Appointment In Milano – Robert Watson

This album was in fact recorded in Milan, Italy with a local rhythm section, the Open Form Trio. This trio had also played with Bobby in November 1983, released on a live album titled "Perpetual Groove." Bobby later recorded Appointment In Milano in 1990 with his quintet Horizon, on the album "Post-Motown Bop." Another version comes from 1993 on T.S. Monk's album "Changing Of The Guard," in a sextet arrangement by jazzleadsheets.com's Don Sickler. Both the quintet and sextet arrangements are available from Second Floor Music via www.halleonard.com.

The quintet arrangement has a slightly different intro, with the piano chords starting on beat 2 instead of on the downbeat. The second beat of each measure in the intro has a hi-hat click instead of a finger snap; these come in at the beginning, before the piano enters. The last eight measures of the head have a much looser feel, with the bass holding longer notes instead of playing the intro vamp. The sextet arrangement is largely a piano feature (Ronnie Mathews is the soloist on the recording).

"Further Explorations" was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.

Pianist James Williams introduced Bobby Watson and several other musicians to Second Floor Music in the early 1980s. James had his own compositions, plus those of other musicians, in his company Flying Colors Music. He decided that he would rather put all his energy and focus into playing and composing, rather than the business area of registering and accounting for songs, so he assigned his entire catalog to Don Sickler's Second Floor Music. Some composers, like Bobby and his wife Pamela Baskin-Watson, decided they liked the idea, too.

Appointment in Milano by Robert "Bobby" Watson starts with a memorable syncopated bass line which serves as the basis for the tune. The bass starts alone and is then joined by the flugelhorn, piano and drums. The A sections of this tune are eight bars followed by a six-bar B section. The B section has fun hits to catch and set up with fills.

The drummer on this session plays very light time on the ride cymbal, light snare comping accompanied by an open hi-hat splash with his foot on beat 2 of every other bar (see the Drum part and recording). The piano also plays this beat 2 pattern.

The solo section has a few different vibes you are responsible for setting. E mirrors the intro and the A sections of the melody. F introduces new harmonic material and should be played with a standard swing 4-feel. G calls for a more open or spatial feel. The changing of feels makes playing along with the Minus Drum track very fun for the drummer and good practice as well.

Keeping the form and setting the feeling for each section of a tune is one of the most important parts of a drummer's role in a band. The drummer is really the player who sets the feeling or vibe of a given tune (or a portion of it). This is partially because drums have the greatest dynamic range of any instrument (they can be very loud or very quiet).

Intro: Drums tacet (don't play) for first eight bars. Bass plays alone. Enter with piano and flugelhorn. Groove is very light ride cymbal swing time. Highlight beat 2 of every other bar with open hi-hat foot splash.

Melody: keep the groove simple and light, with that beat 2 on the hi-hat. Play and use fills to set up the figures at B which is a six-bar section

Solos: Alternate between the melody groove, 4-feel swing and broken time where appropriate. This tune is great for practicing a form that changes feels within the same meter (4 in this case).

Exclusive Minus You audio tracks and parts
CLIP Form of the recording:
-- intro
-- melody
-- flugelhorn solo 2 choruses
-- interlude (letter H)
-- out melody
-- coda

mp3  minus melody
-- tacet for the beginning of the intro
-- solo fills 2nd half of the intro
-- play the melody
-- solo 2 choruses
-- play the melody or improvise on the interlude
-- play the out melody and coda - play the coda melody as written or improvise

mp3  minus Piano
-- tacet for the beginning of the intro
-- play figures for the second half of the intro
-- play figures/comp for the melody (solo at C)
-- comp for the flugelhorn solo 2 choruses
-- solo on the interlude
-- play figures/comp for the out melody
-- solo on the coda

mp3  minus Bass
-- count off sets up the intro
-- play along with the existing bass for the intro
-- play figures for the melody
-- 2-feel and figures for the flugelhorn solo 2 choruses
-- play the interlude
-- play figures for the out melody and coda

mp3  minus Drums - brushes throughout on the recording, but sticks can also be used
-- tacet for the beginning of the intro
-- play figures/light fills for the second half of the intro
-- play figures/comp for the melody
-- comp for the flugelhorn solo 2 choruses
-- play figures/comp for the interlude, out melody, and coda

mp3  Bass & Drums only 
-- tacet for the beginning of the intro
-- solo fills 2nd half of the intro
-- play the melody
-- solo 2 choruses
-- play the melody or improvise on the interlude
-- play the out melody and coda - play the coda melody as written or improvise