Saturday, September 24, 2011

Know your tempos: what's meant by up

In case you were wondering how fast you need to be able to play, here are a bunch of your favorite tracks spanning the break between "medium up"- where it's still possible to swing- and actually fast, where the 8th notes even out. My method for arriving at these is pretty accurate- my old DB-33 doesn't have a tap function, but thanks to the analog tempo wheel I'm usually able to get it to stay in sync with the track without adjustment for 16 measures or more. I've given the tempos in quarter notes and half notes:

234/117 - Passion Dance - McCoy Tyner / The Real McCoy - Elvin Jones
240/120 - Law Years - Pat Metheny / Question & Answer - Roy Haynes
240/120 - Milestones - Miles Davis / Milestones - Philly Joe Jones
240/120 - The Windup - Keith Jarrett / Belonging - Jon Christiansen
248/124 - H & H - Pat Metheny / Question & Answer - Roy Haynes

248/124 - Music, Music, Music - Ahmad Jamal / Live at the Pershing - Vernell Fournier
248/124 - Humpty Dumpty - Chick Corea / Mad Hatter - Steve Gadd
256/128 - Oleo - Miles Davis / Cookin' - Philly Joe Jones
256/128 - Blues Connotation - Ornette Coleman / This Is Our Music - Ed Blackwell
258/129 - Solar - Pat Metheny / Question & Answer - Roy Haynes

258/129 - Agitation - Miles Davis / ESP - Tony Williams
260/130 - Madness - Miles Davis / Nefertiti - Tony Williams
260/130 - Strode Rode - Sonny Rollins / Saxophone Colossus - Max Roach
260/130 - Humph - Thelonious Monk / Genius of Modern Music, vol. 1 - Art Blakey
268/134 - Ginger Bread Boy - Miles Davis / Miles Smiles - Tony Williams

268/134 - Billy Boy (blowing) - Miles Davis / Milestones - Philly Joe Jones
280/140 - Airegin - Miles Davis / Cookin' - Philly Joe Jones
280/140 - Seven Steps to Heaven - Miles Davis / Seven Steps to Heaven - Tony Williams
282/141 - What Is This Thing Called Love?  - Clifford Brown/Max Roach / Basin Street - Max Roach
286/143 - All the Things You Are - Pat Metheny / Question & Answer - Roy Haynes
286/143 - Have You Met Miss Jones? - McCoy Tyner / Reaching Fourth - Roy Haynes
286/143 - Matrix - Chick Corea / Now He Sings, Now He Sobs - Roy Haynes

(I think we've found the Roy Haynes tempo!)

294/147 - Syzygy - Michael Brecker / Michael Brecker - Jack Dejohnette
298/149 - Got a Match? - Chick Corea / Elektric Band - Dave Weckl
296/148 - Koko - Charlie Parker / Complete Dial Masters - Max Roach
300/150 - Reaching Fourth - McCoy Tyner / Reaching Fourth - Roy Haynes
300/150 - Surrey with the Fringe on Top - Ahmad Jamal / Live at the Pershing - Vernell Fournier

312/156 - Tune Up - Miles Davis / Cookin' - Philly Joe Jones
320/160 - Limehouse Blues - John Coltrane / Cannonball and Coltrane - Jimmy Cobb
320/160 - Rejoicing - Pat Metheny / Rejoicing - Billy Higgins
330/165 - Cherokee - Ahmad Jamal / Live at the Pershing - Vernell Fournier
332/166 - The Bridge - Sonny Rollins / The Bridge - Mickey Roker

336/168 - Dr. Jackle (blowing) - Miles Davis / Milestones - Philly Joe Jones
360/180 - Salt Peanuts - Miles Davis / Steamin' - Philly Joe Jones
390/195 - Eventually - Ornette Coleman / Shape of Jazz to Come - Billy Higgins
396/198 - The Alchemy of Scott LaFaro - Ornette Coleman / Art of the Improvisers

B. Swift
and B. Quick from Sonny Rollins' Tour de Force are the fastest things I know of. I'm not even going to try to get a precise tempo, for obvious reasons. Half notes appear to be above 210:

Bonus Miles Davis' Four and More: These may be a little rough- several of them pick up quite a bit just from the intro to the head; often tempos will settle a bit on the head out, so I've given the peak tempos at the end of the solos:

292/146 - Walkin' (beginning)
372/186 - Walkin' (end of blowing)
270/135 - So What (beginning)
324/162 - So What (end of blowing)
256/128 - Four (beginning)
348/174 - Four (end of blowing)
308/154 - Seven Steps to Heaven (beginning)
356/178 - Seven Steps to Heaven (end of blowing)

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