O.P. Meets L.T. – Eli "Lucky" Thompson & Oscar Pettiford
A bass feature on "rhythm changes" in C. In addition to the arrangement from the original recording, we have our own version available in Minus You format, with transcribed piano comping voicings.
- Recording: Lucky Thompson - Featuring Oscar Pettiford, Vol. 1
- Recorded on: January 24, 1956
- Label: ABC-Paramount (ABC 111)
- Concert Key: C
- Vocal Range: , to
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Tenor Sax - Lucky Thompson
- Guitar - Skeeter Best
- Bass - Oscar Pettiford
Video
- Description
- Historical Notes
- Solos
- Piano Corner
- Bass Corner
- Drum Corner
- Guitar Corner
- Inside & Beyond
- Minus You
C is an uncommon key for "rhythm changes"; this song explores this progression in a particularly interesting way. The A section is a dialogue between full ensemble and solo bass. The first ensemble passage is a pick-up that is one measure long and does not go all the way to the downbeat of the A section's first measure. The entire measure that follows is a break for a bass fill, and the pattern repeats on the next measure. After the first four measures, the bass continues the melody with hits in the guitar. The bass walks on the bridge behind the melody.
The trio arrangement from this recording is available, with a condensed score, tenor sax and guitar parts, and a bass transcription showing how Oscar Pettiford plays the in and out heads. Click on Bass Corner for more about the latter. For lead sheets and a bass melody part, click on the second album cover, our Minus You version. A transcription of Lucky Thompson's solo is also available; go to the Solos tab for details.
The trio arrangement from this recording is available, with a condensed score, tenor sax and guitar parts, and a bass transcription showing how Oscar Pettiford plays the in and out heads. Click on Bass Corner for more about the latter. For lead sheets and a bass melody part, click on the second album cover, our Minus You version. A transcription of Lucky Thompson's solo is also available; go to the Solos tab for details.
Lucky Thompson and Oscar Pettiford had been playing together since the '40s. For an early '50s recording where they are both sidemen, check out Jimmy Hamilton's Salute To Charlie Parker.
Other songs from this trio session include Bo-Bi, My Boy and A Lady's Vanity , as well as the best-known recording of Oscar's classic Tricotism. Six days later, Lucky and Oscar recorded the rest of "Lucky Thompson Featuring Oscar Pettiford, Vol. 1": Deep Passion, Old Reliable, Translation, and Tom-Kattin'.
This is the first of two sessions featuring this trio. The second, recorded in December of the same year, was part of "Vol. 2" and includes Little Tenderfoot, The Plain But The Simple Truth, Dancing Sunbeam and Mister Man.
Other songs from this trio session include Bo-Bi, My Boy and A Lady's Vanity , as well as the best-known recording of Oscar's classic Tricotism. Six days later, Lucky and Oscar recorded the rest of "Lucky Thompson Featuring Oscar Pettiford, Vol. 1": Deep Passion, Old Reliable, Translation, and Tom-Kattin'.
This is the first of two sessions featuring this trio. The second, recorded in December of the same year, was part of "Vol. 2" and includes Little Tenderfoot, The Plain But The Simple Truth, Dancing Sunbeam and Mister Man.
clip Lucky plays three choruses and is the only soloist. This solo shows how well his dramatic, uniquely articulated style works over "rhythm changes" in this key—and in a drummer-less setting. Several important chord extensions and substitute chord symbols are shown below the staff.
Our bass part for the original trio arrangement is a transcription showing how Oscar Pettiford plays the in and out heads: melody on the A and C sections and walking on the bridge. O.P. varies the melody lines throughout, but especially in the out head. For the in head, he plays the same two fills on the 1st and 3rd measures in each A and C section, but reverses the order of these fills in the second A. He adds some different fills on the out head, as well as changing the melody slightly in the second four measures of each section.
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- Recording: Don Sickler - Don Sickler Quartet featuring Daryl Johns
- Recorded on: January 31, 2010
- Label: jazzleadsheets.com (JLS 1001)
- Concert Key: C
- Vocal Range: , to
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Trumpet - Don Sickler
- Piano - Michael Cochrane
- Bass - Daryl Johns
- Guitar - Steve Johns
Video
- Description
- Historical Notes
- Solos
- Piano Corner
- Bass Corner
- Drum Corner
- Guitar Corner
- Inside & Beyond
- Minus You
In this quartet version with drums, the stop-time of the dialogue between ensemble and bass is more clearly delineated. The trumpet joins the piano and drums for the hits in the fifth through seventh measures of the A sections.
This recording is available in Minus You format for all instruments to play along with. Transcriptions of the piano comping voicings for both the trumpet and bass solos are also available, as well as piano voicing "footballs"; click on Piano Corner for more details.
Our Minus You melody parts and bass part should be used in an ensemble setting if the instrumentation is different from the original Lucky Thompson/Oscar Pettiford recording.
This recording is available in Minus You format for all instruments to play along with. Transcriptions of the piano comping voicings for both the trumpet and bass solos are also available, as well as piano voicing "footballs"; click on Piano Corner for more details.
Our Minus You melody parts and bass part should be used in an ensemble setting if the instrumentation is different from the original Lucky Thompson/Oscar Pettiford recording.
Our Don Sickler Quartet project includes Minus You tracks of songs Lucky recorded with Oscar Pettiford. Taking O.P.'s part in this project was Daryl Johns, 13 years old at the time. Don had just met Daryl at the Thelonious Monk Bass Competition. He was so impressed by the 13-year-old's talent and drive, that he immediately booked time at the Van Gelder Recording Studio to document Daryl's "state-of-the-art" at that age.
Our Minus You bass part can also be used in an ensemble setting without the Minus You track. On the original recording, Oscar Pettiford varies the melody a bit between the in and out heads, especially on the solo breaks. The melody in our Minus You bass part is based on the first two A sections of the original recording, with C the same as the first A.
Our Minus You tracks follow this format:
-- melody
-- instrumental solo (trumpet on recording) - 2 choruses
-- piano solo - 2 choruses (only on the minus Piano, Bass and Drums tracks)
-- bass solo - 2 choruses (only on the minus Piano, Bass and Drums tracks)
-- out melody
Because the pickup to the melody is a full measure long, we have a count-off of two measures into the pickup measure to have enough time to set the tempo
MP3 minus melody (this track works for any solo instrument) [minus you]
-- count off 2 measures, into pickup
-- melody part (includes written trades with bass)
-- melody instrument solo: 2 choruses with full rhythm section
-- out melody
MP3 minus Piano (there is a separate Piano part edition)
-- count off 2 measures, into pickup
-- melody part (written harmony parts and comping)
-- comp for the trumpet solo
-- solo with bass and drums - 2 choruses
-- comp for the bass solo
-- out melody
MP3 minus Bass (there is a separate Bass part edition)
-- count off 2 measures, into pickup
-- play the melody
-- walk for the trumpet and piano solos
-- solo - 2 choruses
-- out melody
MP3 minus Drums
-- count off 2 measures, into pickup
-- comp/hits for the melody
-- comp for the trumpet, piano, and bass solos
-- out melody
-- melody
-- instrumental solo (trumpet on recording) - 2 choruses
-- piano solo - 2 choruses (only on the minus Piano, Bass and Drums tracks)
-- bass solo - 2 choruses (only on the minus Piano, Bass and Drums tracks)
-- out melody
Because the pickup to the melody is a full measure long, we have a count-off of two measures into the pickup measure to have enough time to set the tempo
MP3 minus melody (this track works for any solo instrument) [minus you]
-- count off 2 measures, into pickup
-- melody part (includes written trades with bass)
-- melody instrument solo: 2 choruses with full rhythm section
-- out melody
MP3 minus Piano (there is a separate Piano part edition)
-- count off 2 measures, into pickup
-- melody part (written harmony parts and comping)
-- comp for the trumpet solo
-- solo with bass and drums - 2 choruses
-- comp for the bass solo
-- out melody
MP3 minus Bass (there is a separate Bass part edition)
-- count off 2 measures, into pickup
-- play the melody
-- walk for the trumpet and piano solos
-- solo - 2 choruses
-- out melody
MP3 minus Drums
-- count off 2 measures, into pickup
-- comp/hits for the melody
-- comp for the trumpet, piano, and bass solos
-- out melody
Related Songs
Email Send O.P. Meets L.T. to a friend
Send this page to a friend via email. Add your name or email in the first field. In the second, add one or more email addresses, separated by a comma.
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...
Oscar Pettiford
September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960
Oscar Pettiford was one of the pioneers of bebop. Though mostly known as a bassist, he also was among the first to realize the potential of the cello as a jazz solo instrument. A regular at the early 1940s Harlem jam sessions that established bebop, Pettiford also played around this time with such swing greats as Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins. Read more...
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