PRACTICE PORTAL

Here are some more transcriptions from one of my favorite pianists, Mulgrew Miller. as i mentioned in an earlier post, Miller’s compositions share something in common with the great Cedar Walton. they’re made up of memorable, even singable melodies, and set on top of unconventional, sophisticated progressions.  they’re accessible and elusive at the same time. the two songs below are good examples of what i mean. “For Those Who Do” is from the record HAND IN HAND. it features five members of the album’s septet: Kenny Garrett on soprano sax, Steve Nelson on vibes, Christian McBride on the bass and Lewis Nash on drums. the form is interesting: after a four measure drum intro, the melody is stated by the saxophone. the first section is twenty bars long. after a second twenty-two bar melody is played, the section’s progression repeated for solos. after blowing by Garrett and Nelson, the initial melody is restated. the second melody is then looped while Miller blows over it. the lines that he plays over the challenging progression are just incredible. Miller dances on the outer edges of the harmonies but he is always able to anchor what he does with a strong rhythmic sense and an ever present funkiness. “Another Type Thang” comes from the date WITH OUR OWN EYES, a trio record featuring Miller, Richie Goods on bass and Tony Reedus on drums. the melody begins after an eight bar introduction. the A section consists of a four bar idea that is repeated in the following four bars, modulated down a major third. the B section starts with a two bar motif that is repeated in descending whole steps. half of the A section is repeated, then a coda like section, eight bars long is played. the blowing is over the twenty-eight measure ABA form. Miller plays a really grooving solo punctuated by amazing 16th note runs…

MULGREW MILLER- “FOR THOSE WHO DO (melody)” (mp3)

LEAD SHEET FOR “FOR THOSE WHO DO” (pdf)

MULGREW MILLER- “FOR THOSE WHO DO (solo)” (mp3)

SOLO FROM “FOR THOSE WHO DO” (pdf)

MULGREW MILLER- “ANOTHER TYPE THANG (melody and solo)” (mp3)

LEAD SHEET FOR “FOR THOSE WHO DO” (pdf)

SOLO FROM “FOR THOSE WHO DO” (pdf)

It’s amazing to think that even in a community as small as that of jazz, there are so many musicians to discover and listen to. pianist Hod O’Brien is a musician i came across by accident. a friend of my wife, whose father was an avid record collector that had recently passed away, allowed me access to his many CDs. his first love seemed to be trio recordings so i was lucky enough to come away with great recordings by Kenny Barron, Harold Mabern, Cedar Walton, Ray Bryant, Gene Harris, Mulgrew Miller, John Hicks, Junior Mance, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Drew, Hal Galper, Mal Waldron, Richie Beirach, etc. i happened upon O’Brien’s disc RIDIN’ HIGH and chose it mainly because of sidemen Kenny Washington and Ray Drummond. upon listening to it, i was very happy that i chose it. Obrien may safely be called a disciple of the Bud Powell style of piano improvisation. his solos, steeped in the language of Bebop, are characterized by a highly developed linear style. i am attracted to his playing because, for a while now, i’ve been trying to address that way of improvisation in my playing, trying to solidify my grounding in functional harmony, running lines through a succession of changes… his solos are a great model for transcription and analysis. “Up In Quincy’s Room” by Gigi Gryce is a great medium uptempo song with a set of nice changes. O’Brien plays a five chorus solo that is filled with great examples of the traditional Bebop style. the rhythm section, especially Washington, accompany him nicely…

HOD O’BRIEN- “UP IN QUINCY’S ROOM” (mp3)

TRANSCRIPTION OF “UP IN QUINCY’S ROOM“ (pdf)

MONK ALONE: THE COMPLETE COLUMBIA SOLO STUDIO RECORDINGS (1962-1968) provides a listener with a chance to witness a master of the language of American music and one of the chief architects of Bebop as he shines his light on numerous compositional gems. what’s so great about these sides is that, because he is free of the obligations of working in an ensemble, he’s able to indulge his whims as he pleases. at times, he more or less strictly interprets the melodies, only adding spare embellishment. he sometimes improvises over the song’s progression. a rubato passage may be followed by stride piano stylings, or perhaps he’ll just pound out long, ringing chords. at essence, he always frames the music in his unique harmonic and rhythmic conception making the songs, which are mostly standards, his own. i liken Monk to an alchemist who uses raw sounds as elements to be combined for various effect, by turns jarring and soothing. i hear him attempting to physically transform the piano, on which notes are strictly pitched, into an instrument capable of bending and shaping sound like a saxophone, a violin or a singer. he mainly does so by utilizing dissonance as a device to bring ambiguity to his melodic line by smearing note attacks (playing a melodic note as part of a cluster rather than individually or “sliding” into a  melodic note via an adjacent note). Monk often uses less consonant intervals (minor 2nds, Major 7ths, minor 9ths…) which blur the melodic and harmonic edges of his music. at times his sounds assume the quality of molten steel being pounded into shape by a hammer, or else fine strands of silk being woven into an intricate fabric. Monk also uses rhythm to great advantage by expanding and contracting the flow of his melodies and progressions with metric modulation, and employing syncopation to build rhythmic tension. what’s so great about his work is that he seems unafraid of allowing ugliness and abrasion to stand side by side with beauty and tenderness, as they do in the real world. there are few artist in any discipline who are able to pull that off with as much honesty as Monk did. Bartok? Coltrane? Picasso? Schoenberg? Armstrong? perhaps that’s the source of his music’s staying power… if you believe, as i do, that technique is not an end, but a means to a fuller expression, then Monk deserves the title of Piano Master. to my ear Monk’s interpretations on this two CD set are complete, self-contained statements that project a sort of brutal elegance which brings to mind the best of jazz. my only point of contention with this recording is that there isn’t enough of Monk’s own music represented. his numerous compositions are  as much American standards as “Body And Soul”, “Memories Of You”, etc. still, this recording is a must have for anyone interested in a closer look at Monk’s take on music.

Monk sticks to the melody of “Introspection”, occasionally adding one of his characteristic descending runs. he doesn’t improvise. the form is AABA, each section is 8 measures long. he states the complete melody twice. it’s a great piece of music…

THELONIUS MONK- “INTROSPECTION“ (mp3)

TRANSCRIPTION OF “INTROSPECTION“ (pdf)

If a tree falls in the forest but no one’s there to hear it… It’s really great to hear from folks who’ve taken a look at PRACTICE PORTAL. i post transcriptions and other stuff for myself as much as for anyone else. it’s a form of self-motivation, it keeps me focused on  practicing and learning new things about music. still, receiving feedback from other people is a definite shot in the arm. i really appreciate any comments, good, bad and ugly, about the site. let me know what you want to see more or less of and i’ll see what i can do about it. With that said, many thanks go out to TJ for adding a link to PRACTICE PORTAL at SOUNDBYTE CULTURE. his site features transcriptions of Hal Galper and Bud Powell, audio and video clips, and various commentary. be sure to check him out. thanks again, TJ…

To say  that Lennie Tristano was a uniquely talented musician is to some, stating the obvious. but perhaps it isn’t. his isn’t exactly a household name, even among musicians. and many who do know of him are only familiar with his extra-musical reputation as an enigmatic and reclusive person. his influence on a wide range of musicians, even if unacknowledged, is quite strong. not only was he an educator with an ever-growing following of talented musicians, most notably, Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, he ran his own record label (he was one of the first musicians to do so) and was a pioneer in the application of tape splicing, multi-tracking and other editing techniques (gasp!). he was also a forward thinking conceptualist, no doubt planting a few of the seeds that gave birth to the free jazz phenomenon, and of course he was flat out an amazing improvisor as evinced by the transcription below.

“Line Up” is 32 bar progression based on the chord progression to “All Of Me”. the song is off of a recording called LENNIE TRISTANO which is part of a twofer CD with THE NEW TRISTANO. “Line Up” is comprised of 7 choruses of some really personal and inventive melodic lines. Tristano doesn’t play an opening melody; after resting for 8 bars, letting the rhythm section do its thing (the rhythm track was pre-recorded; rumor has it that Tristano’s lines were recorded at half speed. the piano sound has been altered, nevertheless…) he dives headlong into his improvisation. what strikes me most strongly about this solo, aside from his extraordinary technique and clean articulation, is his wide of use rhythmically displaced phrases. for example, in the 9th and 10th bars of his solo, he plays a simple melodic figure. he then repeats the figure, up a diatonic 4th, but instead of starting it on the 1st beat of the 11th measure as one would expect, he begins it on the 4th beat of the 10th measure. this device creates in the listener a curious, off-balance feeling. he’ll also accent his line on the downbeats from time to time, like he’s tamping the brakes on a car; it works to dissipate some of the forward energy of his line that at times, threatens to spin out of control. Tristano is always, however, able to resolve the rhythmic aspect of his line in sophisticated and unusual ways. nowadays, these improvisational devices are more or less meat and potatoes but back in 1955, it was quite innovative and unusual. throughout his solo, he plays with a really propulsive, aggressive swing and his line is shaped rhythmically by using a wide variety of syncopated accents. he sounds as if he’s working at a piece of hot metal with a mallet, hammering his line into shape. he also uses a device of playing a melodic shape a half step above the underlying harmony and then shifting it back into key. for the most part Tristano’s solo is built around 8th note runs but every so often, he’ll turn on a really crispy triplet figure or jab you in the ear with a fat chord cluster.

As i listen again to “Line Up”, i think immediately of Herbie Hancock and the way he played with Miles Davis’ band on recordings like “Nefertiti”, “Miles Smiles” and “Live At The Plugged Nickel”. his solo passages are only sparsely accompanied by his left hand. in many instances, he functions rather like a 3rd horn than as a rhythm section player. it’s a great way to keep the harmonic moorings loose and it gives the music a colder, leaner sound. my guess is that Hancock spent some time checking out Tristano.

There are many who say Tristano was too clinical and unemotional in his playing. i can’t agree with that opinion. i can only say that, when listening to LENNIE TRISTANO, THE NEW TRISTANO, and particularly when seeing his DVD, THE COPENHAGEN CONCERT, an image comes to me of a man who was intensely involved with his music, no doubt to the detriment of his commercial success, who was unconcerned with the mannerisms and poses that many musicians assume, perhaps because they think they have to. as a listener, Tristano’s music demands that you bring something to the table, that you meet him (at least) half way. his music seems to exist in a more rarefied element, outside of the main currents of life. he could arguably be perceived as having a more European (western) attitude vis-a-vis art (although he professed his admiration for Bird and his peers, and had a deep understanding of the history of jazz, as his playing demonstrates); a very different stance from a musician like Max Roach, for example, (a frequent collaborator with Booker Little who, was featured on the previous post) who often used his music as a vehicle to address socio-political concerns. his music, in my opinion seeks to inspire the listener to become more deeply involved in the world. where Tristano’s music is self-effacing, Roach’s is extroverted. he, i think, saw himself and his music as a part of, existing on the same level as, the community at large- a more African conception. in that sense, though his music is as forward looking and modern as Tristano’s, it is more accessible because its energy works to draw the listener in. i can see value in both positions.

I don’t profess to speak for any musician other than myself so please take any of my comments about musicians’ attitudes and philosophies with a grain of salt…

When taken in the context of the nascent civil rights movement in 50’s and 60’s America, a HUGE discussion could jump off from here involving the differing conceptions of what the role of an artist is, or if there even should be a role; whether or not an artist has any obligations outside  of his art. is jazz inherently political? does race have an effect on how music was (is) perceived and marketed? is jazz largely seen as no longer relevant because it has become, over the years, too “arty”, too aloof? i won’t go there (unless you want me to…let me know, because i kind of want to)  because as i said previously, the purpose of this blog is to discuss (the technical and artistic aspects of) music. however, given the failure to seriously address the complex history of the U.S., discussions of its arts will contain any number of elephants, calmly sitting at the back of the room, wondering why they aren’t being acknowledged.  Ethan Iverson, in his blog, DO THE MATH, writes eloquently about these and other underdiscussed issues…

I’m sorry to say that i don’t know a whole lot about Lennie Tristano but i plan to learn more. i’m going to start with a book that was recommended to me called JAZZ VISIONS: LENNIE TRISTANO AND HIS LEGACY, by Peter Ind. in the future, i plan to post some more examples of Tristano’s highly individual playing…

LENNIE TRISTANO- “LINE UP” (mp3)

TRANSCRIPTION OF “LINE UP” (pdf)

Every jazz musician has a favorite Horace Silver song. for some, it’s a bop head like “No Smoking”, “Room 608″ or “Nutville”. others like his more overtly Caribbean flavored songs like “Que Pasa”, “Cape Verdean Blues” and “Nica’s Dream”. then you have the mid tempo foot tappers like “Strollin’” and “Sister Sadie”. i, for one, have always dug his ballads. “Peace” is a favorite of mine. there’s also “Shirl”, a ballad he featured on Six Pieces Of Silver. Silver is great at conjuring a mood- so much of his music is programmatic. and i’ve always been a sucker for songs dedicated to women. this song evokes an image but a very elusive one. the music has an ambiguous and unfinished quality about it. i’m only guessing, but “Shirl”  must have been a very complicated and intriguing woman. the first four measures sound like the opening strains of some forgotten impressionist era piano prelude. the first two 13b9 chords ring out and are then answered by two more of the same transposed up a fourth. following that is a group of 7#9 chords that starts on F and  moves down to E, Db, Bb and A before resolving to Ab Maj and then on to a D7#9 chord. a brief progression follows that sounds almost cadential in nature but before a listener has a chance to  get to too settled, the progression again gathers a head of tension by utilizing a ii-V progression from G min, moving upward by fourths, to F min with an Ab in the melody, which creates a tension that wants to (eventually) resolve to a G (in an Eb Maj chord) but instead, by way of an Eb7#9 chord, the melody moves to an F#, triggering a progression similar in  nature to the previous sequence of 7#9 chords (F, Eb, Bb, A). it feels as if the listener is being sucked into a pit of quicksand. there are shifts in the time signature and pulse that evoke a mood of hesitancy- “slow your roll. don’t say too much, you might get yourself in trouble!” the bridge moves smoothly into a cycle of ii-Vs descending chromatically. finally, there’s a short suspended chord with a moving line in the bass voice, then a restating of the original melody. Horace Silver’s piano solo is buoyant and energetic. juxtaposed against the dark, brooding progression he sounds as if he’s trying to keep the faith, to stay optimistic during a troubled time. like he’s tryng to draw something else out of the progression, throw light on the progression from a different angle. but then the improvisation abruptly moves back to the melody, almost stumbling over itself. trying to read into an artist’s intentions is not something i want to do too much of on this blog, but it’s an amusing way to take up a little space… let’s just say this, it’s a really great piece of music that i can listen to many times over. i’ll call what i did below a “sketch” because i wasn’t able to pick out all the notes in the harmonies that Silver plays. but i did write out the shell of the piece and filled in chord tones as i could hear them. the way i wrote the tune formally- where i put the time signature change- is my best guess at what “Shirl” might look like on paper. oh yeah- when you get a chance, check out Horace Silver’s autobiography, Let’s Get To The Nitty Gritty. a friend of mine lent me the book a while back. it’s a quick read with some nice stories about Silver and the musicians that surrounded him…

HORACE SILVER- “SHIRL” (mp3)

SCORE TRANSCRIPTION OF “SHIRL” (pdf)

While i was listening to music to find material for my last post about Mulgrew Miller, i dug out a copy of Vincent Herring’s record, Evidence which features Wallace Roney, Ira Coleman, Carl Allen and Miller. on it, they do a version of “Hindsight” by Cedar Walton- over the years, many comparisons have been made between Miller and Mcoy Tyner, perhaps because of some stylistic similarities in their improvisations- when i hear Miller- at least compositionally- one of the first people i think about is Cedar Walton.  Walton has written so many great songs over the years like “Bolivia”, ” Firm Roots”, “Clockwise” and the song featured on this post. speaking as an improvising composer, i’ve always been most intrigued by his chord progressions. “Hindsight” features a nice vamp which moves between B7#9, C7#9 and A7#9 and then the melody, played over a descending 1/2 step progression that begins from C and alternates between major and dominant chords on its way down to where it finally comes to a rest on E maj. it’s a challenge to improvise melodically over those changes, to play over the whole phrase rather than from chord to chord to chord.  in the hands of masters like Miller and Walton, progressions like these are material for amazing improvisations… Walton is a great example of a composer improvisor. he sounds as if he’s reading/ writing a piece of music somewhere in his head as he’s improvising. i just finished pulling his right hand line off the recording and the notes on paper are really beautiful to look at. all the fat and excess carved away to leave a finely sculpted line. he has a highly developed sense of symmetry and form, undoubtedly honed during his years as a songwriter.  you can see the results of many years lived with this music. wow… let me shut up. his version of “Hindsight” is from his date called Composer which features Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, Vincent Herring, Ralph Moore and Victor Lewis. below are transcriptions of Miller’s and Walton’s right hand…

MULGREW MILLER- “HINDSIGHT” (mp3)

SOLO TRANSCRIPTION OF “HINDSIGHT” (pdf)

CEDAR WALTON- “HINDSIGHT” (mp3)

SOLO TRANSCRIPTION OF “HINDSIGHT” (pdf)

Mulgrew Miller is a pianist that every one should be aware of. but he’s one of those guys that musicians speak about with an air of reverence while general jazz listeners , who may know the name, can’t quite place the face. he’s a “musician’s musician”, a double-edged compliment reserved for guys who don’t get the attention and accolades they deserve. for quite a while now, Miller has been one of the most in demand pianists on the scene due in large part to his wide palette of harmonic shades and a highly personal melodic vocabulary. i first became aware of his playing from listening to a cd called Wingspan, which also introduced me to the ridiculous alto playing  of one of  his longtime associates, Kenny Garrett. i spent many an hour listening to that joint, in awe of the improvisations and the compositions. Miller has a real gift for writing catchy, singable melodies and setting them in a sophisticated harmonic framework. his melodic lines brim with elliptical patterns while his left hand evokes a harmonic mood that moves quickly between earthy and ethereal. i no longer have a copy of that record but i do have many others including With Our Own Eyes, Time and Again, The Countdown and Hand In Hand, the record that i pulled this transcription off of. another record, one on which he’s a sideman, that to this day is near the top of my playlist is Cassandra Wilson’s Blue Skies. Miller drops gem after gem in his soloing and wraps Wilson’s awesome voice in a thick haze of soul and depth. “Thinkin’ Out Loud” is loosely based on “Minority” but instead of the traditional turnaround, the song instead sits on an E major chord for four bars before a  ii-V over two bars takes it back to the top. i transcribed the right hand line and when i get up the courage, i’ll try to pick out the left hand. in the meantime, check it out…

MULGREW MILLER- “THINKIN’ OUT LOUD” (mp3)

SOLO TRANSCRIPTON OF “THINKIN’ OUT LOUD” (pdf)

Elvin Jones, Carla Bley, Dizzy Gillespie, Jeff Watts, Charles Fambrough, Chico Freeman, the Marsalis brothers, Angela Bofill, Youssou N’Dour, Sting, Kenny Garrett, … the list goes on and on. the quality and variety of the above artists, all of who were associated professionally with Kirkland is a testament to his versatility and talent. Kenny Kirkland is primarily known as a piano icon of the 90’s acoustic jazz resurgence and for his (not suprising, given his eclectic background) detour into more commercial ventures, alongside Branford Marsalis, with Sting, and his short lived tenure on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Tragically, he left this world at the age of 43. his influence on pianists of the generation following him is pervasive- the strong, clean right hand lines bolstered by a highly rhythmic, jabbing left create an energetic and complex improvisational style. the transcription of Wayne Shorter’s “Black Nile” is from a record called Thunder And Rainbows, a trio recording featuring Jeff “Tain” Watts and Charles Fambrough, recorded in 1991. the three musicians combine to create an unabashed, joyous swing, and Kirkland’s solo is a study in pacing and invention. i call this post “Five Fingers Of Fury” because i’ve only written out the right hand lines. i’ll change the post to “Ten Fingers …” as soon i can transcribe the left hand part… enjoy.

KENNY KIRKLAND “BLACK NILE” (mp3)

SOLO TRANSCRIPTION OF “BLACK NILE” (pdf)

Although he’s one of the most adventurous, innovative, iconoclastic and influential artists of the 20th century, Sun Ra is still considered in some circles to be no more than a crackpot and in others, a passing hipster novelty. but the man defies those shallow classifications- besides his musical virtuosity, he was far ahead of his time in incorporating electronics, multi-media, theater, dance, mysticism, pan-African sensibilities, etc. in his performances. yet at the heart of it all is his music -Deep and Dark and Ugly and Beautiful and Violent and Serene and Dense and… ancient and futuristic at the same time, yet strongly rooted in the traditions of African-American expression. some of it is extremely difficult to listen to. at times it demands almost too much of a listener. however, with a certain amount of patience and an open mind, one has the possibility to be taken to many new and fascinating places. contrary to the conventional wisdom that his music is no more than an excuse for a bunch of dudes to move their fingers over their instruments really fast and blow really loud, Sun Ra wrote many incredibly singable melodies, two of which i have written out below. “Images”, from a record called Jazz In Silhouette, which contains several other really beautiful melodies, is one of my favorites. it has a conventional AABA form with riff-like melody that moves into bridge made up of long harmonic pads and back to the original riff. i wrote out the melody along with my opinion of what the chord progression might be. i didn’t write out the shout chorus which ends the song on this version but i may do that later. the other song, “The Others In Their World” is, plainly and simply, a gorgeous and hauntingly beautiful melody. it can be heard on the record Fate In A Pleasant Mood, which also has a great version of the song, “Lights Of A Satellite”. “Others” starts with the melody over a minor vamp and a sparse swing rhythm with a backbeat. the feel more or less remains the same through the bridge and the last A section. check them both out below… (for more information on his life and music, check out Space Is The Place, The Lives And Times Of Sun Ra, by John Szwed.)

SUN RA- “IMAGES” (mp3)

SCORE OF “IMAGES” (pdf)

SUN RA- “THE OTHERS IN THEIR WORLD” (mp3)

SCORE OF “THE OTHERS IN THEIR WORLD” (pdf)