This charming song is based around an even-8ths groove similar to calypso, or to Horace Silver's Cape Verdean Blues. The melody fits the groove in its stop-and-start patterns which develop an arpeggiated theme over the changes. The A sections are 12 measures long, with a chord progression similar to descending blues such as Solar or Bluesette—but starting with the II-V7s instead of the tonic chords; each two-measure phrase is a II-V7-I. The descending blues form is thus, in a sense, "flipped over." The bridge is a swung, rather Monk-esque "Rhythm changes" bridge in which the horns alternate two-measure phrases with the piano. There is a four-measure rhythm section intro; on this recording, the "out" head ends on the last measure of the second A section, but the whole out head can be used.
The first solo chorus has a "send-off" for the first four measures of the A and C sections; on the recording, this is a trombone solo and the tenor plays the melody on the "send-offs", which continue the groove of the head while the rest of the chorus is swung.
About the arrangement: The horns are harmonized in thirds for most of the A section, becoming sixths for the bridge. On the recording, the melody is split between the two horns: the trombone has the top part for the first four measures of the A section, and the tenor sax moves to the top part for the following six measures, with trombone back on top for the last two. The bridge also has the trombone on top.
In addition to the lead sheet and the 2nd part, which shows the entire harmony part that is below the melody, we also have trombone and tenor sax parts "as recorded," showing the arrangement from the recording.
Like Griffin's
Sweet Sucker, this song comes from
Bennie Green's last full album as a leader, "
Glidin' Along". Larry Gales and Ben Riley, best known as the foundation of Thelonious Monk's classic quartet with Charlie Rouse, had been recording together since November of the previous year, mostly with Griffin and
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, but did not play together with Monk until 1964. Both Gales and Riley played on the Griffin-Davis album of Monk songs "Lookin' At Monk," recorded a month before the Bennie Green album and the same day as one of the sessions for Griffin's ""
Change of Pace".
CLIP Johnny Griffin plays one chorus, the last solo before the head out. This is the first solo of his we are making available on jazzleadsheets.com, and a great place to start with his style: though Griffin could be bombastic with fast runs, this solo is more accessible throughout. Articulations are indicated for an accurate look at his unique phrasing.
