Booker T. – Donald Brown
A melody transcription is available for this soul-jazz song, showing how Donald Brown interprets the melody in his solo piano recording.
- Recording: Donald Brown - People Music
- Recorded on: March 19 & 21, 1990
- Label: Muse (MCD 5406)
- Concert Key: C
- Vocal Range: , to
- Style: Swing (slow)
- Piano - Donald Brown
Video
- Description
- Historical Notes
- Solos
- Piano Corner
- Bass Corner
- Drum Corner
- Guitar Corner
- Inside & Beyond
- Minus You
A slow blues variation with a deep soul-jazz feeling, this song has plenty of potential for expressive interpretation and embellishment. Instead of a lead sheet, we have a single-staff melody transcription from Donald Brown's solo piano recording. Click on Piano Corner for more details about this transcription.
This song is 12 measures long and essentially a blues, but with some unusual alterations in the changes. The IV chord (F) is followed by a modulation down to E♭, returning to C in the eighth measure. The "turnaround" changes ascend in minor thirds from D7 to A♭7, implying the E♭ tonality again before the final resolution back to the tonic.
Our audio excerpt starts at the head; Donald plays a rubato intro to set it up. In his solo, he returns to the melody for the last four measures of each chorus. For an ending, he tags the last two measures two more times.
This song is 12 measures long and essentially a blues, but with some unusual alterations in the changes. The IV chord (F) is followed by a modulation down to E♭, returning to C in the eighth measure. The "turnaround" changes ascend in minor thirds from D7 to A♭7, implying the E♭ tonality again before the final resolution back to the tonic.
Our audio excerpt starts at the head; Donald plays a rubato intro to set it up. In his solo, he returns to the melody for the last four measures of each chorus. For an ending, he tags the last two measures two more times.
This song was named for Booker T. and the M.G.'s, an important early influence on Donald Brown. From this album's liner notes: "Donald said he was trying to write something with a blues feeling like [Avery Parrish's] After Hours and a touch of Booker T. Jones."
For another solo piano recording by Donald Brown check out Phineas, available in a full two-staff transcription.
For another solo piano recording by Donald Brown check out Phineas, available in a full two-staff transcription.
Our melody transcription shows the right hand melody, as played by Donald Brown on the two choruses of the in head. Left-hand rhythms are shown under the staff, with the bass-line notes in circles for the first eight measures of each chorus. Donald embellishes several melody phrases with two-part voicings in a classic soul-jazz style, adding a tremolo on the fifth measure of the second chorus. The real drama here, as is often the case with Donald Brown, comes from the dynamics. Our transcription has detailed dynamics and articulations.
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Donald Brown
born on March 28, 1954
A lyrical pianist and prolific composer as well as a teacher, band leader and arranger, Donald Brown is considered one of the masters of contemporary jazz composition. Raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Donald studied trumpet and drums as a youth. It was not until he began studying at Memphis State University that he switched to piano as his primary instrument, the late start making his pianistic skill all the more incredible. Read more...
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