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
- Vocal Range: , to
- 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
- Description
- Historical Notes
- Solos
- Piano Corner
- Bass Corner
- Drum Corner
- Guitar Corner
- Inside & Beyond
- Minus You
"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.
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.
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- Recording: Roy Haynes - We Three
- Recorded on: November 14, 1958
- Label: New Jazz (NJLP 8210)
- Concert Key: G minor
- Vocal Range: , to
- Style: Latin (medium up)
- Piano - Phineas Newborn
- Bass - Paul Chambers
- Drums - Roy Haynes
- Description
- Historical Notes
- Solos
- Piano Corner
- Bass Corner
- Drum Corner
- Guitar Corner
- Inside & Beyond
- Minus You
"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.
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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...