Pretty Girl – Bob Brookmeyer
This tender ballad is a great example of Bob Brookmeyer's simple, efficient lyricism. Originally recorded on an all-star session featuring Stan Getz, the first issued recording was by Bob's quintet with Clark Terry.
- Recording: Bob Brookmeyer - Bob Brookmeyer And Friends
- Recorded on: May 26, 1964
- Label: Columbia (CL 2237)
- Concert Key: D-flat
- Style: Ballad
- Valve Trombone - Bob Brookmeyer
- Tenor Sax - Stan Getz
- Vibes - Gary Burton
- Piano - Herbie Hancock
- Bass - Ron Carter
- Drums - Elvin Jones
This ballad is simple yet deep; every note has meaning. It's a classic example of Bob Brookmeyer's ballad writing and deserves wider recognition. The form is ABC, a concise 24 measures in length; C starts the same as A but changes in the third measure. The melody is largely diatonic, over II-V7-based changes in a Great American Songbook vein but with some subtle detail in the alterations in the characteristic Brookmeyer style. There are rhythm section hits in the fifth and sixth measures of B; the fifth and sixth measures of C have a pedal on A♭ on beats 2 and 4.
The original recording is a bit faster than a typical ballad tempo (quarter note = 84) but keeps a ballad 2-feel throughout including in the solos. The ending is different from that shown in our lead sheet, extending the pedal point into a final cadence.
The original recording is a bit faster than a typical ballad tempo (quarter note = 84) but keeps a ballad 2-feel throughout including in the solos. The ending is different from that shown in our lead sheet, extending the pedal point into a final cadence.
All eight tracks on the original LP release of "Bob Brookmeyer And Friends" were recorded on May 27, 1964. Three songs from the session a day earlier, including Pretty Girl, were first released on the 2005 CD reissue. This unlikely all-star lineup was made perhaps even more unlikely on one of these tracks by the addition of vocalist Tony Bennett. Yet another session with the same personnel was recorded a day before that, on May 25; the one issued track from this session features Bennett with Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Elvin Jones. These and another Bennett session in October 1964 with the same lineup are the only recordings of the legendary Hancock/Carter/Jones rhythm section besides Wayne Shorter's classic "Speak No Evil" from December of the same year.
- Recording: Clark Terry-Bob Brookmeyer - Tonight
- Recorded on: November 23-24, 1964
- Label: Mainstream (M56043)
- Concert Key: D-flat
- Style: Ballad
- Flugelhorn - Clark Terry
- Trombone - Bob Brookmeyer
- Piano - Roger Kellaway
- Bass - Bill Crow
- Drums - Dave Bailey
Video
- Bob Brookmeyer's PRETTY GIRL, performed by Clark Terry (tp,flhrn) Bob Brookmeyer (v-tb) Laurie Holloway (p) Rick Laird (b) Allan Ganley (d) Telecast, BBC "Jazz 625", London, England, February 21, 1965
Taken at a slower tempo than the "Bob Brookmeyer And Friends" recording, this version is a great feature for Clark Terry's deep, solemn low register on flugelhorn. Clark and Bob Brookmeyer split up the melody: Clark takes the A section, Bob comes in for B, and Clark returns for C with Bob adding accompanying lines. The ending, as shown on our lead sheet, is a simple I-IV7-I cadence.
This second recording of Pretty Girl was the earliest to be issued. Two more live broadcast versions of this song by Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer appear on a compilation released on Fresh Sound. One from February 1965 was recorded in London for a BBC telecast with a local rhythm section; the other comes from the Half Note in New York, in June of the same year with the same lineup as on "Tonight."
Bob Brookmeyer
December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011
American jazz trombonist Robert Brookmeyer was one of the top valve trombonists and advanced arrangers of his time. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he started as a pianist in dance bands, winning the Carl Busch Prize for Choral Composition during his attendance at Kansas City Conservatory of Music. Read more...