Author Archives: Don Sickler

end-of-2013 additions from jazzleadsheets.com

Here are our last additions to jazzleadsheets for 2013. We’re looking forward to adding many more, plus new features, in 2014. We can't wait to see you then! And we wish you a Happy New Year.

Freddie Redd’s sunny Latin So, Samba! celebrates its 25th recording anniversary. It’s a lot of fun with one melody instrument, and it was first recorded as a quintet arrangement so second parts are also available.

The beautiful ballad Dark Beauty by Kenny Drew, trio & quintet versions with second parts, plus Drew’s piano arrangement from his original manuscript.

Arioso, James Williams’ soaring melody, plus his solo piano arrangement recorded by Kenny Drew, Jr.

J.R. Monterose’s lilting Waltz For Claire, a quartet version.

New composer Grachan Moncur III debuts with Riff Raff, from Jackie McLean’s “Destination … Out!” Blue Note album, plus Grachan’s trombone solo.

A memorable & delightful vocal, All Because Of You, from new composer/pianist/organist/vocalist Rob Bargad.
The holidays are here at jazzleadsheets.com

The holidays are just around the corner, and it’s been getting snowy here in New York. We’re celebrating the season through great charts — check them out and join in our holiday revelry!

Kicking off our new additions is a swing/Latin hybrid by Elmo Hope - Abdullah. The minor melody is tuneful and memorable — it might just get stuck in your head. Since Elmo originally recorded this composition with his quintet, we have the original parts available to try out with your own quintet (alternate parts are also available). If you want to play it solo or try out your own arrangement, we offer a regular leadsheet as well. Either way, it’s a strong addition to any set.

On the slower side of Latin is Los Milagros Pequenos, a mysterious and alluring piece by Norman Simmons. The melody of this chart is slow and meditative; it floats over a repeating bass line that anchors the piece. Norman originally recorded this chart with his quintet, but also wrote a solo piano arrangement for it. The piano arrangement is a great choice for intermediate pianists looking to brush up on their Latin skills — it’s not simplified at all, but isn’t too tricky either. To go along with the piano arrangement, we have an exclusive audio track featuring Kenny Drew Jr. It’s a great example of how to play this beautiful composition.

If you’re looking for something with a bit more pep, look no further than Ray Bryant’s Bebop Irishman. This chart is as whimsical and fun as the name suggests — it has a jig-like pace with long bebop lines set over a simple folk-like chord progression. This is a good pick to feature the piano, since the long chromatic lines showcase pianistic dexterity. This is not to say that this piece is only for pianists. On a Buddy Rich recording, both flute and vibes are added to the melody, and George Shearing added guitar as well as vibes to the melody. We also have horn editions as well. For drummers, though, we have Evan Hughes’s transcription of Jo Jones’ playing. The transcription includes the drum introduction, time over the in head, trading fours with the piano, and the out chorus. The brushwork on this piece is so incredible that many drummers regard this recording as a sort of bible for brush playing. Now you don’t have to guess what Jo Jones was playing — you can try it all out yourself with this meticulously detailed transcription!

For singers, we’re releasing the vocal version of the Gigi Gryce jazz standard Social Call. Jon Hendricks’s clever lyric is the perfect foil for the unforgettable melody, making the vocal version a popular choice for decades of singers. Try this chart out for yourself and join the ranks of Ernestine Anderson, Betty Carter, Earl Coleman, Karrin Allyson, Diane Reeves and Cecile McLorin Salvant — all of whom have recorded this classic composition.

Finally, we have an exotic 7/4 blues from Julian Priester and Judy Niemack. Eros, Judy’s lyric version to Julian’s instrumental Blues for Eros, is a sexy musical retelling of the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche. Eros, the son of the goddess Aphrodite, seduced Psyche until she figured out his godly identity. He abandoned her, forcing Psyche to seek counsel from Aphrodite, who sent her on a difficult quest to win back her love. Judy draws out the theme of blind passion so strong it verges on desperation; this theme is amplified by the seductive melody by Julian and the driving odd-meter pulse of the bass.
Winter is here, and so are these new composers!

It's another update jam-packed with old favorites and new composers alike! Starting out with the familiar faces:

HANK MOBLEY’S STRAIGHT AHEAD
This title comes from Hank Mobley’s “The Turnaround” album, which was unusual in that in combined two dates that are separated by two years. Quintet parts available. The drummer was the fantastic Billy Higgins and we’re offering a transcription of his drumming on the track.

THELMA’S HEART by BILLY PIERCE
A great quartet piece with a seemingly simple melody, but the key-defying harmony makes the composition irresistibly complex.

And our NEW composers:

New composer ALBERT AMMONS and CHANGES IN BOOGIE WOOGIE
This is a special treat for pianists. This transcription for solo piano comes from a recording made on January 6, 1939—the very first session for Blue Note Records! Our transcription includes not only all the notes, but the articulation and phrasing as well, so you can try to play it just like Albert himself.

THE LOVE WE HAD YESTERDAY by PAMELA BASKIN-WATSON, a composer new to jazzleadsheets.com. This beautiful composition was first recorded instrumentally by Bobby Watson, Pamela’s husband, in 1986, on his album “Love Remains.” Betty Carter recorded it in 1992, and our version, by vocalist Rachel Bronstein, was recorded this year. An accompaniment-only track is also available.

Check out our video of Rachel singing in our office studio!

And finally, new composer SHEILA JORDAN's THE CROSSING. If you’re feeling inclined towards folk this week, try out this legendary vocalist’s signature song. The folk-inspired piece is usually performed as a duet with voice and bass and is played very freely, allowing the vocalist to explore his/her voice without limitation. The lyric is inspirational advice from Sheila about reaching a higher plane of mindfulness through loving music.
A special vocal-only update

This week we have five fantastic vocal pieces, including vocal transcriptions of legendary singers Anita O’Day, Chris Connor and Rachel Gould!

If the rainy fall weather has got you down, we have a light, sunny bossa from Gloria Cooper with a lyric by Ira Gitler that immediately transports you back to the summer: Reveling In The Beat.

For a good dose of Latin funk, check out Lonely Man, a vocal setting of Ray Bryant’s Erewhon with a lyric by Tina May. With a sassy lyric and appealing groove, it’s hard not to love.

You, Judy Niemack’s lyric to Bob Brookmeyer’s composition Hum, is nothing short of charming. If you’re looking to add something classic to your repertoire without turning to overdone standards, this is the one for you.

Rachel Gould’s ethereal, fanciful ballad My Magic Ring captures childlike wonder and melodic sophistication at the same time. To better understand how to interpret a free ballad like this one, we offer a vocal transcription of how Rachel sings it on the recording.

Finally, a special treat: two versions of Al Cohn’s Night Bird by two powerhouse vocalists, Anita O’Day and Chris Connor. The Anita O’Day recording, featuring an arrangement by Gary McFarland, marries classical-inspired dissonance with true swing. Chris Connor’s version is arranged by Al Cohn himself, and has a mysterious Latin feel. We’ve transcribed the way both singers phrase the melody, and also offer a lead sheet for vocalists to try their own hand at it. Both recordings are truly out of this world, but the song itself is also a real gem with a poetic lyric by Kitty Malone.

To stay up-to-date on our latest vocal lead sheets, be sure to check out Singer's Corner page!

Just a note for those who like to sing or play along with accompaniment-only tracks: three of the new titles have accompaniment-only versions, and Judy Niemack’s delightful You is available exclusively on jazzleadsheets.com.
Get low with these bass features

The bass player is very important in all these new compositions, so they also add to our growing Bass Corner repertoire.

Both Bass-ment by Kenny Drew and The Fuzz by Bobby Jaspar feature the bass playing the melody. Important bass lines that hold the whole arrangement together are found in Bill Hardman’s Jazz Messengers classic Politely and Bobby Watson’s Lemoncello.

Bertha Hope’s Book’s Bok starts with the bass doubling the melody with the piano, and then moves into an important rhythmic accompaniment line. Bertha’s solo piano arrangement is available, as is a recording of it by pianist Glenn Zaleski.

Drummer Billy Drummond’s opening 7/4 bass line had been going over in his head for quite some time before the rest of his composition Dubai came to him. As Billy is one of the gifted drummers who is included in our Drum Corner, we explore both a transcription of his playing behind the melody sections and his soloing over the ending bass line vamp. We also have some 7/4 exercises and groove patterns available.

Check out this video of Billy talking about and playing Dubai! Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive interviews of composers sharing their perspectives as well as tutorials and performances.
Happy 50th anniversary to these legendary recordings
We’d like to celebrate some recent landmark 50th year recording anniversaries!

May 27, 1963: Steppin' Out (Blue Note)
This was tenor saxophonist Harold Vick’s first album as a leader. Harold had 5 originals on this recording, which included Our Miss Brooks which Harold had also recorded earlier when he was a sideman (first with Grant Green, then with Jack McDuff):
June 3, 1963: Page One (Blue Note)
This legendary album marked tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson’s first album as a leader with trumpeter Kenny Dorham. We're proud to offer two incredible Kenny Dorham originals from this session:
- La Mesha
- Blue Bossa
June 11 & 12, 1963: Roland Kirk Meets The Benny Golson Orchestra (Mercury)
On the first session day, Rahsaan Roland Kirk teamed up with the Benny Golson Orchestra. The next day was a quartet session, with Kirk’s beautiful slow swing ballad April Morning, his swingin’ blues Get In The Basement which is perfect for our Bass Corner, and the three-horn, three-part harmony Between The 4th And 5th Step.

Beat the heat with music!
Don Sickler
jazzleadsheets.com and Second Floor Music
email don@secondfloormusic.com - phone 212-741-1175
Birthday and anniversary megapost: 10 new products!

This week (more precisely May 20 through May 24) has important anniversaries we want to honor so we’ve expanded our usual five new entries this week to cover ten celebrations.

May 20 is the birthday of drummer/composer Victor Lewis (born in 1950 in Omaha, Nebraska). In honor of Victor’s birthday, here’s his great composition Seventh Avenue . For the drummers among you, in our Drum Corner, you can take a special look at some 7/4 “groove” patterns that Victor used on two different recordings.

When we showed Victor what recordings of jazzleadsheets.com music took place on his birthday over the years, he was blown away. What great birthday presents master drummers gave him, unknowingly, by recording their music on his birthday. Were they omens or just subliminal influences, for a young man who has certainly become one of the great modern drummers?

Here are Victor’s “birthday presents” that we want to share with you.

Ittapnna by drummer Walter Bolden, a new composer to jazzleadsheets: on Victor’s third birthday: May 20, 1953, Walter recorded this on “Howard McGhee, Vol. 2” (Blue Note).

On Victor’s fourth birthday, drummer Art Blakey recorded his Mercury album “Blakey,” (May 20, 1954) featuring these three Gigi Gryce compositions: Minority and Salute To Birdland by Gigi Gryce. The lead sheets have been available for some time but now you can explore Gigi Gryce (alto sax) and Joe Gordon (trumpet) solos for both titles. Plus a new title from that session, Hello, a beautiful ballad.

For Victor’s tenth birthday, May 20, 1960, drummer Philly Joe Jones recorded his album “Philly Joe’s Beat” (Atlantic). Lead sheets for Joe’s Got To Take Another Chance have been available, but now you can check out Philly Joe’s drum transcription.

Another drum master, Louis Hayes, recorded his album “The Real Thing,” on Victor’s 27th birthday, May 20, 1977. This session included Ronnie Mathews’ tour-de-force composition Loose Suite (lead sheet editions plus Ronnie’s solo piano arrangement edition).

I couldn’t stop there, because on May 21, Cleo’s Blues (written and performed by tenor giant Paul Gonsalves) celebrates its 50th recording anniversary.

And on May 22 bassist/composer Jon Burr celebrates a big one, his 60th birthday, joining jazzleadsheets.com. He has a perfect composition for our upcoming Bass Corner: Smokin’ O.P.’s.

And finally, also on May 22 (or maybe it was May 24, the recording info on the liner notes doesn’t specify) pianist James Williams recorded his composition Mr. Day’s Dream (lead sheet editions and James’ Solo Piano Arrangement plus recording by Kenny Drew, Jr.).

Celebrate!
Don Sickler
www.jazzleadsheets.com and www.SecondFloorMusic.com
phone 212-741-1175 email don@secondfloormusic.com
May 17, 2013: More anniversaries & birthdays to celebrate

The week of May 13th we’re celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Johnny Griffin and Matthew Gee album “Soul Groove,” recorded for Atlantic Records in two sessions (May 14 and May 16, 1963). I couldn’t decide which one of Matthew Gee’s great soulful groove compositions to put up. Since Renee was recorded on the May 14 session and Here on the May 16 session, we can celebrate both.

Six years before that, (on May 14, 1957) flutist Herbie Mann recorded Eddie Costa’s composition Here’s That Mann with Eddie on vibes in a sextet format. Herbie played tenor sax, unusual for him. Although it can be played in a quartet (or even trio) format, Eddie’s original arrangement is preserved, with the addition of separate Vibes and Guitar parts as well (the original sextet recording featured Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Vibes, Guitar, Bass and Drums).

May 15th and 16th are birthdays for two more of our composers: trumpeter Joe Gordon (May 15, 1928) and trombonist Eddie Bert (May 16, 1922).

In honor of Joe Gordon’s birthday, listen to his beautiful ballad Heleen. Joe was a very important trumpet player whose peers thought would help take the trumpet to another level. Sadly, he died far too young at the age of 35. Trumpeter Brian Lynch in his recent Unsung Heroes project pays a beautiful tribute to Joe, also recording Heleen.

Transcribed Solo editions: Both Joe Gordon’s and Brian Lynch’s solos and melody treatments are available in separate B-flat and C treble clef editions. An unusual and rewarding opportunity to see how both of these great trumpet artists interpret the same ballad.

Losing Eddie Bert this last year was a blow to many of us. For his birthday I’m giving everyone the chance to hear Eddie’s trombone victoriously attacking one of his great blues melodies (Ripples). The audio excerpt teases with the beginning of his aggressive solo.

Plus, the second drum transcription of master drummer Charli Persip: six pages of detail, including Dizzy Gillespie and Charli’s exchanges on the famous recording of The Eternal Triangle.

Don Sickler
phone 212-741-1175 - email don@secondfloormusic.com
New at jazzleadsheets.com May 11, 2013

Noting some anniversaries …

I found it very interesting that on the same day, May 9, in two different years (1954 and 1966), Elmo Hope was in a studio, recording.
Maybe So was recorded May 9, 1954.
Roll On was recorded May 9, 1966 (Elmo’s last recording session).

On May 12, 1964, organist Don Patterson recorded Up In Betty’s Room. This is the perfect time to introduce him to jazzleadsheets.com.

Plus, the Drum Corner welcomes two new drummers, "Papa" Jo Jones and Billy Higgins.
The first transcription of the legendary "Papa" Jo Jones is from the Jo Jones Trio recording of Ray Bryant’s Philadelphia Bound. The lead sheets for this blues are available, too.

And, you can examine under your musical microscope the artistry of one of the truly great drummers: Billy Higgins. See what he plays behind the melody as well as his exchanges with Dexter Gordon on Dexter’s Benji’s Bounce (8s then 4s then 2s). The lead sheets are already posted.

Jazzleadsheets.com is preparing for a website upgrade: we want an easy-to-use search engine and a smooth checkout experience on a faster server. Maybe video clips. If you have suggestions, let us know by emailing me at don@secondfloormusic.com.

Thanks,
Don Sickler
www.jazzleadsheets.com and www.SecondFloorMusic.com
phone 212-741-1175
email don@secondfloormusic.com
Happy birthday these composers: let's celebrate with new music!

Jazzleadsheets.com’s calendar revealed some important birthdays the last week of April. Two composers are already on jazzleadsheets.com (Johnny Griffin and Tommy Turrentine). This is a perfect time to post another composition for each of them and to introduce the new ones.

April 21, 1932 SLIDE HAMPTON
One of the great trombonists who is also an important composer and arranger. Wikipedia calls Slide “A master composer, arranger and uniquely gifted trombone player.” Sister Salvation.

April 22, 1928 TOMMY TURRENTINE
Tommy was a great composer and trumpet player. His brother Stanley told me that he felt that Tommy was the real musical talent in the family. Tommy wrote this composition for his and Stanley’s sister, Bonnie.

April 22, 1935 PAUL CHAMBERS
The dominant bassist of his generation who was sought after by everyone, he played on over 350 session in his short life. He was also a master of creating melodies that could feature himself along with others in the group, like Ease It.
In honor of Paul’s birthday, we’re announcing jazzleadsheets.com’s jazz Bass Corner which will be launched in full this summer. We are blessed to be involved with many great bass players. Paul and his music will get special attention this summer thanks to a unique Paul Chambers project I had the honor of working on with a truly gifted young bassist, Daryl Johns. Be sure to check out the two clips of Daryl playing “Ease It” when he was thirteen.

April 24, 1928 JOHNNY GRIFFIN
A true “Little Giant” of jazz with a captivating and uplifting personality, and incredible talent as a tenor saxophonist and composer. He wrote and performed this moving ballad for his tribute album to vocalist Billie Holiday, White Gardenia.

April 27, 1917 DENZIL BEST
A gifted pianist and trumpet player (also bassist) who became one of the important drummers of his generation, Denzil Best also composed several jazz standards. Try his Surgery.

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