Fleur-de-lis – Renee Rosnes
A delicate rubato ballad, full of impressionistic harmonies but with an open-ended solo section. Our C lead sheet shows the basic piano voicings. This song was originally recorded in a two-piano setting by Renee Rosnes and Herbie Hancock.
- Recording: Renee Rosnes - Renee Rosnes
- Recorded on: December 11, 1988
- Label: Blue Note (B1-93561)
- Concert Key: D
- Style: Ballad
- Piano - Renee Rosnes, Herbie Hancock
Recorded as a rubato ballad, Fleur-de-lis is a delicate song full of colorful, impressionistic harmonies. The lyrical melody holds this song together through many unpredictable changes of key center as the song keeps unfolding. The chord progression has a lot of chromatic cadences involving the inner voices of chords, changing over the same root—for example in the first two measures with D♭7(♯9) over D in the bass, resolving to Dmaj7. The first melody note F♯ is actually outside the first of these chords; the melody slips outside the changes in a few other places as well. Renee indicated voicings under the melody on her manuscript; we've added those to our C treble clef lead sheet.
Though the 23-measure head form could be used for solos, on the recording there are open modal improvised sections on A7sus (A Mixolydian). This exquisite two-piano recording actually has three of these sections: one at the beginning before the head, another after the head, and a third after the out head that ultimately winds down to a final D major chord. On the session lead sheet (handwritten by Renee), before letter A of the melody, is indicated "INTRO - improvised 2-piano introduction." Our audio clip and our lead sheets start with melody. The track is easily found online, and you should treat yourself to listening to Renee and Herbie Hancock's beautiful introduction which sets up the melody.
From Renee herself: "It occurred to me that the song form could also be ABA, with the bar 9 (Fm to B♭7sus) and 4 beats of bar 10 (A7sus) leading back to bar one . . . with the ending (final bar) being the Em9, one bar before letter B. That would make the form: 14 bars/10 bars/14 bars." This song can also be played strictly in tempo instead of rubato throughout as on the recording.
Though the 23-measure head form could be used for solos, on the recording there are open modal improvised sections on A7sus (A Mixolydian). This exquisite two-piano recording actually has three of these sections: one at the beginning before the head, another after the head, and a third after the out head that ultimately winds down to a final D major chord. On the session lead sheet (handwritten by Renee), before letter A of the melody, is indicated "INTRO - improvised 2-piano introduction." Our audio clip and our lead sheets start with melody. The track is easily found online, and you should treat yourself to listening to Renee and Herbie Hancock's beautiful introduction which sets up the melody.
From Renee herself: "It occurred to me that the song form could also be ABA, with the bar 9 (Fm to B♭7sus) and 4 beats of bar 10 (A7sus) leading back to bar one . . . with the ending (final bar) being the Em9, one bar before letter B. That would make the form: 14 bars/10 bars/14 bars." This song can also be played strictly in tempo instead of rubato throughout as on the recording.
Don Sickler: "December 11, 1988, was Renee Rosnes' first studio recording session as a leader. It took place at the legendary Van Gelder Recording Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, with the master, Rudy Van Gelder, engineering. There was just one track scheduled to be completed that day: a two-piano duet with Herbie Hancock, and it was an auspicious beginning to Renee's long and vibrant recording career. The pair recorded Renee's impressionistic ballad Fleur-de-lis on two 7-foot Steinway B pianos. One of the instruments was the historic piano that so many classic albums were recorded on in that studio, and the other was a newly acquired (at the time) Steinway B. This duet track, as well as music from her next session at the studio, was featured on her debut album, "Renee Rosnes" on Blue Note Records. On December 11, 2023, we're celebrating the 35th anniversary of the recording of Fleur-de-lis, and on February 4, 2024, we'll be celebrating the following recording session from that album with more of Renee's early compositions. It was an honor for me to co-produce this album with Michael Cuscuna."
Photos courtesy of Renee Rosnes.
Photos courtesy of Renee Rosnes.
Renee Rosnes
born on March 24, 1962
Few can deny that Renee Rosnes is one of the most important pianists and composers in contemporary jazz. As a child, Renee was initially attracted to classical piano, but became interested in jazz during high school. She went on to study classical piano performance at the University of Toronto but returned to Vancouver to pursue jazz. Renee quickly rose to the top of Vancouver's active jazz scene and performed as a sideman with Joe Farrell and Dave Liebman while still in her teens. Read more...