went out of print around 1997, and getting out-of-print works from them (or any publisher, for that matter) is like pulling teeth. Occasionally, a songbook of Harry's songs will show up on eBay or in a used bookstore (or flea mall), so those would be the only places I could tell you to look for songbooks. However, if you are in need of one or more of Harry's songs, please write to me and I will help you get what you need.

Q: Who recorded <insert song title> OR Where can I find sheet music for <insert song title>?
A: For recordings, please check out my RECORDINGS page. This list contains many of the recordings that I am aware of (aka "have heard").  For sheet music, please check "The Songs" section, as I can provide sheet music for anything appearing there. If you have further requests based on either list, feel free to ask, but I am not able to honor requests for information on songs composed by other songwriters. There are other web sites that can help with that. My only specialty is in the music of Harry Warren.

Q: How many MIDI files have you made of Harry Warren's songs?
A: As of June 21, 2009, I have made 880+ files of Harry Warren's music. 722 of them are featured on this site (on 728 song pages). The remaining 150+ files are not posted here because the works they represent are not copyrighted, and due to an agreement I signed with Harry Warren's family, those works are not to be distributed in any form without written permission from them. The works that do not appear here are mainly from the 1930's (mostly melody-only material that was never used or even copyrighted), and there is also a good amount of post-1947 music which was never copyrighted for whatever reason, some of which was intended for movies.

Q: When will you post new songs or files?
A: Other files are pending posting, and should appear in the coming weeks.  No new songs will become available at this time; just different versions of already-posted songs.  You can expect the following to appear by the end of September:

"The Laugh Parade" material "could go up today," as could the Whitney version of "September In The Rain."  The 1959 version of "You're My Everything" could also "go up today," as could the "Selection" for "Gold Diggers Of 1937."  Note entry is complete for the remaining Selections, but tempos have not been adjusted.  Once all of the Selections are done, I will do a mass-update.  While these additions to the web site are still "pending," feel free to peruse the 728 posted song pages already here!  That should keep anyone busy for quite a while!

Q: Any other pending work or files set to be added:
A: I have a number of miscellaneous arrangements, including a 20-page piano/choral arrangement of songs from the stage version of "42nd Street."  This is on my plate, but will take quite a while to complete.  I also have a number of Piano-Accordion arrangements of songs in the collection that I'd also like to post.  There are some hit and miss Henry Levine piano arrangements of some of the more popular tunes, as well.  I don't anticipate obtaining any "new" Harry Warren songs for a while, but if any pop up somewhere that I don't already have, I'll be glad to post them.  Check out my Wish List for some song titles I'm still looking for material on.

Q: What program do you use to make MIDI files with? OR How do you make your MIDI files? OR (for the folks with good sound systems) Why do your MIDI files sound so choppy or square?
A: I use a program called music@passport, as put out by Passport Designs in late 1996. Passport Designs recently merged with another MIDI/music score technology company, but I forget what company (and I really don't care so long as what I have continues to work). I make MIDI files the hard way. I locate original sheet music copies (which can be extremely expensive) and from those I put the notes in one by one with my mouse, error-correct it, select a good tempo, save it, and whah-la, a new MIDI file is born! I have no fancy tools to work with. I don't have enough money for Cakewalk or the more higher-end MIDI programs to make the piano arrangements sound smoother. If someone wants to buy me a copy, I'd be much obliged. On files made before October 1998, the error-correcting and tempo selection wasn't done very well, since I knew little about my program up till then. I am in the process of updating those old files. My MIDI files sound fairly choppy because I put the notes in one by one as printed on the sheet music, and I don't actually play/perform them on a MIDI piano as a real piano player would perform them and this results in the "squareness" on many higher-end sound systems. A suggestion to improve sound on 128-bit sound cards is to open your sound settings and choose the middle selection for "reverb" and "spatial" in your MIDI sections with "chorus" in the off selection.

Q: How do I copy your MIDI files to my collection on my hard drive?
A: COPYING of ANY kind, via any medium, is no longer permitted via this web site (See next question).  The new design of my site was created intentionally so that copying of MIDI files in this manner is not allowed. The same applies to other means of computer and/or audio storage, including but not limited to floppy disk, zip disk (or similar products), CD-R/CD-RW discs (as data or audio), DVD-R/W / DVD+R/W discs, optical discs, tape drives, and/or audio cassettes. Hard drives especially apply since they are most used to share files with file-sharing programs over the Internet. Why? Too many web site operators and an unseen number of others have been using files of mine without my permission, without the copyright owner's permission, and/or without credit to the original creators of the songs (and to me for taking the time to make the files), and this is my effort to help combat that problem. If you or your family or friends wish to listen to my files, the listening must take place at this web site. I am sorry to all the "good people" out there who have no intention of ever reusing or re-distributing my files, but I had to do this. It was either redo the site in the manner it is now presented or make the site entirely a pay-for-use site. I obviously opted for my first option.  However, there are costs that must be paid for by me for running this site, and if anyone wishes to make a donation, please feel free to contact me. I'd be most grateful.

Q: May I have/use one or more of your MIDI files?  (See also previous question!)
A: No.  As of May 5, 2008, I have elected to no longer offer the sharing of MIDI files or MP3 derivations of same.  There were no takers on the original offer of files due to stringent policies I had laid out, and I feel it would be in the best interest of this web site and others that this no longer be offered.

Q: What instrument(s) do you play?
A: I started out in middle school playing trombone, taught myself how to play melodies (only) on a piano in high school, and I also taught myself to sing in-tune in high school. I do not perform publicly, though.

Q: Do you compose music or write lyrics yourself?
A: Yes, as a matter of fact, I do a little of both. I prefer to write lyrics, but I do have a couple of completed compositions. As far as lyrical works go, my two best lyrics were written for two Harry Warren instrumentals, one lyric is called "On A Night Like This" and it goes with Love Theme (Theme, Reel 4, No. 1) from "Forty-Second Street"; the other lyric is called "Is You" and it goes with a very gorgeous waltz melody initially called "The Song Of The Gigolo" (obviously a mid-30's Al Dubin title!!) which is an unpublished, un-copyrighted, unperformed melody that I am not permitted to post on this web site for public consumption. I also have two rather good completed compositions, both of which also have lyrics by me, and those titles are "Close Together" (my first complete song) and "I Dreamed (Of A Girl Like You)." Other miscellaneous works include a lyric to a waltz I composed in my head called "Love In Vienna." I have scores of partial lyrics or lyric ideas in a file in my room, and maybe one day I can do something with a few of the better efforts. Currently, I am trying to set lyrics to about 30 hand-selected Harry Warren instrumentals, but nothing decent has come of anything I've written as of yet.



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