Reflection – Ray Bryant
A versatile Latin that can be played at a variety of tempos; the melody and drums and/or percussion get equal billing.
- Recording: Art Blakey - Holiday For Skins, Vol. 2
- Recorded on: November 9, 1958
- Label: Blue Note (BLP 4005)
- Concert Key: G minor
- Style: Latin (medium up)
- Trumpet - Donald Byrd
- Piano - Ray Bryant
- Bass - Wendell Marshall
- Drums - Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Philly Joe Jones
- Congas/bongos - Sabu Martinez, Ray Barretto, Chonguito Vincente, Victor Gonzales, Julio Martinez
- Maracas - Andy Delannoy
- Timbales - Fred Pagani
Video
- • Paul Keeling, piano; Simon Fisk, bass; Sandro Dominelli, drums; live at Yardbird Suite, Edmonton, Alberta, 2012.
Don Sickler: "Most of Ray Bryant's compositions start out as specific rhythmic melodies with specific articulations and chordal harmonies. Our lead sheets reflect Ray's original concept, so in this case, although we're covering two different recordings, the same lead sheet applies to both.
"I've always loved to look at how different artists interpret the same melodies, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Ray's good friend Phineas Newborn recorded Reflection just a few days after Ray recorded it himself."
Blakey's version is rather faster than Newborn's, ca. 212 as opposed to 184. The Blakey recording's intro starts with four measures of conga with clave, adding eight measures of bass before the melody starts. Unlike Phineas, Ray plays the last note of each 4-measure phrase of the A sections short, as indicated in the lead sheets. The rhythms in measures 5-6 of A2 are different; the hits accent different notes of the melody. In the Blakey version the hits here start on the "and" of beat 1; not all of them line up with melody notes. There is one note in the melody at C that differs between the two versions: Ray plays E♭ on beat 2 of the third measure, while Phineas plays a lower G there. Blakey keeps the Latin feel for the solos. The final chord is different; here it is G minor 11th.
"I've always loved to look at how different artists interpret the same melodies, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Ray's good friend Phineas Newborn recorded Reflection just a few days after Ray recorded it himself."
Blakey's version is rather faster than Newborn's, ca. 212 as opposed to 184. The Blakey recording's intro starts with four measures of conga with clave, adding eight measures of bass before the melody starts. Unlike Phineas, Ray plays the last note of each 4-measure phrase of the A sections short, as indicated in the lead sheets. The rhythms in measures 5-6 of A2 are different; the hits accent different notes of the melody. In the Blakey version the hits here start on the "and" of beat 1; not all of them line up with melody notes. There is one note in the melody at C that differs between the two versions: Ray plays E♭ on beat 2 of the third measure, while Phineas plays a lower G there. Blakey keeps the Latin feel for the solos. The final chord is different; here it is G minor 11th.
Reflection was first recorded on November 9, 1958, when Ray was on an Art Blakey session ("A Message From Blakey-Holiday For Skins"). That was only five days before Ray's friend, pianist Phineas Newborn, recorded it.
Ray Bryant was busy in 1958, recording with Coleman Hawkins the day before this Blakey date, and following the Blakey session recording with Benny Golson and The Philadelphians for United Artists on November 17. Ray also recorded Reflection again in Japan for EmArcy in October, 1989.
Ray Bryant was busy in 1958, recording with Coleman Hawkins the day before this Blakey date, and following the Blakey session recording with Benny Golson and The Philadelphians for United Artists on November 17. Ray also recorded Reflection again in Japan for EmArcy in October, 1989.
- Recording: Roy Haynes - We Three
- Recorded on: November 14, 1958
- Label: New Jazz (NJLP 8210)
- Concert Key: G minor
- Style: Latin (medium up)
- Piano - Phineas Newborn
- Bass - Paul Chambers
- Drums - Roy Haynes
Video
- Paul Keeling, piano; Simon Fisk, bass; Sandro Dominelli, drums; live at Yardbird Suite, Edmonton, Alberta, 2012.
Don Sickler: "Most of composer Ray Bryant's compositions start out as specific rhythmic melodies with specific articulations and chordal harmonies. Our lead sheets reflect Ray's original concept, so in this case, although we're covering two different recordings, the same lead sheet applies to both.
"I've always loved to look at how different artists interpret the same melodies, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Ray's good friend Phineas Newborn recorded Reflection just a few days later than Ray recorded it himself."
Haynes' version is slower than Blakey's, ca.>/i> 184 as opposed to 212. The Haynes recording's intro starts with 10 measures of drums, then piano and bass enter eight measures before the melody. The same eight measures are also used to set up the out melody. Unlike Ray, Phineas plays the last note of each 4-measure phrase of the A sections long, as indicated in the lead sheets. The hits on measures 5-6 of A2 in this version begin on the downbeat and are the same in both measures (1 and "and" of 2); the melody's rhythm is slightly different from Blakey's version and lines up with these hits. There is one note in the melody at C that differs between the two versions: Phineas plays G on beat 2 of the third measure, while Ray plays a higher E♭ there. The solos on this version swing. The final chord is different; here it is G7♯11.
"I've always loved to look at how different artists interpret the same melodies, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Ray's good friend Phineas Newborn recorded Reflection just a few days later than Ray recorded it himself."
Haynes' version is slower than Blakey's, ca.>/i> 184 as opposed to 212. The Haynes recording's intro starts with 10 measures of drums, then piano and bass enter eight measures before the melody. The same eight measures are also used to set up the out melody. Unlike Ray, Phineas plays the last note of each 4-measure phrase of the A sections long, as indicated in the lead sheets. The hits on measures 5-6 of A2 in this version begin on the downbeat and are the same in both measures (1 and "and" of 2); the melody's rhythm is slightly different from Blakey's version and lines up with these hits. There is one note in the melody at C that differs between the two versions: Phineas plays G on beat 2 of the third measure, while Ray plays a higher E♭ there. The solos on this version swing. The final chord is different; here it is G7♯11.
Roy Haynes had been on the road with Sarah Vaughan from 1953 into 1958. Ira Gitler's informative liner notes to the "We Three" album tell us that Roy and Phineas played a trio job together at Birdland during April, 1958, directly after Roy left Sarah. On June 10, 1958, Roy became part of Monk's new quartet (Monk, Johnny Griffin, Ahmed Abdul-Malik and Roy) that started Thelonious' second long engagement at NYC's Five Spot Cafe (it lasted through October 12, 1958). Gitler also states that after Monk's tenure, Roy had the "gig" for a series of Monday nights at the Five Spot, and Phineas and sometimes Paul Chambers were in the group. Phineas had been touring and recording in Europe in September and early October, 1958. "We Three" was his next recording session back home in the US. From 1955 to 1963 Paul Chambers was an integral part of the various highly acclaimed Miles Davis rhythm sections, and he still found time to record with practically everyone else! By 1958, Paul Chambers was very much in demand in the recording studios. We counted over 35 sessions that year, prior to "We Three."
Ray Bryant
December 24, 1931 – June 2, 2011
Following performances in his native Philadelphia with guitarist Tiny Grimes and as house pianist at the Blue Note Club with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Miles Davis and others, Ray Bryant came to New York in the mid-1950s. His first jazz recording session in New York was with Toots Thielemans (August, 1955) for Columbia Records. That session led to his own trio sessions as well as sessions with vocalist Betty Carter for Epic Records in May and June ("Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant"). On August 5, 1955, Ray recorded with Miles Davis, and on December 2, 1955, with Sonny Rollins, both for Prestige Records. Read more...