Morning Star – Rodgers Grant

For a detailed description of this song, click on the Rhythm Section Workshop album cover (above right). Flutist Hubert Laws made the first recording; our audio clip for this performance starts with the melody. The arrangement by Don Sebesky opens with a sweeping introduction that is often performed as part of the song (listen to the clip for our Rhythm Section Workshop version). That intro is used as part of every chorus. The eight-measure phrase begins after six measures of the D section, making a 38-measure chorus.

Rodgers' unusual and tricky offbeat triplet phrase in the B and D sections is subject to many interpretations; Hubert plays it almost as written, except for the first triplet which is played as three swung eighth notes. The out melody consists of the second half of the chorus, with a B♭ pedal on the 7th and 8th measures of the D section (as in our Rhythm Section Workshop version) which is extended four more measures as a coda; this resolves to a final D major triad with E♭ in the bass.

Hubert's flute sound is doubled an octave lower in the second and third choruses of his solo. He appears to be using a Varitone, the electronic woodwind effects unit popularized by Eddie Harris.

Lead sheets are available here and include the introduction; detailed individual rhythm section parts are under the Rhythm Section Workshop album cover, above right. A printed quintet arrangement from the Frank Wess/Johnny Coles Frank Wess/Johnny Coles recording is available from MusicDispatch/com.

This beautiful song has been recorded many times, despite a certain rhythmic complexity in the melody (see below). With its pedal point sections, it is a good workout for the rhythm section, hence our Rhythm Section Workshop version. This song resembles a standard ballad in its melodic and harmonic development, but there are several aspects of the melodic rhythm that are uniquely specific, yet not precise. Our lead sheets preserve Rodgers' idiosyncratic notation of grace notes, positioning them before instead of after bar lines. This makes them pickups to the downbeat that are unspecified in length; the one anticipating the fourth measure of the head is often played as an eighth note.

The most notorious element of this song is the rhythm of the second through fourth measures of the B and D sections. This is a series of quarter note triplets starting on the "and" of beat 2, resulting in triplets that are not only over the bar line, but in fact over the beat—in theory, with perfectly even eighth notes, no notes will line up with the beats. The line is completed by two 16th notes at the end of the measure. With the swing feel that this song typically has, the third note of each triplet will in fact land on the beat—meaning that either the two 16th notes at the end of the phrase or the last quarter note triplet would need to be rushed in order to hit the downbeat of the next measure after the sequence. Many players have gotten around this imprecision by interpreting the melody freely, often playing behind the "beat" even though the melody is already that way. On our recording, pianist Glenn Zaleski takes the opposite approach and rushes the line slightly at the beginning, making the end of the phrase line up to anticipate the downbeat of the next measure.

Minus You tracks are available for piano, bass, and drums; click on the Minus You tab for more details. A printed quintet arrangement from the Frank Wess/Johnny Coles Frank Wess/Johnny Coles recording is available from MusicDispatch/com.