Night At Tony's – Gigi Gryce
A medium up swing that puts Gigi Gryce's signature melodic twist on the changes to Yardbird Suite. Solo transcriptions available for Gryce's alto sax solo and Art Farmer's trumpet solo from the Farmer/Gryce recording. Also, check out Gigi's later octet arrangement for Dizzy Gillespie. Lead sheets and second parts available for the Farmer/Gryce version; octet parts and Full Score available for the Gillespie version.
- Recording: Art Farmer - When Farmer Met Gryce
- Recorded on: May 19, 1954
- Label: Prestige (PRLP 7085)
- Concert Key: E-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Trumpet - Art Farmer
- Alto Sax - Gigi Gryce
- Piano - Horace Silver
- Bass - Percy Heath
- Drums - Kenny Clarke
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Like many other jazz composers, Gigi often liked to borrow a "standard" chord progression, then create his own melody. That often led him to adjust the original chord progression, in places, to fit his new melody. The bridge of A Night At Tony's is a good example of this, since Gigi's bridge melody alters the original chord progression of Charlie Parker's Yardbird Suite. However, on the recording the musicians play solos on the original Yardbird Suite "changes."
"When Farmer Met Gryce" was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary Hackensack Studio.
In Art Farmer's words: "We worked a place called ‘Tony's’ [in Brooklyn], that's where he got [the name for] his tune A Night At Tony's." Gigi also arranged this composition in 1957, for Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers (nonet), and also later in 1957, as an octet for a Dizzy Gillespie recording.
Art Farmer's quote came from Rat Race Blues - The Musical Life of Gigi Gryce (a book by Noal Cohen & Michael Fitzgerald). Learn more about Gigi Gryce at Noal Cohen's Jazz History website. Also see Gryce's discography.
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In Art Farmer's words: "We worked a place called ‘Tony's’ [in Brooklyn], that's where he got [the name for] his tune A Night At Tony's." Gigi also arranged this composition in 1957, for Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers (nonet), and also later in 1957, as an octet for a Dizzy Gillespie recording.
Art Farmer's quote came from Rat Race Blues - The Musical Life of Gigi Gryce (a book by Noal Cohen & Michael Fitzgerald). Learn more about Gigi Gryce at Noal Cohen's Jazz History website. Also see Gryce's discography.
See more titles from this album.
Transcribed Trumpet and Alto Sax Solos: Solos by both Gigi Gryce and Art Farmer are available. Art trumpet takes the solo break and is the first soloist. Our Art Farmer solo audio excerpt starts with last measure of the head, setting up Art's solo break. The Gryce alto solo excerpt fades in with the last couple of bars of Art Farmer's solo, so you can hear how differently each of them start exploring the solo changes. Comparing soloists give you insight into different ways to explore the changes, and a deeper insight into the individuality of each soloist. Articulations are carefully notated. B-flat and C concert editions are available for both solos, as well as E-flat for the Gryce solo.
Piano Comping Voicings à la series
On Gigi Gryce's A Night at Tony's, Horace Silver adds a lot of color to the song's basic harmony, employing voicings in fourths, upper structure triads, and great uses of internal voice leading. Notice the careful use of the ♯9 on the E♭maj7 chord, creating a D triad over the E♭ chord, which is a hip device if used carefully. Also at the end of this chorus we can see Horace's use of passing diminished chords as a turnaround, but created with simple two-note voicings for each diminished chord.
The à la series (in the style of) provides a sample chorus of voicings drawn from the song's original recording, but notated as footballs: simple whole notes and half notes, or the basic harmonic rhythm of the chord progression of the solo section. They are also annotated, showing the original chord symbol above the voicing, as well as any extensions below the voicing. The idea is that these voicings could be of varied uses to any level of pianist—a beginner pianist could play the music exactly as on the page and provide a supportive and harmonically hip sounding accompaniment to a soloist, while a more advanced pianist could use these same voicings with varied rhythms in the style of the recording. Ultimately, a pianist would be able to absorb how these voicings were derived from the chord symbols, and then be able to create their own.
On Gigi Gryce's A Night at Tony's, Horace Silver adds a lot of color to the song's basic harmony, employing voicings in fourths, upper structure triads, and great uses of internal voice leading. Notice the careful use of the ♯9 on the E♭maj7 chord, creating a D triad over the E♭ chord, which is a hip device if used carefully. Also at the end of this chorus we can see Horace's use of passing diminished chords as a turnaround, but created with simple two-note voicings for each diminished chord.
The à la series (in the style of) provides a sample chorus of voicings drawn from the song's original recording, but notated as footballs: simple whole notes and half notes, or the basic harmonic rhythm of the chord progression of the solo section. They are also annotated, showing the original chord symbol above the voicing, as well as any extensions below the voicing. The idea is that these voicings could be of varied uses to any level of pianist—a beginner pianist could play the music exactly as on the page and provide a supportive and harmonically hip sounding accompaniment to a soloist, while a more advanced pianist could use these same voicings with varied rhythms in the style of the recording. Ultimately, a pianist would be able to absorb how these voicings were derived from the chord symbols, and then be able to create their own.
- Recording: Dizzy Gillespie - The Greatest Trumpet Of Them All
- Recorded on: December 17, 1957
- Label: Verve (MGV 8352)
- Concert Key: F
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Trumpet - Dizzy Gillespie
- Trombone - Henry Coker
- Alto Sax - Gigi Gryce
- Tenor Sax - Benny Golson
- Baritone Sax - Pee Wee Moore
- Piano - Ray Bryant
- Bass - Tommy Bryant
- Drums - Charli Persip
Gigi Gryce’s octet arrangement for Dizzy Gillespie’s recording is quite different from the original quintet version (click on album cover left); as with Shabozz from the same album, it’s slightly slower and in a different key, in this case F. There’s an eight-measure pedal point intro (plus a one-measure pickup) which is also used as a coda. The A sections start with trumpet and alto sax unison on the melody, with a background line in the other horns. The bridge goes to a Latin 6/8-feel groove, with trumpet melody over accompanying horn figures which still keep a swing feel. The rhythm section goes back to swing at C, which has a variation of the A section melody.
The form of this arrangement is fully written out with no repeated solo choruses, as there are several backgrounds for the different solos. First is a chorus of alto sax solo (with a couple of background figures), followed by send-offs in two A sections for a trumpet solo. The trumpet continues this chorus into another chorus with different backgrounds. The last soloist is piano (one chorus without backgrounds) before a “shout chorus” (two A sections). In the second half of this last chorus the arrangement is the same as the head.
The form of this arrangement is fully written out with no repeated solo choruses, as there are several backgrounds for the different solos. First is a chorus of alto sax solo (with a couple of background figures), followed by send-offs in two A sections for a trumpet solo. The trumpet continues this chorus into another chorus with different backgrounds. The last soloist is piano (one chorus without backgrounds) before a “shout chorus” (two A sections). In the second half of this last chorus the arrangement is the same as the head.
This is the third arrangement Gigi Gryce recorded of A Night At Tony’s. The second, April 2, 1957, was an Art Blakey nonet session (check out Social Call) also featuring a version of this song. That one is in F like the Dizzy Gillespie version, with largely the same intro and shout chorus. The bridge stays swinging, and there’s an interlude adding a modulation down to E♭ for the solos.
Check out more Gryce arrangements from “The Greatest Trumpet Of Them All.”
Check out more Gryce arrangements from “The Greatest Trumpet Of Them All.”
Gigi Gryce
November 28, 1925 – March 17, 1983
Gigi Gryce was a fine altoist in the 1950s, but it was his writing skills, both composing and arranging (including composing the standard Minority) that were considered most notable. After growing up in Hartford, CT, and studying at the Boston Conservatory and in Paris, Gryce worked in New York with Max Roach, Tadd Dameron, and Clifford Brown. He toured Europe in 1953 with Lionel Hampton and led several sessions in France on that trip. Read more...