Archives: February 2022

• "Papa" Joe Jones, Al Cohn & John Webber

  "Papa" Jo Jones was already represented on jazzleadsheets.com's Drum Corner, but now we also have three of his own compositions available. These songs, from his 1960 album "Vamp 'Til Ready", are simple, catchy, and very swinging. Vamp 'Til Ready is a medium-up "rhythm changes" head, and the medium-tempo Sox-Trot is based on Honeysuckle Rose changes. Show Time is Papa Jo's uptempo, stop-time drum feature; we have a Drum Transcription showing all his fills on the in and out heads.

  Two more new arrivals feature guitar, though they were not written by guitarists. Johnny Red by bassist John Webber is an angular, Monk-esque song which he recorded with guitarist Peter Bernstein. Our guitar lead sheet shows a few two-note voicings Peter plays on the melody. Saxophonist Al Cohn originally recorded The Mellow Side with a 4-horn arrangement; we have an exclusive recording of Al's son, guitarist Joe Cohn, playing this song in a trio setting.

• Blues and Sentimentals

  Two new songs on jazzleadsheets.com are based on the changes of the standard I'm Getting Sentimental Over You. These show two completely different approaches to the same harmonic material, and allow an especially interesting comparison being both in the same key. Dexter Gordon's tribute to his wife, Fenja, is an elegant medium-tempo song with a lyrical melody in Dexter's classic style. Recorded on one of his best-known albums, "Homecoming," this song differs from I'm Getting Sentimental Over You in its form, an even 32 measures without the latter song's four-measure tag. This tag is included in the form of Ronnie Ball's Earful, a witty and wide-ranging song in the tradition of the Lennie Tristano school. Earful's melody, packed with sequences of various lengths, is different in all four sections of the form as in many Tristano-style songs over more repetitive changes.

  We also have two new arrivals in a blues vein, both with quite simple melodies but somewhat different changes from standard blues progressions. 310 Blues by Ralph Moore, from his album "Furthermore" featuring trumpeter Roy Hargrove, is a medium shuffle in a classic hard bop style. The melody stays in the blues scale over some tasty passing and substitute chords, which are also used in the solos. Finally, Bill Barron's Jelly Roll Twist is funky yet subtly experimental, based around an ominous bass ostinato that the piano doubles throughout on the recording without ever comping. Like Earful, this song was originally recorded with a quintet featuring two tenor saxes.

• Ten new songs for 2022

  We're excited to announce a wide variety of new arrivals on jazzleadsheets.com! First up is Herbie Nichols' Trio, which completes our set of eight songs from Herbie's 1955-56 Blue Note sessions. Besides our lead sheets, we have piano melody transcriptions from both the master and alternate takes. Be sure to read our detailed descriptions on this and the other Herbie Nichols songs.

  Next we have two Ryan Kisor compositions from his December 2002 album "Awakening." Sioux City (named for Ryan's hometown) and What Can I Say? are both mellow, laid-back medium swingers, showing a very different side of Ryan's style from some of his more challenging uptempo songs. The "Awakening" album also features two other jazzleadsheets.com composers: Grant Stewart and Peter Bernstein.

  Don Friedman's Jazz Dancing is a bright-toned medium-up song in a bebop style, with intricate changes full of tritone subs and side-slips. Richard Wyands' Candied Sweets is a bouncy minor blues variation, slightly different from standard blues changes in both the head and solos. Richard's original recording, with saxophonist Jerome Richardson, comes from one of the first sessions at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio.

  Esmeralda is a charming uptempo samba by Ralph Moore, with a soaring, lyrical melody which is a great workout for horn players seeking to control their breathing. We have a lot more Ralph Moore songs coming soon to jazzleadsheets.com.

  Three versions of Curtis Fuller's One Dream Gone (with Fleurine Mehldau's lyrics) are now available, with exclusive minus melody tracks for singers. The version sung by Rachel Gould is in the key of A♭ minor, while Richard Allen's version is in Fleurine's original key of B♭ minor (but he sings it down an octave). Singers now have the choice—according to their range—to practice with either version. Both recordings feature Norman Simmons on piano. We also have two more of Norman's own songs now available, Precious Love and In A Dream, from his 1997 album "The Heat And The Sweet." These lyrical, gently swinging songs are great examples of Norman's writing style. In A Dream is written in 4/4, but on the recording the rhythm section starts by playing the head in 3/4.

  Finally, we have another song by one of our more obscure composers deserving much wider recognition, Sara Cassey. Her composition Honey Did was recorded by the vocal scat duo Jackie Cain and Roy Kral with a big band in 1957. It's an elegant bebop-style swinger reminiscent of Tadd Dameron; our lead sheet shows the melodic thread of Ernie Wilkins' big band arrangement.

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