Bobby Timmons

• 57 years of music in one week

  The dog days of summer are here. We're marking the start of August with a release that features our classic repertoire and highlights some of our special projects. This week's releases concentrates on important recording anniversaries. Classic recordings like Clifford Brown's Daahoud and Joy Spring (now available in F in addition to the E-flat version added earlier this summer) with details to these classics that are frequently overlooked. We've also added a new vocal selection: Jon Hendricks's lyric to Moanin' by Bobby Timmons.
  Three more of our composers recorded four years ago this week in what we call our "Duos with Daryl" in a project with the extremely talented young bassist, Daryl Johns, who had just turned 15 years old at the time. We're releasing three pieces, two of which have only been recorded as part of this project, to commemorate the anniversary: Red Sky Waltz (Don Friedman),  Silk (Norman Simmons), and Blues Scam (Richard Wyands).
  To celebrate their birthdays this week, we are also adding A Laugh For Rory (Rahsaan Roland Kirk) and Smoke Signal (John Webber).
  This release celebrates music recorded from 1954 to 2011 -- a diverse and exciting selection:

  CLIFFORD BROWN: Daahoud
  How well do you know Daahoud? Try it exactly how the quintet played it. Two Clifford Brown trumpet solos available.

  CLIFFORD BROWN: Joy Spring
  Think you know Joy Spring? Think again! New lead sheets in F available. Clifford Brown trumpet solo transcriptions available: master and alt takes from the quintet version (B-flat and C editions); septet version (B-flat and C editions).

  BOBBY TIMMONS & JON HENDRICKS: Moanin'
  A gospel-inspired lyric on a soul-jazz classic.

  RICHARD WYANDS: Blues Scam
  Angular hard-bop blues with a bridge. Piano-bass duo score available. This piece has never been recorded before. From the Duos With Daryl series; a jazzleadsheets.com audio exclusive.

  NORMAN SIMMONS: Silk
  Smooth rhythm changes. Piano-bass duo score available. This piece has also never been recorded before. From the Duos With Daryl series; a jazzleadsheets.com audio exclusive.

  DON FRIEDMAN: Red Sky Waltz
  Flowing & lovely with changing meter. Piano-bass duo score available. From the Duos With Daryl series; a jazzleadsheets.com audio exclusive.

  RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK: A Laugh For Rory
  Simple & modal, in two-part harmony. First and second parts available.

  JOHN WEBBER: Smoke Signal
  A modern head with many rhythm section hits in the head.

• New! EASY PIANO for beginning jazz lovers!

  If you love jazz piano, but aren’t quite at the level of our solo transcriptions, we’re releasing arrangements of our classics to accommodate pianists of all ages and abilities! These arrangements aren’t watered-down—they stay true to the original melody and harmonies—but aren’t overly intimidating, either. They make a great introduction for new students, classical pianists, or even someone looking to just have fun playing music.

  Three arrangements by site founder/trumpeter/arranger Don Sickler
  FOCUS by James Williams

  SOCIAL CALL by Gigi Gryce

  UH HUH by Hank Mobley

  One arrangement by vocalist/pianist/composer Pamela Baskin-Watson
  JOY RIDE by Bobby Timmons

  Two arrangements by pianist/composer Cecilia Coleman
  PECKIN’ TIME by Hank Mobley

  BOOTIN’ IT by Sonny Clark

  And some play-along tutorials featuring BOOTIN’ IT on our YouTube channel:
  BOOTIN' IT slowed down to practice
  

  BOOTIN' IT at full speed
  

  Check out our PIANO CORNER where all the above plus more can be found under EASY PIANO ARRANGEMENTS.

• jazzleadsheets Mid-November additions

  Exciting news! We’re making some changes here at jazzleadsheets.com and we’d love to get your feedback on how things have been going so far. As we begin working on our website redesign (set to go live in Spring 2014), we’re hoping some of our valued customers would speak with our web developer to help him understand the customer experience so far. If you’d be willing to help us on this project, please email me.

  Meanwhile, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so here’s an update to give you a little something extra to be thankful for!

  If you’re in the mood for a nostalgic, emotive ballad, look no further than The Haunted Melody by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. While you may not be able to play it with two instruments at the same time as Rahsaan does on the featured recording, the beautifully tragic melody sings on just about any instrument.

  Pianists should be sure to check out Bobby Timmons’s One Mo’ — we’ve transcribed all six choruses of his magnificent solo! Bobby is without question the master of soul-jazz, and learning this solo can teach you bits of his melodic vocabulary as well as how to build energy over the course of a lengthy solo. The head itself is also not to be missed by any musician: the A section is hard-hitting and punctuated with rhythmic hits, while the B section gives way into longer lines that show Bobby’s versatility as a composer. This memorable piece may well get stuck in your head, but we think you probably won’t want it out!

  Feeling a little mischievous? How about some Hanky Panky? Dexter Gordon’s composition is pure fun with a bouncy, syncopated melody and a classic blues march bass line. For singers, we have Tina May’s lyric version, No More Hanky-Panky. Her lyric plays off the cheeky title of Dexter’s original. It’s sung from the perspective of a child who keeps getting into trouble. Regardless of what adults may say, exploring is too much fun: don’t give up the hanky-panky!

  If the wintery weather is getting you down, why not think forward to spring? Meredith d’Ambrosio’s Blame It All On Spring is a wistful ballad that showcases a wide portion of a vocalist’s range without being too difficult to master. We offer it in the original key of A-flat as well as a higher key of D-flat for mezzo-sopranos or sopranos. While it was originally written to suit Meredith’s tenor voice, it sits comfortably in the higher key as well. The enticing contours of the melody make this a great pick.

  Drummers, check out a transcription of Victor Lewis' drumming on Jonny King's Merry-Go-Round. See what a contemporary master’s contribution does to enhance a recording.

  Don Sickler
  phone 212-741-1175
  email don@secondfloormusic.com

• New lead sheets from 5 great pianists

  Soul Time - Bobby Timmons
  Another delight, this time in 3/4, from Bobby Timmons, which he recorded on three occasions. We’re also offering Bobbby’s complete piano voicings.

  Freffie - Elmo Hope
  Another great “II-V” blues melody to add to your repertory. Read more about it in our notes.

  Gone To See T - Bertha Hope - new composer to jazzleadsheets.com!
  Bertha Hope, whose first jazz teachers were Elmo Hope and Richie Powell, recalling the days she and Elmo hung out with T (Thelonious Monk). Definitely not just the wife of Elmo Hope, Bertha is a tremendous talent herself, both as a composer and as a pianist.

  Something In B-flat - Ray Bryant
  As you can see by scanning our Composer list, we already have a lot of great Ray Bryant on jazzleadsheets.com and there are other gems that we’re still working on. Ray had almost forgotten about his Something in B-flat, which was the opening track of Benny Golson’s “New York Scene” album. I immediately got his attention when I told him that this track was used in the Tom Hanks movie “The Terminal,” in which Benny Golson, and some of Benny’s music, also played a prominent role.

  Two Sides Of A Penny - Cecilia Coleman
  One of my favorite Cecilia Coleman compositions, from her California period.

  Enjoy the music!
  Don Sickler
  phone 212-741-1175
  email don@secondfloormusic.com

• Two new composers 12/10/10

  —- Jackleg - Jack Wilson
  If you aren’t familiar with Jack Wilson, listen to our audio excerpt. There’s only a small handful of jazz pianists with technique like Jack! This isn’t his only side, and we’ll be exploring more of his great compositions in the near future. For now, check out his dexterity at the keyboard and try his composition for yourself. Obviously, it works great at a slower tempo, too. We also have his transcribed piano solo available.

  —- La Villa - Kenny Dorham
  Kenny Dorham is one of the true masters of rhythm section writing. Because of that, many of his compositions can’t be reduced to a single line lead sheet: often, each member of the rhythm section requires their own individual part. Although La Villa has a counter melody bass part, we’ve decided to incorporate that bass part into our C treble clef lead sheet. We’re also putting out two editions: the first, as recorded on Kenny’s Afro-Cuban album (1955), and the second, from his Jazz Contrasts album (1957). You can read more about these specific arrangements by clicking on the link above.

  Max Roach, the drummer on the Jazz Contrasts album, continued to perform La Villa with his own groups. In 1958, he recorded it with Booker Little, trumpet; George Coleman, tenor sax; and Ray Draper, tuba. This recording is available on a Clifford Brown / Max Roach compilation and is mistitled as "Villa" on iTunes. The trumpeter is incorrectly listed as Clifford Brown instead of Booker little. On Amazon the composition is titled correctly, but the artist is listed again as Clifford Brown. Max made two recordings of La Villa in 1960, both featuring Julian Priester (trombone) and the two Turrentine brothers, Tommy (trumpet) and Stanley (tenor sax). On this session, La Villa is mistitled as "The Villa." Here is another example of La Villa mistitled agai, this time as "Stop Motion." These three great recordings are at true Max Roach tempos (fast!). The 1958 performance increases the tempo of the quarter note to approximately 356, and the other recordings are only a little more relaxed.

  More great Hank Mobley and Bobby Timmons and Ray Bryant

  — Pat’N Chat - Hank Mobley
  I’ve had several requests for this one, so here it is. This has always been one of my favorites to play myself.
  One of the most interesting things to me about Hank Mobley’s composing is that he wrote his music for the specific musicians on the date. I know this for a fact, because Hank told me this personally. It’s most evident by examining the drummer on the date. From jazzleadsheets.com alone, just check out, for example, the obviously-for-Philly-Joe titles = Workout, Out Of Joe’s Bag, the No Room For Squares album, A Peck A Sec, etc. Then there are the obviously-for-Art-Blakey titles = the Soul Station album, the Roll Call album, High Modes, this week’s Chicken An’ Dumpins, etc.
  With his Turnaround album, Hank starts a recording relationship with a new (and very important to him) drummer, Billy Higgins. Billy had come to New York from his native California in the early 1960s. He’d recorded with many of Hank’s friends, but not yet with Hank. Pat ‘N Chat was the first track they recorded together, and immediately you can tell Hank is writing for an entirely different drum voice: obviously-for-Billy-Higgins. I’ll be telling you more about Hank and Billy as we release more of their collaborations.

  —- A Little Busy - Bobby Timmons
  Here are two different arrangements by Timmons: his trio arrangement and the sextet arrangement he did for Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. These arrangements were recorded in different keys, and believe it or not, were recorded only one day apart by two entirely different groups (except for Bobby). Bobby’s incredible piano solo from the trio recording is also available.

  —- Chicken An’ Dumplins - Ray Bryant
  Another great arrangement, written for Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers by Ray Bryant. Ray’s good friend and fellow Philadelphia pianist Bobby Timmons introduced this one to Blakey. Ray’s solo piano arrangement as well as Kenny Drew, Jr.’s recording of the solo is also available.

  I hope you enjoy playing these new titles.
  Don Sickler

• 50th anniversary titles & more

  This week marks the 50th anniversary of two great recording sessions for Riverside Records. On January 11, 1960, Julian Priester recorded his “Keep Swingin’” album, and on January 13 and 14, Bobby Timmons recorded his trio date “This Here Is Bobby Timmons.” These 50th anniversary sessions were also each artist’s first album as leaders.

  From Julian Priester:
  The End (plus Julian’s trombone solo)
  Under The Surface (plus Julian’s trombone solo)
  I proofread the two Julian Priester arrangements with one of my combos at Columbia University this last semester, then performed both at the winter concert. The combo used the same instrumentation as the recording, except tenor sax played the melody and trombone played the second part. During the semester I had to sub for both tenor and trombone, on trumpet, so we also got to hear Trumpet/Tenor-2nd part and Trumpet/Trombone-2nd part. The arrangements work great with any instrumentation, or with just the melody part in a quartet format.

  I get a lot of requests from trombonists for transcribed solos. Julian Priester is not only a great composer, he’s also a great trombone soloist. As I mention in my description notes, Julian’s The End composition is a challenging form, as the rhythm switches between Latin and swing at initially unpredictable times. As you’ll see and hear, when Julian solos the transitions really make sense.

  From Bobby Timmons:
  Joy Ride
  Bobby Timmons was a very versatile composer at age 24, when he recorded the album “This Here Is Bobby Timmons.” He’d already written and recorded his two major hits in his own fully developed funky-churchy language, at 23. This trio date, his first as a leader, comes approximately one year and three months after Bobby first recorded Moanin’ with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, and a little less than three months after he recorded his second hit, This Here, as a member of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. Jazzleadsheets.com will post This Here shortly, but for now, Joy Ride shows you Bobby is very much at home writing challenging boppish compositions.

  Additionally, the print arrangement of Moanin’ is available from Second Floor Music with full score and alternate parts. Order online at MusicDispatch.com.

  On top of these anniversary titles, we also have more Carl Perkins, from the Curtis Counce album “Carl’s Blues”: Carl is another “groove master,” and Carl’s Blues is in a great tempo (medium slow) and key (A-flat) that we all need to practice.

  In December 2009, we posted two arrangements of Gerald Wiggins’s A Fifth For Frank. One was from a Cal Tjader recording, with Gerald on piano. Gerald’s A Light Groove also comes from this album, it and gives you a different kind of “groove.”

  Let’s all Keep Swingin’!
  --Don Sickler

• 5 new titles, with alto sax, trumpet and piano solos

  Nica’s Tempo is a significant Gigi Gryce composition that he revisited several times during his career. We’ve posted lead sheets for two different quintet arrangements by Gigi that were recorded almost 5 years apart, and I’ve explained some important differences between the two. Melody and second parts are available for both. Also, Gryce’s and Farmer’s solos are available, both great studies in improvisation. Trumpet players, especially newer players, should get a lot out of studying both the Art Farmer and Gigi Gryce (B-flat edition) solos. Alto solos transposed to B-flat generally don’t go too high, giving trumpet soloists who haven’t yet developed their high range new ideas in a lower register.

  Elmo Hope was one of Monk’s favorite composers. It’s fascinating to follow his compositional history since his style of writing changed over the years. I feel it’s important to start with his earlier works, like Happy Hour. We’ll post a few more over the next weeks, then get into the later period.

  January 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of Bobby Timmons’s recording career as a leader. Although we’re starting with a 1961 session here, with Easy Does It, we’ll get to his 1960 gems to commemorate their 50th anniversary later this year. Check out our first transcribed piano solo, Bobby’s six piano choruses on five pages. Timmons’ solos should be available for study. He’s always so full of energy, movement and swing. We’ve really made an attempt to indicate his articulations, which are so much a part of his playing. He can create a great funky feel, or just swing like hell. Either way, he doesn’t hold back, he’s always generating his own type of energy. He exhibits the qualities of a true artist: he always sounds like “Bobby Timmons.”

  We’ve already given you two of Ray Bryant’s Latin-jazz classics: Cubano Chant and Cuban Fantasy, but we also want you to hear Reflection. We’ve posted two different recordings, one by Ray himself, and one by his friend, pianist Phineas Newborn. Fun to compare the two approaches.

  Tina Brooks had the soulful trumpeter Johnny Coles at his side for “The Waiting Game” session, and I’m sure Johnny Coles loved this one. Dhyana is soulful and definitely swinging.

  Thanks for visiting jazzleadsheets.com!
  --Don Sickler

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