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)

The solo below by Booker Little is from the song “Booker’s Blues”, that can be found on his record BOOKER LITTLE AND FRIEND. i transcribed the lead sheet in an earlier post and have finally gotten around to pulling his solo off the record. the blowing form and chord progression is a bit different from that of the head. it alternates between a 12 bar minor blues and an 8 bar section (2 bars of Ab minor and 2 bars of Eb minor repeated once). Little displays his great virtuosity and passion in this solo, playing intriguing melodic ideas and spectacular 16th note bursts. the thing i really enjoy about his lines is his use of the melodic minor scale. those major 6ths and 7ths are not as prevalent in improvisation nowadays but they lend a certain energy to minor melodies that a minor 7th doesn’t… beautiful solo!

BOOKER LITTLE- BOOKER’S BLUES (mp3)

Below is a transcription of Barry Harris’ solo on “Moose The Mooch” from the record BARRY HARRIS AT THE JAZZ WORKSHOP, a trio record featuring Sam Jones and Louis Hayes. Harris, even after all these years on the scene and tremendous acclaim as an educator, is still imho a very underrated pianist, not as quickly mentioned along with some of his contemporaries, as one of jazz’s foremost performers. the solo here is an example of Harris’ beautiful, undiluted bebop conception…

BARRY HARRIS- MOOSE THE MOOCH (mp3)