Salute To Birdland – Gigi Gryce
In this uptempo swing, Gigi Gryce borrows changes from I'll Remember April and transforms them into an entirely new composition. Lead sheets and second parts available, plus transcriptions of Gryce's alto sax solo and Joe Gordon's trumpet solo. We also have a "Gigi Gryce Project" version available with Minus You audio tracks for all instruments as well as a full quintet track.
- Recording: Art Blakey - Blakey
- Recorded on: May 20, 1954
- Label: EmArcy (MG 26030)
- Concert Key: G
- Style: Swing (uptempo)
- Trumpet - Joe Gordon
- Alto Sax - Gigi Gryce
- Piano - Walter Bishop, Jr.
- Bass - Bernie Griggs
- Drums - Art Blakey
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- Ben Henriques, tenor sax; David Blake, guitar; Wynston Minckler, bass.
A classic Gigi Gryce head based on I'll Remember April changes. In addition to the melody lead sheets, separate second parts are available so you can play it with a quintet.
Note that the lead sheets for the Blakey version and the Gryce Project version are not identical. The Minus You Gryce Project lead sheets work as stand-alone lead sheets but are also tailored to the Minus You audio tracks.
Note that the lead sheets for the Blakey version and the Gryce Project version are not identical. The Minus You Gryce Project lead sheets work as stand-alone lead sheets but are also tailored to the Minus You audio tracks.
Don Sickler: "The lead sheet represented here is from Gigi Gryce's second recording of this composition. Gigi first recorded it with Clifford Brown the previous year (October 8, 1953) in Paris for the Vogue label. For that recording, the composition was titled Salute To The Band Box. Gigi and Clifford Brown were in Europe that year with the Lionel Hamption big band. Although the ‘Band Box’ was, in fact, a late 1920s Harlem jazz club, I'm sure the composition title referred to the ‘Bandbox,’ a short-lived basement venue which opened in the summer of 1953 in midtown NYC, and where the Lionel Hampton band had a gig before leaving for Europe. Maybe the title of the composition was changed because Gigi and many of the other young jazz greats in the Hampton band had a big falling out with Hamp, or maybe it was because this second recording was under the leadership of Art Blakey, who was a Birdland rhythm section fixture. Regardless, the ’salute‘ changed clubs, from the Bandbox to Birdland for the present recording. This same composition also has a third title, Reunion, used when it was recorded by Benny Golson on ‘The Modern Touch’ album for Riverside."
Two more great Gryce titles from the "Blakey" recording are also available: Hello and Minority.
Learn more about Gigi Gryce at Noal Cohen's Jazz History website. Also see Gryce's discography.
Two more great Gryce titles from the "Blakey" recording are also available: Hello and Minority.
Learn more about Gigi Gryce at Noal Cohen's Jazz History website. Also see Gryce's discography.
Transcribed Alto Sax and Trumpet Solos: This Gigi Gryce classic is worthy of special attention, as are the soloists. Gigi Gryce and Joe Gordon have different approaches to this great composition: compare how the two different soloists, first Gigi, alto then Joe, trumpet navigate the changes. There are concert editions of both solos; a B-flat edition is also available for Gigi's alto sax solo, so trumpet players, for example, can also get inside the mind of the saxophonist.
- Recording: Gigi Gryce - The Gigi Gryce Project
- Recorded on: August 31, 1999
- Label: jazzleadsheets.com (JLS 1024)
- Concert Key: G
- Style: Swing (uptempo)
- Alto Sax - Bobby Porcelli
- Tenor Sax - Ralph Moore
- Piano - Richard Wyands
- Bass - Peter Washington
- Drums - Kenny Washington
As with Minority, our "Gigi Gryce Project" version of Salute To Birdland is quite fast and a worthwhile challenge for Minus You. This one is straightforward with no intro or coda; on the bridge, the alto sax has the melody for the first eight measures with the tenor taking over for the second eight.
Unlike most of our Minus You songs, this arrangement does not have separate piano, bass, and drum parts. Instead, we have a single Rhythm Section part which has all the information necessary for each rhythm section instrument to play along with their respective Minus You track. Though the piano and drums have some hits with the melody, the bass walks throughout except the last measure of the bridge.
Note that the lead sheets for the Blakey version and the Gryce Project version are not identical. The Minus You Gryce Project lead sheets work as stand-alone lead sheets but are also tailored to the Minus You audio tracks.
Unlike most of our Minus You songs, this arrangement does not have separate piano, bass, and drum parts. Instead, we have a single Rhythm Section part which has all the information necessary for each rhythm section instrument to play along with their respective Minus You track. Though the piano and drums have some hits with the melody, the bass walks throughout except the last measure of the bridge.
Note that the lead sheets for the Blakey version and the Gryce Project version are not identical. The Minus You Gryce Project lead sheets work as stand-alone lead sheets but are also tailored to the Minus You audio tracks.
"The Gigi Gryce Project" was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.
Don Sickler: Looking at my Historical Notes for the Blakey recording, I now have a little different perspective of at least the Band Box name, since I found this photo on the internet of the Band Box club right next to Birdland:
I was determined to have saxophonist Ralph Moore on "The Gigi Gryce Project" recording, even though he had already left the New York area for the West Coast and his Tonight Show job. I suggested he record this composition partly because I remembered having a great time when I got a chance to record it with Ralph myself in 1986. I (on trumpet) and Ralph had the honor to play on guitarist Jimmy Gourley's session. Jimmy was also on Gigi's original recording (with Clifford Brown), where the composition was called Salute To The Band Box, as it was on Gourley's 1986 session. The session, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, was memorable in many ways, and it was the first time that either Ralph or I got to record with drummer Victor Lewis.
Don Sickler: Looking at my Historical Notes for the Blakey recording, I now have a little different perspective of at least the Band Box name, since I found this photo on the internet of the Band Box club right next to Birdland:
I was determined to have saxophonist Ralph Moore on "The Gigi Gryce Project" recording, even though he had already left the New York area for the West Coast and his Tonight Show job. I suggested he record this composition partly because I remembered having a great time when I got a chance to record it with Ralph myself in 1986. I (on trumpet) and Ralph had the honor to play on guitarist Jimmy Gourley's session. Jimmy was also on Gigi's original recording (with Clifford Brown), where the composition was called Salute To The Band Box, as it was on Gourley's 1986 session. The session, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, was memorable in many ways, and it was the first time that either Ralph or I got to record with drummer Victor Lewis.
A perfect chance to get your fast chops together! If you're a rhythm section player, in addition to locking in with the rest of this great rhythm section, you have two great horn soloists to comp for!
Minus You audio These are tracks from the quintet recording. The rhythm section editions are simply explained: minus either piano, bass or drums. The minus melody practice edition has additional solo space, because the original track had a piano solo; the piano solo has been eliminated, giving the melody instrument a chance to solo with just bass and drums. Rhythm section players: get the rhythm section part.
The following shows a breakdown of each track edition. There are five Minus You MP3s, with different combinations of instruments.
clip This is the format of the complete recording:
-- melody
-- alto sax break and solo 2 choruses
-- tenor sax solo 2 choruses
-- piano solo 2 choruses
-- saxes trading 8s with drums 1 chorus
-- out melody
[clip] minus melody practice edition (see note below) - 6 solo choruses (the piano has been removed for the piano solo choruses; solo on these choruses accompanied by bass and drums only)
-- count off sets up melody
-- play the melody
-- solo - start with break and play 4 choruses with full rhythm section
-- solo 2 more choruses with just bass and drums
-- trade 8s with drums 1 chorus
-- play the out melody
minus melody performance #1: 4 solo choruses
minus melody performance #2: 2 solo choruses
[clip] minus piano
-- count off sets up melody
-- comp for the melody
-- comp for the alto sax solo 2 choruses
-- comp for the tenor sax solo 2 choruses
-- solo 2 choruses
-- comp for saxes trading 8s with drums 1 chorus
-- comp for the out melody
[clip] minus bass
-- count off sets up melody
-- walk for the melody
-- walk for the alto sax solo 2 choruses
-- walk for the tenor sax solo 2 choruses
-- walk for the piano solo 2 choruses
-- walk for saxes trading 8s with drums 1 chorus
-- walk for the out melody
[clip] minus drums - finger snaps have been added for the third beat of each measure in the trading section
-- count off sets up melody
-- comp for the melody
-- comp for the alto sax solo 2 choruses
-- comp for the tenor sax solo 2 choruses
-- comp for the piano solo
-- trade 8s with saxes (sax first) 1 chorus CLIP
-- comp for the out melody
[clip] bass & drums only practice - to feature piano, guitar, vibes, or any melodic instrument that likes to play without harmonic accompaniment (only bass & drums on the track): 4 solo choruses
trio performance 2 solo choruses These tracks have the same format as the minus melody performance editions.
Note from trumpet player Don Sickler: When I was a young trumpet player growing up in Spokane, Washington, I would have given anything to have minus you tracks to play with. Keeping that in mind, now that I'm able to create those editions, for the melody/soloist I feel it's sometimes helpful to have two different editions. Since our Minus You editions often come from recordings that originally had several different soloists, having a track with all or most of this solo space can be very helpful in giving you lots of room to experiment (our practice edition). But, for example, to use it as an audition tape, the track would need to be shorter. Therefore, we have sometimes created a "performance" edition as well, with fewer solo choruses.
Minus You audio These are tracks from the quintet recording. The rhythm section editions are simply explained: minus either piano, bass or drums. The minus melody practice edition has additional solo space, because the original track had a piano solo; the piano solo has been eliminated, giving the melody instrument a chance to solo with just bass and drums. Rhythm section players: get the rhythm section part.
The following shows a breakdown of each track edition. There are five Minus You MP3s, with different combinations of instruments.
clip This is the format of the complete recording:
-- melody
-- alto sax break and solo 2 choruses
-- tenor sax solo 2 choruses
-- piano solo 2 choruses
-- saxes trading 8s with drums 1 chorus
-- out melody
[clip] minus melody practice edition (see note below) - 6 solo choruses (the piano has been removed for the piano solo choruses; solo on these choruses accompanied by bass and drums only)
-- count off sets up melody
-- play the melody
-- solo - start with break and play 4 choruses with full rhythm section
-- solo 2 more choruses with just bass and drums
-- trade 8s with drums 1 chorus
-- play the out melody
minus melody performance #1: 4 solo choruses
minus melody performance #2: 2 solo choruses
[clip] minus piano
-- count off sets up melody
-- comp for the melody
-- comp for the alto sax solo 2 choruses
-- comp for the tenor sax solo 2 choruses
-- solo 2 choruses
-- comp for saxes trading 8s with drums 1 chorus
-- comp for the out melody
[clip] minus bass
-- count off sets up melody
-- walk for the melody
-- walk for the alto sax solo 2 choruses
-- walk for the tenor sax solo 2 choruses
-- walk for the piano solo 2 choruses
-- walk for saxes trading 8s with drums 1 chorus
-- walk for the out melody
[clip] minus drums - finger snaps have been added for the third beat of each measure in the trading section
-- count off sets up melody
-- comp for the melody
-- comp for the alto sax solo 2 choruses
-- comp for the tenor sax solo 2 choruses
-- comp for the piano solo
-- trade 8s with saxes (sax first) 1 chorus CLIP
-- comp for the out melody
[clip] bass & drums only practice - to feature piano, guitar, vibes, or any melodic instrument that likes to play without harmonic accompaniment (only bass & drums on the track): 4 solo choruses
trio performance 2 solo choruses These tracks have the same format as the minus melody performance editions.
Note from trumpet player Don Sickler: When I was a young trumpet player growing up in Spokane, Washington, I would have given anything to have minus you tracks to play with. Keeping that in mind, now that I'm able to create those editions, for the melody/soloist I feel it's sometimes helpful to have two different editions. Since our Minus You editions often come from recordings that originally had several different soloists, having a track with all or most of this solo space can be very helpful in giving you lots of room to experiment (our practice edition). But, for example, to use it as an audition tape, the track would need to be shorter. Therefore, we have sometimes created a "performance" edition as well, with fewer solo choruses.
Gigi Gryce
November 28, 1925 – March 17, 1983
Gigi Gryce was a fine altoist in the 1950s, but it was his writing skills, both composing and arranging (including composing the standard Minority) that were considered most notable. After growing up in Hartford, CT, and studying at the Boston Conservatory and in Paris, Gryce worked in New York with Max Roach, Tadd Dameron, and Clifford Brown. He toured Europe in 1953 with Lionel Hampton and led several sessions in France on that trip. Read more...