PRACTICE PORTAL

Honestly, i’ve never been a big fan of guitars drenched in electronic effects or, as i call them, affected guitars, in largely acoustic settings. but that’s never stopped me from enjoying a lot of John Scofield’s work. there’s the great record, “So Near, So Far”, led by Joe Henderson, which was featured in an earlier post. there’s also his date, TIME ON MY HANDS with Joe Lovano, Jack DeJohnette and Charlie Haden. a song from that date i particularly like is Scofield’s “Since You Asked”. i can’t help but think that maybe he had Mingus in mind when he wrote it. the writing definitely evokes echoes of a song like “Goodbye Porkpie Hat”. like “Goodbye”, “Since” is an understated, bluesy ballad with a 12/8 feel. it has an AABA form, starting out with Scofield alone on the first section. the band then joins him for the rest of the tune. the melody moves beautifully, especially during the bridge as the harmony wanders toward Amaj but never quite makes it there. then there’s Lovano, who, with his dark, woody tenor that serves a great contrast to Scofield’s ethereal soundbending,  just seems never to sound bad. he delivers a quiet, lyrical chorus full of beautiful altissimo work… so, here’s a sketch of “Since You Asked” along with a transcription of Lovano’s blowing. once again, the changes? i think they’re pretty close but i’ll leave you make the call…

JOHN SCOFIELD- “SINCE YOU ASKED” (mp3)

LEAD SHEET TO “SINCE YOU ASKED” (pdf)

JOE LOVANO SOLO FROM “SINCE YOU ASKED” (pdf)

I bought a copy of Mark Turner’s eponymous CD a few months back and before long, i had his version of “327 East 32nd Street” on repeat. as a saxophonist i, am always amazed by the facility of Turner (and Joshua Redman, who also plays on this tune). there is a passage from the 20th measure of the song that moves into the altissimo register of the tenor sax and is really difficult to make sing. Turner pulls it off like he’s playing in the comfortable middle register. although they are not the first to play with fluidity in the extreme registers, guys like Turner and Redman, Joe Lovano and others have set new technical standards for contemporary saxophonists. those high G’s and A’s are no longer only used as “devices”. by that i mean they are no longer just the domain of honkers and screechers (not a diss). what i’m trying to say is that these notes are more often being seemlessly incorporated into the melodic line as opposed to serving only as emotional exclamation points. Turner is a pretty scary saxophonist, a very unique voice among the younger generation of musicians. i first heard his work on YAM YAM, a CD he released several years back. i’m glad to hear that he’s recovering from his recent injury and is back playing.

Tristano’s tune has great melody line with some of the tricky rhythmic ideas that he’s known for. there are a couple of spots in the melody (bars 15 and 16, and bars 23 and 24) where i wrote down what i can only call a rough approximation of how it might be notated. keep in mind, i don’t have a recording of a Tristano version so i used the Turner version as a reference. you can listen to the clip and draw your own conclusions. if anyone has suggestions on how it should be notated, i’d love to hear them… listening to “327 East 32nd Street”, which is based on the “Out Of Nowhere” progression, inspired me to try and write my own melody. unfortunately, i’ve yet to record “Into thin Air” but you can hear a clip of “327 East 32nd Street” and check out charts of both tunes below…

LENNIE TRISTANO (MARK TURNER)- “327 EAST 32ND STREET“ (mp3)

TRANSCRIPTION OF “327 EAST 32ND STREET” (pdf)

TRANSCRIPTION OF “INTO THIN AIR” (J. MAHONE) (pdf)

It’s been a while since i lasted posted any music. i took a nice vacation with the family and thought about nothing but putting back a few beers and eating mom and dad’s home cooking. while i was gone i got a couple of requests for lead sheets.

as anyone who’s checked out this blog knows, i am a big fan of Booker Little, so i was happy to oblige the request for a lead sheet to his song “ROUNDER’S MOOD”. it was featured on his record, BOOKER LITTLE 4 AND MAX ROACH. i’ve also heard it on a Joe Lovano date called TENOR LEGACY. it’s a really nice melodic line played at a pretty quick tempo. the song form is ABCAB with each section being 8 measures. the progression is more or less conventional so it wasn’t too hard to figure out. horns mostly play in unison, branching out into independent lines on occasion. the second horn line is muddy and difficult to hear in measures 13 and 14 so i took a bit of liberty with that. i may have to make revisions later.

Wayne Shorter is arguably the most influential composer in modern jazz. his conception played a huge part in shaping the sound of the Miles Davis quintet of the 60’s. listening to his classic recording dates on Blue Note, we get a glimpse of his unique take on composition and improvisation. his music of that period, like his improvisations seem to be an intense  refinement of things he’d learned from his influences. everything feels essential and inevitable, nothing seems wasted. like many of his songs, Shorter’s “DANCE CADAVEROUS”, which comes from his seminal recording, SPEAK NO EVIL, is an extremely tough nut to crack. the big obstacle is deciphering his progressions which are very cryptic and personal. Herbie Hancock, the pianist on this date, demonstrates his mastery of the art of accompaniment, enveloping the melody and solos in a cloud of impressionist coloring. his voicings and chord choices never remain static and they conjure latent possibilities in a progression that the composer might not have expected. Ron Carter’s bass is removed from the traditional role of only serving as a rhythmic anchor and playing roots and fifths. he often occupies areas of a chord that lead instruments function in. this of course presents a problem to anyone attempting to transcribe what’s happening. the music is always moving forward from phrase to phrase, chorus to chorus. i don’t know if Shorter has ever published a definitive lead sheet to this song. mine is just a guess so please take it as that. i also referenced a version of this song from the Larry Willis recording, HOW DO YOU KEEP THE MUSIC PLAYING?, on which the rhythm section plays in a less ambiguous style. however, that presented another problem and raised more questions because his version often diverged from the original recording.

“DANCE CADAVEROUS”, one of my favorite Shorter songs is a thing of beauty- a gentle waltz with an elegant melodic line played by Shorter along with the late Freddie Hubbard on trumpet. the melody is simple enough but what adds intrigue is the harmonic framework that it’s set in. the song begins with an 8 measure introduction:

||  Ab Maj7  |  Ab Maj7  | Ab Maj7  |  Ab Maj7  |

|  A7  |  A7  |  A7 (b9, b13)  |  A7 (b9, b13)  |

Shorter and Hubbard play a simple three note riff that is answered by Hancock’s piano. the song then moves into the main melody. the first chord, B min(Maj7) lends to the eerie quality of the song:

||  B min (Maj7)  |  B min (Maj7)  |  C min (Maj7)  |  C min (Maj7)  |

|  C#min7 (b5)  | C#min7 (b5)  |F#7 (b9)  |  F#7 (b9)  |

the second eight bars of the melody imitate the first but the progression eventually modulates to a G Maj7 (the relative major of E min7, the chord that one would expect to be the destination after B7 (b9) ):

|  B min (Maj7)  |  B min (Maj7)  |  C min (Maj7)  |  C min (Maj7)  |

|  C# min7 (b5)  |  F#7 (b5) |  F# min7 (b5)  |  B7 (b9, b13)  |

from G maj7, the progression works its way to Ab min11. the fifth bar of this progression gets pretty sticky! i’m regarding the note G in the melody of the fifth and sixth bars of this section as ornamentation and not material from the chord (which may be totally off the mark).

|  G Maj7 |  G Maj7  |  C7 (b5)  |  C7 (b5)  |

|  C7 (b9, b13)  |  Ab7 sus4  |  Ab min11  |  Ab min11  |

the progression then makes its way back to B min (Maj7) using a series of ii-V’s:

|  F min9 (b5)  |  F min9 (b5)  |  Bb7 (b9, b13)  |  Bb7  (b9, b13)  |

|  Bb min11  |  Bb min11  |  C# min7 (b5)  |  F#13 (b9)  |

the melody and chord progression repeats from the top but the progression changes from the fifth bar (moving to D Maj7 (#5) instead of back to B min (Maj7). both chords share the same notes) while the melody remains essentially the same:

||  B min (Maj7)  |  B min (Maj7)  |  C min (Maj7)  |  C min (Maj7)  |

|  C#min7 (b5)  | C#min7 (b5)  |F#7 (b9)  |  F#7 (b9)  |

|  D Maj7 (#5)  |  D Maj7 (#5)  |  D13 sus4  |  D13 (b9)  |

in the next four bars, the color of the chord is G maj with the bassline descending along a G major scale:

|  G Maj7  |  G/F#  |  E min7  |  G/D  |

the next eight measures are the same as measures 17-24 except for the chord on the first two bars which is a C# min7 (b5) instead of a G Maj7 (they have a very similar sound).

|  C# min7 (b5)  |  C# min7 (b5)  |  C7 (b5)  |  C7 (b5)  |

|  C7 (b9, b13)  |  Ab7 sus4  |  Ab min11  |  Ab min11  |

the last eight bars move the harmony back toward the original tonality of B minor but instead of landing there, the last ii-v ( |C# min9 (b5)  |  F#7sus4 (b9)| )moves to C Major:

|  G Maj7  |  G Maj7  |  C# min9(b5)  |  F#7 sus (b9)  |

|  C Maj9  |  C Maj9  |  C Maj9  |  C Maj9  ||

check out the transcriptions below…

BOOKER LITTLE- “ROUNDER’S MOOD” (mp3)

TRANSCRIPTION OF “ROUNDER’S MOOD” (pdf)

WAYNE SHORTER- “DANCE CADAVEROUS” (mp3)

TRANSCRIPTION OF “DANCE CADAVEROUS” (pdf)