Shades Of Jackie Mac – Grant Stewart
Grant Stewart's head over the changes of Sweet Georgia Brown has a classic post-bop sound. It's been recorded in both quartet and quintet settings; horn parts are available for the quintet version.
- Recording: Grant Stewart - Young At Heart
- Recorded on: October 29, 2007
- Label: Sharp Nine (1041-2)
- Concert Key: A-flat
- Style: Swing (uptempo)
- Tenor Sax - Grant Stewart
- Piano - Tardo Hammer
- Bass - Peter Washington
- Drums - Joe Farnsworth
This uptempo swinger is based on the changes of the standard Sweet Georgia Brown. It is related to Clifford Brown's Sweet Georgia Brown head, Sweet Clifford: in both songs, the first two four-measure phrases start with a long note followed by a mostly descending line starting on the second beat of the second measure. In Shades Of Jackie Mac the long notes anticipate the downbeat by one beat. The second phrase is mostly a transposition of the first, up a fourth with the changes, but with one part of the descending eighth-note phrase oddly shifted over. Specifically, in four beats (the second half of the second measure and the first half of the third) one note, the ninth of the chord, is added at the beginning and the fifth is omitted at the end.
The B section contrasts with the A section instead of transposing the same phrase, starting with some rhythmic hits and continuing with more bebop-ish lines. C is the same as A, and the D section begins with stop-time hits before a descending line with a convoluted, triadic structure. These last four measures feature an alteration of the changes, with a series of cadences in major thirds—the classic "Coltrane changes." Slight alterations of the changes also occur in the B section, with shifting minor chords substituted for their dominant equivalents a fourth above. On the recording, the "Coltrane changes" alteration is also used on the solos.
There is no intro or coda; the last note of the head is held out at the end. On this recording, the piano doubles the melody with the tenor sax, an octave above.
Note that only lead sheets are available for this quartet recording; please click on the Fabio Miano album cover above right for quintet parts. The lead sheets can be used as 1st parts for both versions.
The B section contrasts with the A section instead of transposing the same phrase, starting with some rhythmic hits and continuing with more bebop-ish lines. C is the same as A, and the D section begins with stop-time hits before a descending line with a convoluted, triadic structure. These last four measures feature an alteration of the changes, with a series of cadences in major thirds—the classic "Coltrane changes." Slight alterations of the changes also occur in the B section, with shifting minor chords substituted for their dominant equivalents a fourth above. On the recording, the "Coltrane changes" alteration is also used on the solos.
There is no intro or coda; the last note of the head is held out at the end. On this recording, the piano doubles the melody with the tenor sax, an octave above.
Note that only lead sheets are available for this quartet recording; please click on the Fabio Miano album cover above right for quintet parts. The lead sheets can be used as 1st parts for both versions.
For more lines over Sweet Georgia Brown, check out Clifford Brown's Sweet Clifford and Kenny Dorham's Windmill. Dig, a better-known Sweet Georgia Brown head, is widely attributed to Miles Davis but was actually written by saxophonist Jackie McLean.
Tardo Hammer has played on seven Grant Stewart albums so far, of which "Young At Heart" is the third. The first, "In The Still Of The Night," was recorded a year earlier with the same personnel and also released on the Sharp Nine label. Grant and Tardo first recorded together in 2004 on trumpeter John Marshall's album "Frisky."
Tardo Hammer has played on seven Grant Stewart albums so far, of which "Young At Heart" is the third. The first, "In The Still Of The Night," was recorded a year earlier with the same personnel and also released on the Sharp Nine label. Grant and Tardo first recorded together in 2004 on trumpeter John Marshall's album "Frisky."
- Recording: Fabio Miano - New York Quintet
- Recorded on: 2008
- Label: Blau Records (BLAU 07)
- Concert Key: A-flat
- Style: Swing (uptempo)
- Trumpet - Jim Rotondi
- Tenor Sax - Grant Stewart
- Piano - Fabio Miano
- Bass - John Webber
- Drums - Joe Farnsworth
This quintet version is pretty much the same tempo as the original quartet recording. It begins with a four-measure drum solo intro. The horns are mostly in octaves and unison, but harmonized in tenths on the first three measures of the B section. Some of the trumpet melody is an octave below where it would be on our B♭ lead sheet. Our trumpet first part shows where these are: the second half of the A and C sections, and the first half of the D section.
The lead sheets available here are identical to the quartet version and can be used as 1st parts. Trumpet 1st part and 2nd parts are from this album.
The lead sheets available here are identical to the quartet version and can be used as 1st parts. Trumpet 1st part and 2nd parts are from this album.
Grant Stewart had previously recorded with the Spanish pianist Fabio Miano in 1998, on Grant's album "Buen Rollo." This is the only recording so far with the front line of Grant and Jim Rotondi. Fabio Miano's "New York Quintet" is the final result of a successful tour of different Spanish cities the band made in April of 2008
Grant Stewart
born on June 4, 1971
A swinging tenor saxophonist, Grant Stewart is a powerful, expressive stylist in today's jazz scene. Born in Toronto, Stewart's early exposure to giants like Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins came from his father, an English teacher and semi-professional guitarist. By the age of 14 Grant was so advanced on the alto saxophone that he began playing professionally in the Pete Schofield Big Band. At 17, he made the switch to tenor and starting playing with some of his greatest influences in the Toronto jazz scene, Pat LaBarbera and Bob Mover. (He still does play alto saxophone to this day, but his love of artists like John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins encouraged him to make tenor his primary instrument.) Read more...