Blues Plus Eight – Eddie Costa

Eddie Costa turns the typical blues form on its head! It may sound complex, but you'll love it when you play it.

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Recording: Eddie Costa - Eddie Costa Quintet
Recorded on: July 13, 1957
Label: Mode (MOD-LP 118)
Concert Key: B-flat
Vocal Range: , to
Style: Swing (medium up)

Trumpet - Art Farmer
Alto Sax - Phil Woods
Piano - Eddie Costa
Bass - Teddy Kotick
Drums - Paul Motian

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Eddie Costa - Blues Plus Eight

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This could easily be described in format as a "blues with a bridge," but it's not played in the normal blues/bridge format. The usual way would be to play an AABA form: a three-chorus blues melody with an eight-measure bridge (B). Blues Plus Eight starts with a nine-measure section which continues into the first measure of the blues, setting up a three-measure solo break to finish the first four measures of the first blues solo chorus. The next soloist plays over two blues choruses, then solos over the new eight-measure chord structure creating an AAB solo form. The arrangement ends with the last statement of the new nine-measure section. Sounds complicated, plays great.

By 1957, twenty-six year old Eddie Costa was was becoming much in demand for recordings, both on vibes and as a pianist. He preferred dates where he was asked to play both. We counted at least sixteen recording sessions in 1957 before he performed at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 6 (also recorded). The next week he recorded this session, and on July 24, he was back in the studio on a Chuck Wayne date. It looks like he did another fourteen dates before the end of the year. It's not surprising that the Downbeat Critics Poll gave Eddie the "New Star" award on both piano and vibes.

Eddie Costa

August 14, 1930 – July 28, 1962

Pennsylvanian jazz pianist and vibraphonist Eddie Costa had a far too brief career in jazz. Raised in a rural coal mining town, Costa learned piano with his brother Bill where both were first influenced by swing. Later, he was exposed to pianist Bud Powell, and his focus shifted slightly. Self-taught on the vibes, he became an excellent sight reader—that ability led to a great deal of studio work. In 1957 Costa led a quintet that included Phil Woods, Art Farmer, Teddy Kotick, and Paul Motian. His next recording was 1958's "Guys and Dolls Like Vibes" with pianist Bill Evans, originally credited to the Eddie Costa Quartet and now reissued on CD as "Bill Evans and Eddie Costa, Complete Quartet." Read more...

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Blues Plus Eight – Eddie Costa

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