Download the Transcription: Drums

Listen to the Solo

Watch a video of the solo being performed by Derek! – http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OAEaf_qHunU

The transcription features Herlin Riley’s playing on “Evidence” from Wynton Marsalis Septet’s 1999 multi-disc release Live at the Village Vanguard. Monk’s writing, exemplified in “Evidence” is rhythmically unique, often jagged and deceptive, a quality which gives drummers many possibilities. Herlin’s choices are tasteful, organic and exploit the rhythmic opportunities Monk provides. Herlin plays with triplet vs. sixteenth and straight vs. swing ideas, and moves in and out of downbeat and offbeat oriented phrasing. All of which reflect the similar off-kilter effect the tune’s melody has. Also, notice the two busiest portions of the solo, (m.49-56 and m.73-76). The first example phrases triplets, with the latter phrasing sixteenths, demonstrating smart soloistic flow and development. With its phrasing, and creative rhythmic ideas, this transcription stands out as a fun and excellent example of musical drumming.

Dowlnoad PDF: Bass Clef

This submission is of an iconic solo played by John Coltrane and if you’re any kind of jazz fanatic it’ll be very familiar, but seriously–watch the video. Adam Spiers plays along with the solo, note for note, on the cello. As a cellist I find it difficult to describe just how insane this is, but to put it in perspective it’s kind of like climbing the stairs of the Empire State building in flip flops; it’s not impossible…but yeah. Wow. I’m very humbled to be posting this incredibly thoughtful and meticulous transcription along with such an amazing video, but unfortunately for you horn players out there the transcription is in C and an 8ve down. But you should still follow along and check out this amazing video and transcription. Probably twice.

With Adam’s permission I’ve pasted in the body text of his blog post on this transcription, which can be visited at its original location here: Cello Lessons from a Dead Genius.

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time …

In the summer of 2011, I quit my job to resume full-time music studies. During the summer semester at the Berkeley Jazzschool in California, I started learning John Coltrane’s solo on the title track of his famous album Blue Train. It was really tough going, but addictive – I was getting my arse handed to me on a plate on a daily basis by a dead person, but I felt like I was way off the well-trodden path and that was really satisfying!

After 3 months studying in various places in the USA, I got back home and resumed work on this transcription in earnest. It became part of my daily routine, and I craved the day that I could play the whole thing note perfect at the same speed as the original. There were so many notes to fit in that I had to come up with totally new ways to use my left thumb, on which the normal cellist’s callus grew to epic proportions. Trane became the best cello teacher I never had. Unfortunately, just around the time I was getting close to being able to nail it, real life intervened, and I had to refocus on earning money. Inspired by Benoît Sauvé’s incredible rendition of the same solo on recorder (recorder?! what a mofo – check out his other videos), I did a couple of very rough recordings with my compact camera for posterity, and moved on.

Sometime later, I discovered a John McLaughlin video on YouTube (sadly no longer available) which had an awesome animated transcription at the bottom – a really cool glimpse inside the craft of a master musician. Then it occurred to me that I could do the same kind of thing with my video, and publish it in case there are any other jazz cellists out there who would be interested in it. I put a lot of effort into notating and fingering it, so it seemed a waste to just let it rot and never see the light of day. After all, I already had the source files and a video, so it was just a simple matter of combining the two, right? How hard could it be?

Very very hard, it turns out. I had to write two new pieces of software, completely overhaul a third, and fix some obscure bugs hidden deep inside a fourth. But I didn’t discover that until I’d reached the point of no return …

I’ll probably blog more at some point about the software engineering hoops I had to jump through in order to make this all work. Email me if you’re interested.

In the mean time, hope you enjoy the video! (You can also view it on YouTube.)

Download the Transcription: Piano Score + Bass

Audio Link: August Ending

“August Ending” Brad Mehldau

For nearly two decades, composer-improvisor Brad Mehldau has left a prophetic mark on the music of our generation. One supporting reason is that his music strikes an emotional, spontaneous core while maintaining a structural quality evident through analysis. House on Hill was released by the Brad Mehldau trio (Rossy on drums) in 2006, and the opening track, “August Ending,” illustrates Mehldau’s search for “successful integration of composed and improvised material.”1 Feel free to decide for yourself, but I’m pretty convinced he’s on the right track.

The composition is bound together by a string of 8th notes (A-Bb), which while fitting colorfully into the harmony serve several foundational purposes throughout the tune. First and foremost, they tie each phrase/section together, an important task given the slow harmonic rhythm. Brad does well to syncopate his articulation, preventing any dulling effect and keeping his phrases afloat (let’s just say he’s very patient). Next, these 8th notes introduce us to an essential interval in the composition: the minor 2nd, which pervades both melody and accompaniment (ex: m.11, 20-21, 56-57) . Finally, these 8th notes set the affective tone for the entire tune, perhaps the whole album. Choose your own associations, but when I hear an endless stream of medium-fast 8th notes over a minor 2nd, I am not lulled into a warm vernal reverie, nor am I provoked to get on my bike and enjoy the floral aroma of spring.

But enough with programatic musings: this tune rocks. Here are some more reasons why.

Ever the master of counterpoint, Brad has clearly defined 4 voices in the piano alone by the time we hear the melody. Each plays a specific roll, the ‘baritone’ as a countermelody (heard first as D- F-E in the left hand), tenor as chordal accompaniment (same minor 2nd but an octave below), alto (8th notes) as our driving rhythm, and for now the soprano gets the ‘song,’ albeit a rather un-virtuosic one. Each voice is brought out exquisitely and independently, a quality that can be observed in Brad’s solo in addition to the head.

http://www.bradmehldau.com/writing/papers/house_hill.html

If you haven’t checked out Brad’s website, and more specifically his collection of personal essays/articles (found in writing), it is worthy of inspection, especially for those who need to understand what gives his music its authority.

The overarching structure of “August Ending” contributes to the piece’s success. Each A of the AABA1 form is comprised of a long circle of 4ths, marked by dorian modality (ii-V7′s) and deceptive resolutions that bring us around to the ambiguous key of Gm7-C7. In the bridge, however, Brad stretches the versatility of the A-Bb motive to a new degree. Moving the 8th notes down an octave gives the B section a revitalized sense of perpetual motion, and Brad’s other-worldly harmonic development makes you forget all about the diatonic ii-V landscape that came before. What other chord does A-Bb fit into tastefully? E half diminished, of course! From there continues a colorful sequence of step-wise ascending roots under shifting inversions and extensions (B-Maj7Add natural7!), all under a melody that achieves a spoken simplicity despite its indirect relationship to the passing harmony.

The harmonic density of the bridge allows for a sense of repose in measure 59, when Brad opens up the ongoing 8th notes into a consonant perfect 4th, returns to a diatonic, two-chord pattern similar to that of the A sections (but with a fresh Maj7 twist). Using a variation on the opening melodic motive, Brad oscillates between the original circle-of-fourths and the modal mixture of the development to bring close the head in the parallel key(s) of G7-C7.

Next comes Brad’s chorus-and-1⁄2 solo: crisp, succinct, poetic. Upon looking more closely I was reminded of my first transcription, that of Wynton Kelly’s solo on “Freedy Freeloader.” I was blown away by the coherence of Wynton’s improvisation, his ability to develop several ideas throughout multiple choruses, returning to each one with subtle evolutions. Brad accomplishes the same feat, developing material derived from the head (ex. scalar G-A-Bb-C—Db-C-Bb-D, mm.93-108) with a sense of space that I’ve come to expect and appreciate in his playing.

The solo continues and transforms; Brad maintains the textural contrast between A and B, incorporating a double time right hand-left hand dialogue that capitalizes on the full range of the piano (mm.130-140). With a rich language unique to him, Brad weaves his way through the form, punctuating the end of his solo with a bluesy flourish in measures 192-195. The expressive range of Brad’s improvisation creates a sense of homecoming as the A-Bb 8th note theme returns. Melody plays out, and the piece gradually thins in texture until we are left with the same undulating 8th notes that greeted us to start.

Give “August Ending” several listens; with October leaves in full transition, House on Hill makes for quite a narrative.

Download the Transcription: C, Bb, Eb

Audio Clip

This is a transcription of Kenny Garrett’s (the REAL Kenny G!!!) solo on “There will never be another you” from Woody Shaw’s album, Solid (2009).  Garrett does a great rendition of this often heard standard.  Listen to his style and the way he shapes notes and phrases.  There are a great deal of scoops, accents, and slurred passages that will be thrown at you, which is always fun.  Also, listen to how Garrett uses rather simple, yet effective forms of chromaticism and “going out” to give this tune a nice remastering.

Download the Transcription: Eb, Bb, C

This is actually an alternate take of the Jobim standard Corcovado done by Julian “Cannonball” Adderley from the album Cannonball’s Bossa Nova.  It has got to be one of my favorite albums of all time, and Cannonball shows why.  He has a very effortless way of playing, especially when attacking a difficult passage.  Please do listen to the recording to hear this.  While I may have notated all the notes, Cannonball does a great deal of “ghosting” notes throughout the section, gliding from phrase to phrase.  Challenge yourself not only to perform the notes with accuracy, but also the the style in which Cannonball presents them.

[Thanks to Sumner Truax for today's guest post!  Check out more of Sumner's transcriptions and phenomenal classical recordings over at www.sumnertruax.com]

Download the Transcription: Bb, Eb, C

Kind of Blue is one of the most iconic jazz albums recorded to date.  This track and this solo are probably the most well-known recordings on that album.  Miles is one of my favorite horn players because everything he plays sits so perfectly in the pocket.  On this recording especially you can hear him playing primarily on the back side of the beat.  It sounds so effortless!  This is also a great study in melodic development since most of these ideas are just triads!

Download the Transcription: Bb, Eb, C

[Special thanks to Kevin Sun for today's guest post.  For more of Kevin's transcriptions and articles, be sure to check out his website at www.thekevinsun.com/]

From Kenny Garrett’s Black Hope (1992), Computer “G” is a 12-bar blues in F that has a simple melody based on ascending and descending stacks of perfect 4ths.

Joe starts his solo with a simple motif at B that he displaces rhythmically over the first few bars. He uses syncopation and repetition to develop this idea—basically 5-#4–5–1—in a way that’s swinging but not predictably so.

At C, Joe begins to break away from his opening motif by playing longer lines and arpeggios—check out the clearly outlined tritone sub in the 4th bar of C. Joe gestures towards his opening motif in mm. 31-2 and throws in a trademark trill in mm. 33-4 (can you think of any other tenor players who use trills as reliably and as tastefully as Joe?).

A tritone sub in m. 36 leads into D, in which Joe continues to play broader phrases that span multiple octaves (mm. 37-39 travel nearly two entire octaves in tritone-sub arpeggios). Check out how Joe articulates the phrase in mm. 47-8—ghosting and swallowing some of the notes—leading into E.

Joe plays patiently but keeps referring to the previous ideas he’s declared: mm. 60-64 recall mm. 33-36 a few choruses back. At G, Joe starts to experiment a bit more with the harmony and takes a simple motif (b3-1-3-4) and moves it around in different chordal contexts.

At H, a couple whole-tone ideas sweep Joe’s lines from the bottom of the horn to the very top. His line in mm. 93-94 is especially interesting: he takes a couple chordal ideas and superimposes over the ii-V, playing (II7 – III7 | bIII7 V7) in place of ( ii | V) to resolve. Each of the substitutions voice leads smoothly by a step or a whole step, which is a clever technique that can be used creatively in other contexts, like static modal harmonic.

I is a bit of a breather — Joe keeps moving along playing clear melodic ideas— and in J, he picks up the pace again with a continuation of the whole-tone sound he played at H. By K, Joe’s hit his stride and is playing melodies constructed from wider intervals that refer both to the melody of Computer “G” and earlier ideas that spanned the range of the instrument.

L is another whole tone adventure featuring a technique Joe uses often on his ’60s Blue Note recordings: a descending run with a repeated, accented top note. Check out mm. 141-2 also: a nice ii-V-I substitution (bVImaj7 | V7 | I).

M and N bring Joe back to some more “inside” playing, changing the sonority of the ensemble sound. Charnett Moffett’s relatively high bass-lines against Joe’s syncopated figures in N is a nice contrast to the denser sonic texture that came before.

In O, Joe wraps up his solo with a final recapitulation of the whole tone ideas he’s played before passing the baton to Kenny Garrett, who plays off the idea Joe had developed a bit back in G.

One point of interest: note how clearly Joe outlines the harmony he’s hearing with arpeggios and stacks of intervals throughout this solo. Part of the reason for this may be because of the trio setting, i.e., Kenny Kirkland’s sitting out on this tune allows Joe to stretch out and imply a number of different sounds (whole tone, various substitutions) at the cost of putting a greater burden on him to make the harmony and form clear for listeners. This particular solo, recorded later in Joe’s career, is remarkable for its clarity and its patient development of ideas; an instructive contrast might be to check out Joe’s playing over “In ‘n’ Out,” another 12-bar blues in F from the ‘60s when Joe stretches out with McCoy Tyner, Richard Davis, and Elvin Jones.

Download PDF: Concert, Bass Clef, Bb, Eb

This is another track off the album Sartori for a Hungry Ghost by local (Twin Cities) jazz/reggae group Parker Paisley (Park Evans, Guitar; Adam Wozniak, Bass; Brandon Wozniak, Tenor Sax; Pete Hennig, Drums), released April 2012 and recorded by Greg Schutte at Bathtub Shrine Studios in NE Minneapolis.  I love listening to this entire album so definitely check it out–and if you like this solo then you’ll want to see/hear Adam Wozniak’s bass solo on the tune Third Persona, which I posted a month and a half ago. One of the really cool things about Park’s solos on this album is that they’re all different–in style and tone.

One of the first things that really jumps out about Park’s solo on this tune is that the phrasing is NOT straightforward at all.  You may notice that I have double bars denoting every 4 bars, but this is by no means the only way to interpret the phrasing here.  First of all, Park leaves the first measure open and drops another downbeat before introducing a little subphrase–but to me these two bars (mm. 2-3) sound distinctly like they belong in the last two bars of a phrase since they resolve so neatly.  Then in m. 4 (last bar of first phrase) he plays a lick that sounds like it should be in the first bar, since it sounds introductory and leaves the harmony up in the air.  At this point the phrasing is completely on its head, but Park clears the air with the next 4 bar phrase (mm. 5-8) by laying down a perfectly formed thought; bars 5-6 introduce an idea and the subsequent 2 bars (7-8) chop up, develop, and close out the idea.  The cadence of bar 8 leads right into the next phrase (also clearly formed) which introduces a lot of new material and a new chord progression.

The next really weird thing is when the 3rd phrase ends with an Ab7 and the next phrase begins with the same harmony–it’s always a bit disorienting to move from one phrase to another without a change in harmony, especially when there’s harmonic movement within the subsequent phrase (i.e. phrase #3).  So basically we’re expecting the G7(b9) to come back in bar 13 but it doesn’t.  And it doesn’t come back until m. 19, which is the 2nd half of a phrase, rather than the context in which G7(b9) first appeared, which was the 1st half (mm. 9-10) of a phrase.  So to my ear this could mean that measures 13-18 are a phrase of six bars, followed by a short ‘interlude phrase’ (mm. 19-20) of two bars, leading into the key change.  Totally weird, and a little disorienting, but music is all about tension and release/dissonance vs. consonance, and in this case the cognitive dissonance of weird phrasing builds up the tension.  This may explain why I perceive the resolution at mm. 24-25 to be the most satisfying moment of this solo–or it could be that it’s just a ridiculously beautiful/intelligently tuneful riff.  I dunno, but it’s awesome.

Other than that formal stuff, my below analysis included some guide tone movements, but those are only really important once we get to the key change (m. 21) where the harmonic pacing picks up–and I’ve also mapped out some rhythmic/motivic development that is knit throughout the solo.

The rhythmic motive in question is first introduced in m. 5 where it already begins to morph into the next measure.  By and large, this motive is characterized by two sixteenth-notes plus an eighth-note (not necessarily in that order):

It shows up again in m. 7 in a stripped-down, abbreviated, and rearranged form–but with the exact same notes as m. 5:

Then the fun really begins when it shows up in m. 10 in a new tonality with the intervals inverted, and the Eb/F has been bumped up to an F/G.  It’s developed in a similar way even further in the next measure (m. 11) and then digresses into some nasty-fast blues licks:

It’s brought back briefly in m. 14 in an especially angular form:

and then sort of/almost manifests in the 12/8 weirdness of m. 19 (the jury’s out on that one):

But then it definitely comes back in m. 22 in a whole new harmonic/melodic context:

The final statement of the motive is the very last two beats of the solo (m. 28) which is a rhythmic inversion of the motive as found in m. 10, which I think brings enormous closure to the solo.

And that’s only scratching the surface of what makes this solo so killing.  Man.  And, of course, I feel the need to mention that the aforementioned motivic development was not necessarily intentional in the conscious/calculated sense of the term; likely, Park had some motive in the back of his mind that influenced some/all the aforementioned examples.  I just get the idea that some students of improvisation see the academic/analytical side of music and get the impression that it’s this kind of calculated thinking that goes into forming a solo, but that’s not necessarily/usually the case.  This is just one way to retrospectively work through and understand music that’s already been played.  Same old disclaimer, but I think it’s always worth restating, as it’s a very important distinction to make clear.

Download the Transcription: Bb, C, Bb_8vb, Eb

I’ve always loved this solo and when I had to pick a tune to memorize and perform in my improvisation class back in 2006, I jumped on the opportunity to learn this one. Dexter has this uber hip, uber cool way of playing that is so attractive to me. In one line he can play something totally inside the groove and in the next he’s laying his lines so far back the band finishes the tunes before he does.

At any rate, there is a lot of great information in this Dexter solo, not only in his melodic and rhythmic development prowess, but in discovering the nuances of how Dexter “feels” eighth notes. Trumpet players, try and learn the solo on flugelhorn. Tenor solos often transfer nicely to flugel.

Transcribing a solo like this one also had it’s challenges. Due to the ambiguity of many of Dexter’s rhythms (one of the by-products of being and uber hip, uber cool player and laying everything back so far), notating what he plays can be a guessing game. As the transcriber, I want to write the rhythm in a way that is understandable were someone to sight-read the solo, but also contains the correct information on how to play it right. And this part is important: You have to listen to the solo to understand how to play it right. Nothing I write on a page can aptly describe the way Dexter feels music. You have to check that out with your ears. So, when you see a rhythm with “lay back” written above it, you know why I wrote it that way.

Download the Transcription: Bb, Eb, C, Bass Clef

This is a great tenor battle between Joshua Redman and James Carter on the classic Monk tune “Straight, No Chaser.” This first transcription is only Joshua’s first four choruses. I’m planning on completing most (if not all) of the rest of this video over a series of 4-5 parts since it is quite lengthy.

Redman and Carter clearly have different approaches to the instrument and I find it very interesting to see how one kind of leads the other. In an aesthetic sense, I definitely prefer Redman’s style over Carter’s, but the two are so different and both players are clearly talented that I think it’s useless to talk about who “won” the battle. Though, if you read the youtube comments you’ll see there are fierce defenders in both camps. I think both players offer plenty to learn from. More to come in following posts. Happy shedding!