Deep Passion – Eli "Lucky" Thompson
This impassioned minor-key ballad is just what the title implies. Transcriptions of both Lucky's melody interpretations and solos are available from the first quartet recording and a later big band version.
- Recording: Lucky Thompson - Featuring Oscar Pettiford, Vol. 1
- Recorded on: January 30, 1956
- Label: ABC-Paramount (ABC 111)
- Concert Key: B-flat minor
- Style: Ballad
- Tenor Sax - Lucky Thompson
- Piano - Hank Jones
- Bass - Oscar Pettiford
- Drums - Osie Johnson
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Video
- Saxophonist Elijah Shiffer and pianist Isaiah Thompson interpret Lucky Thompson's ballad Deep Passion at the jazzleadsheets.com studio.
- Eden Bareket (bari sax), Chris McCarthy (piano), and Or Bareket (bass), Live in Studio, 4/23/21.
Deep Passion is Lucky's classic minor ballad, reminiscent of Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight in its melodic development. Also like 'Round Midnight, the second and last A sections end on a major chord. The bridge explores the relative major (D♭ in the original key of B♭ minor), but includes a brief modulation to F major in the fourth measure, a good example of Lucky's characteristic use of smooth voice leading to reach unexpected key centers.
The two instrumental recordings are slightly different harmonically. Our lead sheet reflects the changes of this quartet version; click on the other album cover for more details about how the later big band arrangement is different. However, the lead sheets shown on both albums are identical.
Lucky Thompson's Melody Transcription and his Tenor Sax Solo Transcription are available; click on the Solos tab for more details.
Check out titles from both Thompson/Pettiford collaborations: "Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2."
The two instrumental recordings are slightly different harmonically. Our lead sheet reflects the changes of this quartet version; click on the other album cover for more details about how the later big band arrangement is different. However, the lead sheets shown on both albums are identical.
Lucky Thompson's Melody Transcription and his Tenor Sax Solo Transcription are available; click on the Solos tab for more details.
Check out titles from both Thompson/Pettiford collaborations: "Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2."
The title of this track on this album has long been mislabeled as A Lady's Vanity. Meanwhile, the album's other ballad was given the title Deep Passion but is in fact an improvisation on the changes of the standard Body And Soul. This confusion is detailed in Noal Cohen's discography of Lucky Thompson. This quartet song is definitely identified as Deep Passion, since it's the same song as the big band arrangement recorded five months later (click on the other album cover for more details).
Solo Transcriptions Two transcriptions pf Lucky Thompson's performance are available: melody and solo. After the in head, Lucky plays 3/4 of a chorus of solo, returning to the melody after the B section. The Melody Transcription contains Lucky's interpretation of his own melody, for both the in melody in head and the out C section out C section and cadenza.
The Solo Transcription Solo Transcription covers the two A sections and bridge of the second chorus. For Lucky's solo, the rhythm section plays with a double time feel behind Lucky, who plays swing-eighth-note figures (swing 16ths in single time), so we have decided to notate his solo at double the tempo. In a lot of the solo he doubles up on the double-time, with 16th-note runs (32nd notes in single time) outlining the changes. This melody interpretation and solo showcases Lucky's inimitable articulation and time feel, as well as his signature warm yet imposing tone.
The Solo Transcription Solo Transcription covers the two A sections and bridge of the second chorus. For Lucky's solo, the rhythm section plays with a double time feel behind Lucky, who plays swing-eighth-note figures (swing 16ths in single time), so we have decided to notate his solo at double the tempo. In a lot of the solo he doubles up on the double-time, with 16th-note runs (32nd notes in single time) outlining the changes. This melody interpretation and solo showcases Lucky's inimitable articulation and time feel, as well as his signature warm yet imposing tone.
- Recording: Oscar Pettiford - Oscar Pettiford Orchestra In Hi-Fi
- Recorded on: June 11, 1956
- Label: ABC-Paramount (ABC 135)
- Concert Key: B-flat minor
- Style: Ballad
- Trumpet - Ernie Royal, Art Farmer
- French Horn - David Amram, Julius Watkins
- Trombone - Jimmy Cleveland
- Alto Sax - Gigi Gryce
- Tenor Sax - Lucky Thompson, Jerome Richardson
- Baritone Sax - Danny Bank
- Piano - Tommy Flanagan
- Bass - Oscar Pettiford
- Drums - Osie Johnson
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This version for a small big band is not only a feature for Lucky as a soloist but also his own arrangement. The changes have been slightly updated with passing chords, such as Bmaj7 on the fourth beat of the second measure and E9(♯11) on the fourth beat of the third measure. There is a new intro that, like the quartet version's piano intro, reappears as a coda. There is also an interlude after the in head, which is mostly double the tempo and leads back to the bridge; Lucky solos on this bridge and then takes the C section out. All this is indicated in the Melody and Solo Transcriptions; click on the Solos tab for more details.
Note that the lead sheets shown for this album and the lead sheets for ABC 111 are identical. They reflect the changes of the quartet version.
Note that the lead sheets shown for this album and the lead sheets for ABC 111 are identical. They reflect the changes of the quartet version.
This version of Deep Passion and the first recording of it come from sessions on either side of Lucky's trip to Paris from February to May 1956. He was in Paris again in 1960; there is a TV broadcast from a performance then that includes another version of this song. This later interpretation is a six-horn arrangement accompanying vocalist (and Lucky's wife) Thelma Thompson. The lyrics were probably written by Lucky himself; they have a clever, poetic quality and depth that fit the character of the song very well.
Learn more about Lucky at Noal Cohen's Jazz History website.
Learn more about Lucky at Noal Cohen's Jazz History website.
Lucky Thompson Tenor Sax Transcriptions: Lucky plays the melody only on the A and C sections of the in head in this arrangement. The Melody Transcription Melody Transcription has his interpretation here, which is simpler than on the original quartet version. An interlude replaces the two A sections of the second chorus, leading to Lucky's solo on the bridge as notated in the Solo Transcription Solo Transcription. With only eight measures to improvise in, he fills them up with 32nd-note runs as he is wont to do. These lines detail the intricacies of the changes and their subtle substitutions, but do not sound forced and even, in some places, manage to seem relaxed. The feel is single time, so despite the complicated rhythms, his solo on this version is best notated at the original tempo rather than double time.
Eli "Lucky" Thompson
June 16, 1923 – July 30, 2005
Saxophonist Lucky Thompson is one of the great treasures of jazz. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina, but was raised in Detroit, Michigan. He played in local groups with Hank Jones, Sonny Stitt and others. In August, 1943, when he was 19, he left Detroit with Lionel Hampton's Orchestra, eventually arriving in New York City. Still a teenager, his first recording date was with Hot Lips Page on March 18, 1944. Later in 1944 he started recording with both Lucky Millinder and Count Basie. Read more...