Heleen – Joe Gordon

Joe Gordon was only on two more recordings after this session. His last appearance was on Jimmy Woods' September 13, 1961, date. A year earlier, on May 17 and 18, Joe's marvelous trumpet playing can be heard on three Harold Land compositions that are on jazzleadsheets.com (Terrain, Compulsion, Ursula). Trumpet players as well as generations of fans were dealt a cruel blow when Joe died at the age of 35.

Joe Gordon Trumpet Transcription: This is a three page, one and a half chorus long arrangement. Joe's recording starts with a rhythm section intro (see the lead sheet edition) which Joe further explores in the Coda. Joe starts  with the A section of the melody, which he plays only once, then he solos (in a double-time feel) over the second A section trumpet. The double-time feel continues for his performance of the bridge. Instead of repeating the last A section of the melody to end this chorus, Joe improvises. The arrangement stays double-time feel with the piano then soloing from the bridge. Joe comes in after the bridge, hinting the melody, but basically soloing into the Coda, which he develops into a cadenza.

Both Joe Gordon's melodic treatment and solo from this recording as well as trumpeter Brian Lynch's entire performance from his great Unsung Heroes project are available in B-flat and C editions. Don Sickler: "It's always challenging to transcribe the rhythmic phrasing of a recorded ballad. In this case I transcribed recordings of two different trumpet players, Joe Gordon and Brian Lynch, playing Joe's composition Heleen. I've always been very interested in how artists interpret melodies, so when dealing with ballads I usually transcribe the whole performance, as I did here. As you'll hear, these are two gorgeous recorded performances."

In 2008 Brian Lynch asked Second Floor Music for music written by trumpet players. As a SFM composer himself, Brian was aware that we publish the music of many jazz artist-composers. We first supplied Brian with a list of our trumpet-player composers, 40 of them. As he refined his project, we sent him lead sheets to consider. We're pleased that he chose SFM composers!

Complete information and audio clips on the Unsung Heroes project.

Brian Lynch Trumpet Transcription: This is a three-chorus arrangement on five pages. Brian plays the first A section of the melody rubato with piano accompanying. The rest of the rhythm section comes in with "time" at the repeat of the A section. The bridge melody is double-time feel, then ballad feel for the last A section. Brian then plays a whole chorus (double-time feel). Here's how he sets up and starts his solo chorus trumpet. The piano then solos for two A sections continuing the double-time feel, after which Brian solos on the bridge and returns to the ballad feel for the last A section, the Coda and a cadenza.

Both Joe Gordon's melodic treatment and solo from this recording as well as trumpeter Brian Lynch's entire performance from his great Unsung Heroes project are available in B-flat and C editions. Don Sickler: "It's always challenging to transcribe the rhythmic phrasing of a recorded ballad. In this case I transcribed recordings of two different trumpet players, Joe Gordon and Brian Lynch, playing Joe's composition Heleen. I've always been very interested in how artists interpret melodies, so when dealing with ballads I usually transcribe the whole performance, as I did here. As you'll hear, these are two gorgeous recorded performances."