SONNY ROLLINS INTERVIEW
January 8th, 2012 by jamesSONNY ROLLINS VISITS THE TAVIS SMILEY SHOW FOR A HALF HOUR INTERVIEW…
Watch Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.
LARRY GALES- BASS SOLO FROM “STRAIGHT NO CHASER”
January 7th, 2012 by james
The Larry Gales solo below is taken from the record LIVE AT THE IT CLUB with Monk on piano, Charlie Rouse on sax and Ben Riley on drums. Although Gales’ solo is composed mainly of quarter notes, it has a deep swing that serves as a great reminder- it’s not how much you play but what you play…
RALPH MOORE- SOLO FROM “FREEWAY”
January 2nd, 2012 by james
The song “FREEWAY” is from Ralph Moore’s 1989 Landmark recording, IMAGES. He gathered a group of fine musicians- Terence Blanchard on trumpet, Benny Green playing piano, Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on the drums. Moore contributed two originals and filled out the session with some well known and more obscure material (Joe Henderson’s “Punjab”, “One Second, Please” by Elmo Hope, “This I Dig Of You” by Hank Mobley, etc.). Moore’s playing is characterized by a strong, lean sound, inventive melodic ideas and an unwavering rhythmic drive…
RALPH MOORE- FREEWAY (mp3)
DEWEY TIME
August 12th, 2011 by jamesWords and music from the one and only Dewey Redman…
You can watch the whole video HERE…
MILT JACKSON, “DR. JACKLE” SOLO
June 24th, 2011 by james
MILT JACKSON- DR. JACKLE (mp3)
OLIVER NELSON, “STOLEN MOMENTS” SOLO
June 1st, 2011 by james
LESTER YOUNG- SOLO FROM “ALL OF ME”
May 11th, 2011 by james
JOHN SWANA AND PETER BERNSTEIN- SOLOS FROM “INNER URGE”
April 21st, 2011 by james
The two solos presented here are from saxophonist Ralph Bowen’s recording, SOUL PROPRIETOR. on it, he gathers a group of top notch players: Sam Yahel on B3 organ, drummer Brian Blade, Peter Bernstein on guitar and trumpeter John Swana. i remember first hearing Bowen’s playing when he was with the group OTB many, many moons ago. he’s always impressed me with his great sound and rock solid technique, displayed to great advantage on this record. however, i chose to transcribe the solos of two of the other members of the band. John Swana and Peter Berstein both deliver really nice solos on the Joe Henderson classic, “Inner Urge”.
BRANFORD MARSALIS, SOLO FROM “IN THE CREASE”
April 5th, 2011 by jamesIt’s been quite a long while since i’ve been able to post material. life in Tokyo has been pretty crazy since the big quake and subsequent nuclear drama. i ended up leaving Tokyo (and my computer) with my family for a couple of weeks and considered relocating permanently. but, warts and all, i really enjoy living and working here. i sincerely hope that Japan’s government will get its act together and take bold steps to deal with the crisis. i also hope that everyone takes a moment to reflect on the scope of this disaster, remembering those who lost their homes and loved ones. while you’re at it, think about all the other places in the world, especially those places that aren’t in the centers of mass communication, where folks are coping with war, famine, disasters natural and man-made, and poverty…
I’ve been listening to Branford’s song “In The Crease” from his record CONTEMPORARY JAZZ (featuring Jeff Watts on drums, Eric Revis on bass and Joey Calderazzo on piano) for several weeks. it’s difficult to figure out exactly what’s going on formally because of the shifting time signatures. i sat down with the recording and tried to sketch out the song but couldn’t decide the best way to lay the melody out. i finally gave up and went onto other things. a while later, i happened upon a youtube recording (embedded below) of Marsalis and his band (Justin Faulkner replaces Watts on drums) performing the song live in concert and decided to give it another go. i again crashed and burned and so decided to cheat a little bit. i went online to see if i could find any lead sheets. i finally came across one HERE. it makes a lot of sense; there are a couple things that i would change, some notes left out of the melody and bass line, but it’s dang close. since the lead sheet is already available, i decided to concentrate on Branford’s solo.
i’m still amazed at how different a solo seems once i see it written down. Branford’s solo (starting at :47 on the youtube video) is difficult but not in same way a Coltrane solo, for example, is. the lines themselves are relatively easy to execute. the complexity is in the rhythms he plays over the form, which is ten bars long and contains a couple meter changes. Marsalis handles the shifting time signatures with ease and raises the bar by incorporating devices like rhythmic displacement and playing phrases over bar lines to blur the form. his playing here reminds me of funk, albeit with a different sound and set of melodic material. he generally plays short, riffy ideas and leaves a lot of room for the rhythm section to comment and generate tension and energy. it’s a great solo. Calderazzo takes a great solo as well. the highlight however is the drumming of Faulkner. he hooks up nicely with Revis and his energy and creativity never flags. he delivers and incredible solo to take the song out.
JOHN COLTRANE w/ DUKE ELLINGTON, “TAKE THE COLTRANE”
March 4th, 2011 by james
This solo by Coltrane is from the classic Impulse recording DUKE ELLINGTON AND JOHN COLTRANE, featuring the bulk of Trane’s best known quartet with Ellington in on piano for McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on the set for half of the record. “Take The Coltrane”, a blues in F, serves as a nice vehicle for Trane’s hard driving lines. all in all, his playing is pretty “in”: his lines are by and large made up of eighth notes, he only occasionally utilizes chord substitutions and is very spare in employing more advanced saxophone techniques like false fingerings or altissimo play (which made this solo relatively easy to transcribe)… Eleven choruses of Grade A, nutrient- rich Trane (with Ellington doing his best Tyner impersonation, laying out while Trane does his thing)…
