Grooveyard – Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins' best-known composition, this medium swinger certainly grooves! A transcription of Carl's solo on the original recording is available, as well as a solo piano arrangement.
- Recording: Harold Land - Harold In The Land Of Jazz
- Recorded on: January 13 & 14, 1958
- Label: Contemporary (C 3550)
- Concert Key: E-flat minor
- Vocal Range: , to
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Trumpet - Rolf Ericson
- Tenor Sax - Harold Land
- Piano - Carl Perkins
- Bass - Leroy Vinnegar
- Drums - Frank Butler
Video
- Description
- Historical Notes
- Solos
- Piano Corner
- Bass Corner
- Drum Corner
- Guitar Corner
- Inside & Beyond
- Minus You
This 24-measure minor-key song is not a blues, but has plenty of blues mood and style; as the title suggests, it really grooves in a classic hard-bop way. The A section of the AAB form is played with a relaxed 2-feel, ornamented with triplets in the bass line. The B section starts quietly with a pedal point on beats 2 and 4, with the melody voiced in fourths; this pedal point returns in the solo section. The second half of the B section is a variation of that of the A section. Several of the harmonies are quite dense with many upper extensions, such as F7(♯9♯11♭13) in the seventh measure. The laid-back groove and mostly blues-scale melody keep the song from sounding complex.
About the arrangement: Second horn parts and rhythm section parts are available for the quintet arrangement; the lead sheet is also the melody part. The tenor sax harmonizes the trumpet melody mostly in fifths and sixths in the first four measures, bringing out the internal movement of D♭ to C♮ in each measure; the horns then play in octaves starting with the pickup to the fifth measure. On the first half of the B section the tenor plays a minor seventh below the trumpet. The piano doubles the melody throughout, while filling in the voicings between and below the two-horn harmonies.
The rhythm section activity is what really makes this arrangement work: the piano, bass, and drums each have their own independent part, coming together and interacting in just the right moments. Our piano and drum parts have the rhythms of the bass part cued below the staff. A Full Score is available showing how all these parts work together. This score has both A sections written out to show specific embellishments and variations in the bass and drums from the recording (not included in the parts).
A transcription of Carl Perkins' solo is available. Also available is a Solo Piano Arrangement based on Carl's own playing; on the recording, he plays the melody along with the horns and fills out the harmonies.
About the arrangement: Second horn parts and rhythm section parts are available for the quintet arrangement; the lead sheet is also the melody part. The tenor sax harmonizes the trumpet melody mostly in fifths and sixths in the first four measures, bringing out the internal movement of D♭ to C♮ in each measure; the horns then play in octaves starting with the pickup to the fifth measure. On the first half of the B section the tenor plays a minor seventh below the trumpet. The piano doubles the melody throughout, while filling in the voicings between and below the two-horn harmonies.
The rhythm section activity is what really makes this arrangement work: the piano, bass, and drums each have their own independent part, coming together and interacting in just the right moments. Our piano and drum parts have the rhythms of the bass part cued below the staff. A Full Score is available showing how all these parts work together. This score has both A sections written out to show specific embellishments and variations in the bass and drums from the recording (not included in the parts).
A transcription of Carl Perkins' solo is available. Also available is a Solo Piano Arrangement based on Carl's own playing; on the recording, he plays the melody along with the horns and fills out the harmonies.
“Harold In The Land Of Jazz” was Carl Perkins' last recording. Surprisingly, though Perkins often played with Leroy Vinnegar and Frank Butler, this is the only recording of the three together. Three months later, Harold Land, Rolf Ericson and Frank Butler recorded on bassist Curtis Counce's album "Exploring The Future", with Elmo Hope on piano. Grooveyard has been recorded many times; it was a favorite of the late drummer "Killer" Ray Appleton.
In his later years, "Killer" Ray spent many hours at the jazzleadsheets.com rehearsal studio on 28th Street; even when he used a wheelchair, he would take the bus downtown to us: playing the music was that important to him.
In his later years, "Killer" Ray spent many hours at the jazzleadsheets.com rehearsal studio on 28th Street; even when he used a wheelchair, he would take the bus downtown to us: playing the music was that important to him.
Carl Perkins Piano Solo For the first time, we are making available a transcription of a piano solo piano solo by Carl Perkins. His two choruses are a very good example of his bluesy hard-bop style. This is a mostly right-hand solo, but the left hand accompaniment is interestingly varied with softer and harder accents.
Our Solo Piano Arrangement is very close to Carl Perkins’ piano part from the recording, which doubles the melody throughout the head. However, this solo version adds a very important element from the quintet arrangement: the bass line in the intro and beginning of the A section. At the B section the left hand pedals on beats 2 and 4—like the drum part in the quintet arrangement rather than the piano or bass parts.
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Carl Perkins
August 16, 1928 – March 18, 1958
Do not confuse this Carl Perkins with the rockabilly guitarist with the same name. This Carl Perkins was an exceptional pianist who developed a unique style of playing the piano with an inimitable left-hand technique. Not much is known about him, despite the fact that one of his compositions, Grooveyard, went on to become rather famous. Born in Indianapolis, IN, he worked with Tiny Bradshaw and Big Jay McNeely (1948-1949) there, then moved to Los Angeles, CA, in 1949. He did his first recording session (his own date) that year in Los Angeles for Savoy Records. Read more...
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