PRACTICE PORTAL

DIZZY GILLESPIE- OL’ MAN REBOP (mp3)

Here’s a catchy blues head by saxophonist Charles Lloyd which is featured on the record ACOUSTIC MASTERS I with Cedar Walton, Buster Williams on bass and the inimitable Billy Higgins playing drums. perhaps the song is named after Higgins but i have no idea. there’s some other nice music on this CD including “Hommage” which i transcribed for an earlier post… below is a video of Lloyd and Higgins making some nice music together…

CHARLES LLOYD- BLUES FOR BILL (mp3)

I recently heard Ornette Coleman’s “Giggin’” while listening to FOOTSTEPS OF OUR FATHERS, a record by the Branford Marsalis Quartet that features Marsalis on soprano sax, longtime associate Jeff Watts on drums, Joey Calderazzo on piano and Eric Revis on bass. the song is originally from TOMMOROW IS THE QUESTION by Ornette Coleman… another great Coleman line, that sounds sort of like a blues but has some surprising twists and turns and is thirteen bars long. i can’t remember the last time i heard the original, nor do i have a copy, so i don’t know how faithfully Marsalis’ group is to it. nonetheless, i lifted it from their CD. they put down the melody with a really aggressive stance, the soprano sax and piano stating the melody in unison for the most part; they split up into harmonizing at times. i love the way Marsalis moves into the blowing in such a way that the listener has a hard time knowing where the melody ends. Marsalis has one of the best soprano sax sounds that i’ve come across. honestly, i’m not a huge fan of the soprano in general. i mostly hear it played with a shrill, thin tone, often out of tune. Marsalis’ tone is dark, round and controlled in every register. he goes on to play a really nice solo. cop the CD and check it out…

BRANFORD MARSALIS- GIGGIN’ (mp3)

Mark Turner recorded this piece some twelve years ago on his self titled record. it was composed by Mercedes Rossy, a pianist and composer who passed away at only thirty four years old from illness. her brother is Jorge Rossy, a frequent Turner collaborator. it’s a gentle waltz, played with an almost classical mood by Turner, Edward Simon on piano, Chris Thomas on bass and Brian Blade on drums. the melody built from a four note motif, D-F-Eb-Db. the motif moves down chromatically a minor third to start on B. it then move up a minor sixth to F# and finally down to  Eb, where it’s altered slightly. the harmony that accompanies runs through two thirds of a cycle:

EbMaj7  |  BMaj7  |  Amin  |  AbMaj7

GMaj7  |  EbMaj7  |  Dbmin  |  Cmin7

to complete the cycle, the progression would then move here:

BMaj7  | GMaj7  |  Fmin  |  EMaj7

instead, the harmony moves back to the beginning of the cycle, but this time under a different melody in measures 9 through 11, then to the variation of the original motif in the next four bars. i really like the way this set of chords fit together color-wise… the previous twelve bar section is repeated with the addition of a nice counter-melody before moving in to an eight bar vamp over an ostinato figure (which also serves as the intro) and then onto the solos which are over the same form… an album of Rossy’s music was released around the same time as Turner’s record. i plan to find it.

MERCEDES ROSSY- LOST OCEAN (mp3)

Here’s a great song by British multi-instrumentalist, Victor Feldman. “New Delhi” was featured on the record, CANNONBALL ADDERLEY QUINTET PLUS, with Cannonball and Nat Adderley on the front line, Louis Hayes on drums, Sam Jones on bass, guest pianist Wynton Kelly, and Feldman on piano and vibes. “New Delhi” is a 32 bar AABA song featuring an ostinato bass line under the melody. the background rhythm is repeated through the melody by everyone but the lead voice. Nat Adderley, on cornet, plays the melody on the A sections and Feldman takes over on vibes through the bridge. the band then starts in with the straight up swing for the solos, moving back to the ostinato figure in the bridge. the blowing progression is a little different from that of the melody. it keeps the AABA form but each A section is an eight bar blues progression. so here you go, enjoy. thanks to Bbebop at PostBop.com for the request…

VICTOR FELDMAN- NEW DELHI (mp3)