Gnosis – Jonny King
This fascinating modern jazz song combines a beautiful melody with quite advanced harmonies. We have a Rhythm Section Workshop version with Minus You parts for piano, bass and drums.
- Recording: Jonny King - Notes From The Underground
- Recorded on: September 28-29, 1995
- Label: Enja (ENJ 9067)
- Concert Key: No key center
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Tenor Sax - Joshua Redman
- Vibes - Steve Nelson
- Piano - Jonny King
- Bass - Peter Washington
- Drums - Billy Drummond
Despite its medium-uptempo swing and eight-measure melodic phrases, this is a highly advanced song. The chord progression almost entirely lacks II-V7-type motion, while not being obviously modal; the harmonies in several places are based on "planing" the same chord quality, transposed in different intervals. A particularly fascinating example of this is in the A and B sections of the head: from a major 7♯5 chord in third inversion (the 7th in the bass), the chord planes down while the bass note planes up. Without recourse to tonal or modal vocabulary, the soloist should develop melodies based on common tones between the chords; this is what makes the melody of this song particularly strong, along with a couple of subtle blues phrases in the A and B sections.
The head is 32 measures long and repeated twice, after an eight-measure vamp intro around F♯ minor which also appears after the solos and at the end. The solo form is only 14 measures long, based on the 17th through 30th measures of the head changes. On the ninth through twelfth of these measures, the alternating A triad over B♭ and C triad over F♯ imply C♯ whole/half step diminished scale.
On this recording, Jonny plays the head rubato before setting up time with the vamp intro. The drums come in on the fourth measure of the vamp, with the bass entering in the fifth measure. Tenor sax and vibes then come in to play the melody in unison for the head, in time.
The head is 32 measures long and repeated twice, after an eight-measure vamp intro around F♯ minor which also appears after the solos and at the end. The solo form is only 14 measures long, based on the 17th through 30th measures of the head changes. On the ninth through twelfth of these measures, the alternating A triad over B♭ and C triad over F♯ imply C♯ whole/half step diminished scale.
On this recording, Jonny plays the head rubato before setting up time with the vamp intro. The drums come in on the fourth measure of the vamp, with the bass entering in the fifth measure. Tenor sax and vibes then come in to play the melody in unison for the head, in time.
"Notes From The Underground" was Jonny's second album as a leader. His first, "In From The Cold", was recorded in January of 1994 with saxophonists Vincent Herring and Mark Turner, bassist Ira Coleman, and drummer Billy Drummond. His only other recordings prior to "Notes From The Underground" were two albums led by trombonist Eric Felten.
The cover photo for "Notes From The Underground" was taken next to the sprinkler pump in the basement of the seven-story mid-Manhattan building which houses Second Floor Music and, now, jazzleadsheets.com.
The cover photo for "Notes From The Underground" was taken next to the sprinkler pump in the basement of the seven-story mid-Manhattan building which houses Second Floor Music and, now, jazzleadsheets.com.
- Recording: SFM Trio - Rhythm Section Workshop
- Recorded on: July 9, 2014
- Label: jazzleadsheets.com (JLS 1032)
- Concert Key: No key center
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Piano - Glenn Zaleski
- Bass - Bill Moring
- Drums - Evan Hughes
Our Rhythm Section Workshop version is at about the same tempo as Jonny's original recording. This trio arrangement is essentially the same, beginning with the vamp intro. This recording has four choruses of piano/drums trading, which in this 14-measure form alternates eight measures of piano with six measures of drums. The reappearance of the intro after the solos is written as a separate section (1) in the parts due to the bass part being slightly different.
"Rhythm Section Workshop" was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.
from Wikipedia: Gnosis is a feminine Greek noun which means "knowledge." It is often used for personal knowledge compared with intellectual knowledge.
Publisher Don Sickler used Gnosis is an effort to expand the collective and individual knowledge of the SFM Trio, as he introduced them to several titles from the Second Floor Music catalog. For this session, the trio rehearsed over the course of a few months, until they were ready to try a recording at Rudy Van Gelder's studio. They had two days there, exploring the music and refining how they interacted as a group.
from Wikipedia: Gnosis is a feminine Greek noun which means "knowledge." It is often used for personal knowledge compared with intellectual knowledge.
Publisher Don Sickler used Gnosis is an effort to expand the collective and individual knowledge of the SFM Trio, as he introduced them to several titles from the Second Floor Music catalog. For this session, the trio rehearsed over the course of a few months, until they were ready to try a recording at Rudy Van Gelder's studio. They had two days there, exploring the music and refining how they interacted as a group.
Exclusive Minus You audio
CLIP Minus You tracks are available for piano, bass, and drums. The form is:
-- intro
-- melody 2 times
-- piano solo [4 choruses]
-- bass solo [4 choruses]
-- piano and drums trading (8 measures - 6 measures) [4 choruses]
-- intro as interlude (1)
-- out melody once
-- coda
mp3 minus Piano - there is a separate part for Piano (and Drums)
-- count off sets up the intro
-- play the intro and melody 2 times
-- solo [4 choruses]
-- comp for the bass solo [4 choruses]
-- trade with the drums [4 choruses] (piano 8 measures - drums 6 measures)
-- play the intro (1), out melody, and coda
mp3 minus Bass - there is a separate Bass part
-- count off sets up the intro
-- play figures for the intro
-- play figures/walk for the melody 2 times
-- walk for the piano solo [4 choruses]
-- solo 4 choruses
-- walk for piano/drums trading [4 choruses] (piano 8 measures - drums 6 measures)
-- play figures for the intro (1)
-- play figures/walk for the out melody and coda
mp3 minus Drums - drummers should get the part for Piano and Drums
-- count off sets up the intro
-- play figures for the intro
-- play figures/comp for the melody 2 times
-- comp for the piano solo and bass solo [4 choruses each]
-- trade with the piano [4 choruses] (piano 8 measures - drums 6 measures)
-- play figures for the intro (1)
-- play figures/comp for the out melody and coda
CLIP Minus You tracks are available for piano, bass, and drums. The form is:
-- intro
-- melody 2 times
-- piano solo [4 choruses]
-- bass solo [4 choruses]
-- piano and drums trading (8 measures - 6 measures) [4 choruses]
-- intro as interlude (1)
-- out melody once
-- coda
mp3 minus Piano - there is a separate part for Piano (and Drums)
-- count off sets up the intro
-- play the intro and melody 2 times
-- solo [4 choruses]
-- comp for the bass solo [4 choruses]
-- trade with the drums [4 choruses] (piano 8 measures - drums 6 measures)
-- play the intro (1), out melody, and coda
mp3 minus Bass - there is a separate Bass part
-- count off sets up the intro
-- play figures for the intro
-- play figures/walk for the melody 2 times
-- walk for the piano solo [4 choruses]
-- solo 4 choruses
-- walk for piano/drums trading [4 choruses] (piano 8 measures - drums 6 measures)
-- play figures for the intro (1)
-- play figures/walk for the out melody and coda
mp3 minus Drums - drummers should get the part for Piano and Drums
-- count off sets up the intro
-- play figures for the intro
-- play figures/comp for the melody 2 times
-- comp for the piano solo and bass solo [4 choruses each]
-- trade with the piano [4 choruses] (piano 8 measures - drums 6 measures)
-- play figures for the intro (1)
-- play figures/comp for the out melody and coda
Jonny King
born on February 2, 1965
Born in New York City, Jonny King has been making headway on the piano since the age of 9. His exposure to legendary pianists Earl Hines and Teddy Wilson, and an impromptu performance with Dizzy Gillespie at the age of 10, ignited his interest in jazz. Through these connections he began a working as a sideman in the New York clubs as a teenager. In the 1980s he began studying with bebop pianist Tony Aless as well as Mulgrew Miller, who became an important figure in King's life. Read more...