UPDATE: Download link is fixed!
Did you ever transcribe 72 bars of Roy Haynes, just to realize that all of the really cool stuff was in the NEXT 36 bars? I wanted to do an easy little comping transcription, but with this one I just had to keep going. And that was after I wrote most of a page of another track, before I realized this is the one I wanted to do: Blues For Liz, on Paul Gonsalves's album Cleopatra Feelin' Jazzy. Not obviously a record to immediately grab on seeing it in a record store, but it's great.
The transcription is from Gonsalves's solo, starting at 0:47, and is nine choruses long— 108 bars long.
You could make a serious comping lesson out of this. Most of it is playable, and conceptually clear; there are some things on the last page that would not make sense to try to duplicate. The parts are mostly non-independent— the hands are largely played in unison, both feet are often played in unison. The bass drum is sparse and subtly handled, with relatively few big accents. He often splashes the hihat with his foot— they have a soft sound that blends nicely with the overall sound. His handling of the snare drum is very nuanced, much more than can be communicated in a transcription. He frequently punches the & of 3, or & of 3/& of 4 with a buzzed stroked on the snare drum. He plays that “single stroke four” item quite often.
Get the pdf
Showing posts with label Paul Gonsalves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Gonsalves. Show all posts
Saturday, May 09, 2020
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Transcription: Jo Jones - It Don't Mean A Thing...
Here's a transcription of Papa Jo Jones playing the intro and head of It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, from a 1970 Black Lion recording, Paul Gonsalves Meets Earl Hines
. There's a strong quarter note pulse on the hihat throughout, and no comping at all in the modern sense. The sketchy arrangement has some drum breaks, and Jones plays some interesting linear things on the later ones. We can assume he's playing the bass drum all the way through, though it's only audible on the punctuations.
Download the pdf
YouTube clip of the track after the break:
Download the pdf
YouTube clip of the track after the break:
Monday, May 16, 2011
Light posting
I'll be on light posting for a couple of days while I finish up a bunch of Ornette Coleman arrangements for an upcoming recording session. In the mean time, enjoy a whole mess of Paul Gonsalves while reading the updated Joel Rothman interview:
h/t to one of my favorite political blogs, Crooks and Liars for the comment and clip.
The evening began inauspiciously. Some of Ellington's band members showed up late. The earlier numbers in his set were met with tepid, if pleasant, applause. As Ellington announced the next numbers, Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue and the soloist, tenor man Paul Gonsalves, there was no indication that something very special would happen within the next 10 minutes. The band made its way through the Diminuendo section in about 4 minutes when Gonsalves approached the mic and IT happened.
h/t to one of my favorite political blogs, Crooks and Liars for the comment and clip.
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