Archives: March 2016

• Four new HANK MOBLEY titles

  The recording session introducing these compositions took place 50 years ago, on March 18, 1966 ("A Slice Of The Top"). Hank on tenor and Lee Morgan on trumpet, with an expanded front line of James Spaulding on alto sax and flute, Kiane Zawadi on euphonium, Howard Johnson on tuba,plus the rhythm section of McCoy Tyner, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Billy Higgins, drums. Hank's compositions were arranged by Duke Pearson for the original session. Great music, but how many times do you have an ensemble of that size?Knowing how popular Hank Mobley music is among our musicians, we made lead sheets that work with any size group.

  Cute 'N Pretty A minor folksy intro leads into the lilting 3/4 A-section melody which expands into an energy 2-against-3 solo B-section.

  A Touch Of Blue  The fun starts with a climbing call and response A section that develops into a back-beat pedal double bridge which opens up further in the solo section.

  A Slice Of The Top  With a faintly oriental flavor, built around a two-measure vamp, this modal song with a Latin groove is classic later Mobley.

  Hank's Other Bag  Uptempo hard bop with a pentatonic melody, sort of a 14-bar blues, it definitely keeps your interest as you cycle through it.

   

• Chambers, Drew, Hargrove, Thompson: new titles

  Visitation - Paul Chambers
  March 2 marks the 60th anniversary of Paul Chambers' own recording of his classic bass feature composition, Visitation. Paul was a true "young lion" at age 20 when he recorded this on his first album as a leader (March 2, 1956). In addition to lead sheets, his transcribed bass solo is available from that recording. We also have two different exclusive audio recordings available; each of them have Minus You audio tracks as well. The bassist on both of our recordings is Daryl Johns (who was 13 years old at the time of both recordings). Both are quartet recordings, but very different: the first is a standard quartet (trumpet/piano/bass/drums}; the second quartet is multiple basses (four basses--all performed by Daryl Johns).

  Context - Kenny Drew
  This is a classic Kenny Drew composition, and we're giving you four different performances to explore. Two of the performances include trumpeter Art Farmer videos, so you can now see him play as well as check out his solos in our transcribed solo editions.

  Soppin' The Biscuit - Roy Hargrove
  A great groove head - this one will definitely put a smile on your face and get your head bobbin'. Fun to play. Roy originally recorded it with tenor great Stanley Turrentine.

  Tom-Kattin' - Lucky Thompson
  We're going to get more deeply into "rhythm changes" in the coming months, so this is a good one to get started with. You can also check out Lucky's transcribed tenor sax solo for more rhythm changes ideas.

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