Soft Winds – Fletcher Henderson

This version of Soft Winds is master take B; take A has a slightly different arrangement with pickups around the melody phrases both times, instead of only on the second time (check out Guitar Corner for more about the arrangement).

These first studio recordings of Soft Winds come from Charlie Christian's second studio session with Benny Goodman's sextet.

Our Concert Condensed shows how the instruments react on the original recording. Everything is shown where it sounds, so, on guitar, you would play 8va. Charlie Christian plays a chordal intro; the written notes, 8va, are the top note of his chords. At A, Charlie plays single line melody notes. The vibes and clarinet harmony notes are above the melody. In measures 13-14, Charlie plays harmony notes.

Charlie continues playing the melody for the repeat of the head, also adding a three-note pickup to each phrase in unison with the clarinet (Benny Goodman). There is no guitar solo on this recording, but Charlie is featured prominently on the melody.

Our transcription comes from the second alternate take of Soft Winds from this session, first issued on the Folkways label. This was one of the earliest studio recordings of this song after Benny Goodman's original version. The session of June 21, 1944, was the last by the all-star trio of Art Tatum, Tiny Grimes and Slam Stewart, who appear together on live recordings as early as March 1943. Stewart continued playing with Tatum as late as 1956.

Click on the Solos tab for more info.

Our five-page melody and solo transcription includes the in head and Art Tatum's two-chorus solo. Tatum states the melody quite simply in three-note voicings, with slinky left-hand fills between the melody phrases. The solo CLIP, as is often the case with Art Tatum, is a virtuosic showcase that all but requires several listenings to fully comprehend. It's basically a right-hand solo, with only a few left-hand interjections besides a couple of sixteenth-note runs with a two-handed range. The dazzling, cascading sixteenth-note and triplet lines are broken up with calmer eighth-note passages that showcase Tatum's bouncy swing feel. Fingerings are shown for many of the faster lines. An advanced yet worthwhile solo to tackle.

Don Sickler: Recording these easy 3-Guitar arrangements gave me a chance to get guitarists Jeanfrançois Prins and Ben Cassorla out to the Rudy Van Gelder Studio to record them. One recorded two of the tracks and the other one the third. I know they recorded Guitar 1 and Guitar 3 together first (in separate isolation booths). Then one of them added the 2nd part.

Based on The Jazz Messengers' influential 1955 recording, this three guitar arrangement of Fletcher Henderson's Soft Winds adapts the parts of trumpeter Kenny Dorham, saxophonist Hank Mobley and bassist Doug Watkins onto a convenient and sonorous register of the instrument for an easy-reading yet hard-swinging time. With individual notation and tablature for each part and play-along tracks for parts one and two, students can both easily learn their written parts and develop the proper swing feeling and phrasing to play them with; a fantastic package for any budding jazz guitarist.

The third part is always present; you can remove Guitar 1 clip or Guitar 2 clip. Learn guitar 3 by playing along with it.

Suggestions for the inexperienced Guitarist: The easiest way for you to get started would be to explore the Guitar 2 part and MP3 no guitar 2 track. First you want to make sure you have the notes together on the guitar, so just be able to play the part note after note, not worrying about the rhythms until you've got the notes together.

Once you have the notes on the guitar, just put on the MP3 track and go for it! Listen carefully to Guitar 1, making sure you are phrasing with him as you play Guitar 2.

Once Guitar 2 is comfortable for you, check out Guitar 1, where you are playing the melody. Try the same procedure, using the MP3 no Guitar 2.

When Guitar 1 is comfortable, get Guitar 3 together in the same way. There is no minus Guitar 3 track. You need Guitar 3 (the bass part) to start the arrangement, and hold the other 2 parts together. Once you've learned the Guitar 3 part, play it along with Guitar 3 using the Complete Mix track.