Author Archives: Don Sickler

• J.J. Johnson's Centennial!

  January 22, 2024, is the centennial of legendary trombonist and composer J.J. Johnson. To celebrate, we're making two transcriptions available from his 1966 big band album "The Total J.J. Johnson". Say When and Short-Cake are concise, lyrical songs originally recorded as melody and solo features for J.J. Our transcriptions show his melody and solo as well as a few notable lead lines of the big band arrangement.

  We have six more J.J. Johnson compositions currently available on jazzleadsheets.com, with many more coming soon. Two of these come from his 1956 quintet album "J Is For Jazz": Cube Steak, a bright uptempo blues with a pedal point interlude, and Naptown U.S.A., a simple head on the changes of the standard Indiana. Also based on a standard is Commutation, a riff on Charlie Parker's Confirmation that J.J. recorded twice, the second time as a drum feature. NWPT and Tromboniums In Motion, both "rhythm changes" heads, were first recorded by J.J.'s two-trombone quintet with Kai Winding. These and the two from "J Is For Jazz" are all available in quintet arrangements with 1st and 2nd horn parts. Finally, we have Enigma, originally recorded in 1953 by Miles Davis and one of J.J.'s most memorable ballads.

• Herbie Nichols: The First 6

  January 3, 2024, is the 105th anniversary of Herbie Nichols' birth. We are very excited to celebrate his birthday by making the first six songs available from our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project: 24 previously unrecorded Herbie Nichols compositions, performed on solo piano. In 2019, Herbie's centennial year, we had 23 different pianists record solo versions of these songs at the Van Gelder Recording Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on the same piano Herbie had recorded on for his Blue Note trio sessions in 1955 and 1956 at Rudy Van Gelder's original studio in Hackensack. We're releasing the first 6 of these recordings.

• Mid-December

  December 15th, 2023, was the 70th anniversary of Kenny Dorham's first recording date as a leader. This "Kenny Dorham Quintet" album includes the first studio recording of An Oscar For Oscar, an intricate bebop blues head in that classic K.D. style. We have a lead sheet that reflects this version, as well as a combined melody and solo transcription with detailed articulations for an in-depth look at his unique phrasing.

  December 16th was Bobby Porcelli's 86th birthday. We're celebrating with K.D., his tribute to Kenny Dorham. It's a medium-tempo Latin song based on the changes of Alone Together, with plenty of allusions to Dorham's harmonic sophistication and melodic depth. Bobby is featured on some of our "K.D. Challenge" tracks of Dorham compositions; this song is a great opportunity to hear K.D.'s influence from Bobby's own point of view. A video is available of Bobby playing this song with a sextet from Columbia University.

  Another of our composers celebrating a birthday in mid-December is Walter Bolden (born December 17th, 1925). Walter wrote Mr. A.T. Revisited for fellow drummer Art Taylor, who recorded it on what would be his last album as a leader. This one is a catchy medium-up swinger with fun changes to blow on.

  Finally, December 19th would have been the 94th birthday of master composer/valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. We have three newly added Brookmeyer songs, two of which are on his 1964 album "Tonight" co-led with Clark Terry. The lyrical, modal Hum is finally available as an instrumental lead sheet - we've had the vocal version You (lyric by Judy Niemack) up before. Also from "Tonight" is Pretty Girl, a deep, tender ballad also recorded a few months earlier on another classic album "Bob Brookmeyer And Friends." Carib, a festive Latin song in an unusual 3/2 meter, comes from Bob's 1978 quintet album "Back Again" featuring Thad Jones.

• Early December: Rosnes, McPherson, Watson

  December 9th, 10th, and 11th are the anniversaries of important recording sessions by three of our composers; five songs (and one arrangement) from these sessions are new to jazzleadsheets.com. Bobby Watson recorded "Present Tense" on these dates in 1991; this album was the debut of trumpeter Terell Stafford. From this album we have At The Crossroads, a bright-toned medium swinger in a classic Watson style, and Monk He See, Monk He Do which joins our expanding roster of tributes to Thelonious Monk. Both of these songs have condensed scores and first and second horn parts for quintet arrangements; the arrangement we have of At The Crossroads is an updated version recorded on Bobby's 2013 album "Check Cashing Day." "Present Tense" also includes versions of two Watson compositions previously recorded on his 1986 album "Love Remains": The Mystery Of Ebop and Love Remains. For the first of these, we now have the quintet arrangement available as recorded on "Present Tense." Our notes on Love Remains explain how the two recordings of this song are slightly different.

  Exactly 28 years after Watson's "Present Tense" recording, trumpeter Terell Stafford was in the studio with another master alto saxophonist and composer. Charles McPherson's most recent album "Jazz Dance Suites" was recorded on December 9th and 10th, 2019, at the Van Gelder Recording Studio. Our two newly added songs from these sessions, Delight and Thinking Of You, may seem simple with their lyrical melodies but are full of subtle detail in their full-quintet arrangements. Both have first and second "horn" parts (Thinking Of You was recorded with alto sax and guitar on these parts); piano and bass parts are available for Delight, and a rhythm section part on Thinking Of You.

  On December 11, 1988, Renee Rosnes came to Van Gelder to record a remarkable two-piano track with Herbie Hancock. This song, Fleur-de-lis, was released on her first album as a leader. We now have lead sheets for Fleur-de-lis, a delicate rubato ballad full of impressionistic harmonies. Our C lead sheet shows the piano voicings from Renee's original manuscript.

• Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Reflections In Blue

  December 4, 2023, is the 45th anniversary of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ recording session for the album “Reflections In Blue.” James Williams’ title track Reflections In Blue, an iconic Blakey shuffle, was already on jazzleadsheets.com; four more songs from this session are now available as well. These include another shuffle by Williams: (What Do You Say,) Dr. “J”. This 24-measure song is driven by a rhythmic bass line, which is shown in our C treble and bass clef lead sheets; the treble clef lead sheet also shows piano voicings on the B section. Also from Williams we have Stretching, a minor blues head written in tribute to trumpeter Woody Shaw and influenced by Woody’s distinctive post-bop style. We have a sextet condensed score reflecting the Blakey recording, but this song certainly works in a quartet setting as well.

  Not Far At All, by Valery Ponomarev, was recorded at this session but only released on some reissues of another Jazz Messengers album, “In My Prime, Vol. 1”. It’s an example of another classic Blakey format, a stop-time medium-up swinger. Finally, “Reflections In Blue” includes the first version of one of Bobby Watson’s best-known compositions, E.T.A. This uptempo “burner”, a contrafact of John Coltrane’s Lazy Bird, was recorded many times by both Blakey and Watson. Melody transcriptions are available for two of Watson’s recordings; these are a great inspiration for interpreting the melody in a quartet lineup.

• Bobby Watson: Love Remains

  November 13 is the anniversary of a recording session by Bobby Watson; "Love Remains," a quartet album featuring Bobby with John Hicks on piano, Curtis Lundy on bass, and Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums, was recorded 37 years ago. We have six songs available from this album.

  The Mystery Of Ebop is the most challenging, full of shifts in tempo and feel within the head. The lively, bright-toned melody holds this song together, and the solo choruses keep the same tempo throughout.

  The title track Love Remains is a bittersweet bolero, co-written by Bobby and his wife, Pamela Baskin-Watson. The long notes of the melody leave plenty of space for expressive interpretation as Bobby shows on the recording.

  Next is Blues For Alto, a riff blues head with a call-and-response format that covers most of the alto sax's range.

  Ode For Aaron, named for Bobby's son, alternates calypso and swing; it's a simple but subtly detailed song, with an irregular 17-measure form. This one was also recorded by Justin Robinson on his debut album "Justin Time," which Bobby produced. A condensed score is available for Bobby's original quartet version, as well as a quintet arrangement he recorded on a Slovenian TV broadcast in 2000 (available on YouTube).

  The remaining two songs from "Love Remains" have already been available on jazzleadsheets.com, but not in the versions from this album. We have a condensed score now for the quartet version of Dark Days, slightly different from our lead sheet which reflects the quintet version from the 2004 album "Horizon Reassembled" as well as a sextet recording, 2013's "Check Cashing Day." Another ballad, Pamela Baskin-Watson's The Love We Had Yesterday has been available in a Minus You vocal version, but now we also have an instrumental lead sheet from Bobby's "Love Remains" recording.

• Bobby Watson's "Midwest Shuffle"

  November 3, 2023, is the 30th anniversary of one of the recording dates for "Midwest Shuffle," a live album by Bobby Watson with his Horizon quintet. Three songs from this album are newly available on jazzleadsheets.com. Mabel Is Able is an exciting rhythmic challenge: samba in 7/4, alternated with occasional measures of 4/4 and 3/4 within the form. A full score and parts are available for the quintet arrangement, with especially detailed parts for the rhythm section. A Blues Of Hope is well-named, with a bright, positive sound in a minor key. Bobby recorded this 12/8 Latin song again on his 2013 album "Check Cashing Day"; we have condensed scores for both recordings. Finally, Mirrors (We All Need) is a soulful ballad that makes a complete statement in a short eight-measure form. Condensed score and second horn parts are available that reflect Bobby's quintet recording. In addition we have an arrangement by Don Sickler for four alto saxes, with an exclusive video featuring Bobby himself with Jon Gordon, Kira Daglio Fine and Elijah Shiffer. Another Don Sickler arrangement of this song is available for sextet; it is not yet recorded but we have a MIDI audio version.
  More Bobby Watson titles are coming to jazzleadsheets.com very soon!

• More Renee Rosnes!

  The brilliant pianist/composer Renee Rosnes has some important recording anniversaries coming up through the end of the year. We'll be introducing more of her great music that you can add to your repertoire, starting with Chasing Spirits and The Gift.

• Explore jump blues with Hot Lips Page

  We're particularly excited to add trumpeter/vocalist Oran "Hot Lips" Page to jazzleadsheets.com's list of composers. Page was one of the master soloists of the Swing Era, and a pioneer of the "jump blues" style. The four songs we have available come from a sextet session for the Commodore label, recorded on March 8, 1944; all are blues at different tempos. None of these songs technically have a "head," so the way we present them is a bit different from our typical lead sheets or arrangements. The one instrumental song, Rockin' At Ryan's, is the most straightforward. It consists of four choruses of riffs played behind different soloists, with a two-horn arrangement; our condensed score, first and second parts show all four choruses.

  Blues vocals, especially in older styles like Page's, are so personal that it wouldn't make sense to present them as simplified lead sheets. Instead, we have melody transcriptions for three of Page's vocals for an in-depth look at his specific phrasing. It's important to note that these transcriptions are approximations; there are many subtleties of rhythm and pitch that would be impossible to notate--you really have to listen to the recording to get the full picture. The Blues Jumped The Rabbit, a classic jump blues at a boogie-woogie tempo, is available as a single vocal transcription. The slow blues You'd Be Frantic Too has a vocal transcription for the alternate take, as well as transcriptions of Page's trumpet solos on both takes. For the medium-tempo My Gal Is Gone, we have vocal and trumpet transcriptions for both master and alternate takes. Having side-by-side transcriptions for two takes of the same song is a great opportunity to explore how a master blues storyteller varied his approach every time.

  We have a bonus treat on three of these songs--transcriptions of Lucky Thompson's tenor sax solos for one take each of My Gal Is Gone, Rockin' At Ryan's, and You'd Be Frantic Too. This session was Lucky's very first recording. With these transcriptions you can see that even at this early stage of his career his unique style was already instantly recognizable.

• Three more great trumpeter/composers

  Three composers new to jazzleadsheets.com are all trumpeters-- two contemporary and one from an earlier era. We've had Brian Lynch featured on the website before with songs from his "Unsung Heroes" project, but now we finally have some of his own compositions available. Three of these come from his 1995 quartet album "Keep Your Circle Small," the very first release on the Sharp Nine label. Silent Conversation is an impressionistic slow 3/4 song with colorful changes, while Keep Your Circle Small and The Trifle have challenging, angular melodies and intricate rhythm section arrangements. All three were also recorded in quintet settings; condensed scores and parts are available for the latter two. We also have Back Room Blues, a catchy medium swinger that Brian recorded with Ralph Moore and with Phil Woods, as well as on his own album of the same title with tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson.

  From Bill Mobley we have The Future Was Now, a complex song with many shifts of rhythm section feel; it was first recorded by saxophonist Bill Pierce. Mobley and Pierce collaborated with saxophonist Bill Easley for the sextet album "Triple Bill"; we've had a James Williams song from "Triple Bill" available before, but now we also have Mobley's Three Gifts from this album.

  Finally, we now have Michelle by the great Swing Era trumpeter Bobby Hackett. Bobby was known as a romantic ballad stylist, and Michelle is a great example. Instead of a lead sheet, we have melody transcriptions showing his melody interpretation and solo from the recording.

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