Something For Lisa – Al Cohn
This "cool" medium-up swinger has been recorded several times. Lead sheets are available, plus Chet Baker's quintet arrangement; it differs from the other versions in several respects.
- Recording: Al Cohn - Mr. Music
- Recorded on: December 23, 1954
- Label: RCA Victor (LJM 1024)
- Concert Key: E-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Tenor Sax - Al Cohn
- Alto Sax - Hal McKusick, Gene Quill
- Bari Sax - Sol Schlinger
- Trumpet - Joe Newman
- Trombone - Billy Byers, Frank Rehak
- Guitar - Jimmy Raney
- Piano - Sanford Gold
- Bass - Milt Hinton
- Drums - Osie Johnson
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This song is a classic example of a swing-influenced "cool jazz" style. It has an instantly appealing melody; while not following the changes of a standard, this song's harmonic progression is similar to It Had To Be You.
This is the first recording of Something for Lisa, and it's a great small big band Al Cohn arrangement as well. This version of the song was used as the basis for Conte Candoli's and Joe Cohn's recordings (see other album covers above).
Our audio excerpt and our lead sheets start on the melody. The sax section break at the end of our excerpt becomes the first soloist's break in Conte's and Joe Cohn's recordings. Al's arrangement is fantastic. The purpose of our lead sheets is to give everyone a chance to play the melody.
Compared to Chet Baker's version, this one is slower, with a pickup at the beginning that Baker does not play. The rhythms are largely different. Beat 3 of the first measure, 1 of the second measure, 3 of the fifth measure, and 1 of the seventh measure are anticipated by an eighth-note here, in contrast to Baker's version. Conversely, accents that Baker places off the beat in the first and sixth measures are here played on the beat. The B section is a lot more syncopated in this version than Baker's; for example, the downbeat of the third measure is anticipated by a quarter note, and beats 1 and 3 of the fourth measure are anticipated by eighth notes. The D section melodies of the two versions are very different, but both get to the tonic in the same general way.
This small big band arrangement begins with an eight-measure intro based on the D section; the first four measures are a series of stop-time breaks for the tenor sax soloist. The tenor also takes the first solo, but the break at the end of the head is a line harmonized for the four saxes (with the tenor on the melody) that extends over the first eight measures of the solo chorus. The coda also contains a line over the break, leading to a three-measure, swing-style tag ending.
This is the first recording of Something for Lisa, and it's a great small big band Al Cohn arrangement as well. This version of the song was used as the basis for Conte Candoli's and Joe Cohn's recordings (see other album covers above).
Our audio excerpt and our lead sheets start on the melody. The sax section break at the end of our excerpt becomes the first soloist's break in Conte's and Joe Cohn's recordings. Al's arrangement is fantastic. The purpose of our lead sheets is to give everyone a chance to play the melody.
Compared to Chet Baker's version, this one is slower, with a pickup at the beginning that Baker does not play. The rhythms are largely different. Beat 3 of the first measure, 1 of the second measure, 3 of the fifth measure, and 1 of the seventh measure are anticipated by an eighth-note here, in contrast to Baker's version. Conversely, accents that Baker places off the beat in the first and sixth measures are here played on the beat. The B section is a lot more syncopated in this version than Baker's; for example, the downbeat of the third measure is anticipated by a quarter note, and beats 1 and 3 of the fourth measure are anticipated by eighth notes. The D section melodies of the two versions are very different, but both get to the tonic in the same general way.
This small big band arrangement begins with an eight-measure intro based on the D section; the first four measures are a series of stop-time breaks for the tenor sax soloist. The tenor also takes the first solo, but the break at the end of the head is a line harmonized for the four saxes (with the tenor on the melody) that extends over the first eight measures of the solo chorus. The coda also contains a line over the break, leading to a three-measure, swing-style tag ending.
"Mr. Music" is the second album to feature this 11-piece band. Two months earlier, a very similar lineup (with Eddie Bert on trombone and Billy Bauer on guitar replacing Frank Rehak and Jimmy Raney) recorded half of a RCA Victor album titled "East Coast-West Coast Scene." The west coast half of that album featured an ensemble with the same instrumentation but entirely different personnel, led by trumpeter Shorty Rogers and credited as "Shorty Rogers and his Augmented Giants." Similarly, Cohn's group was labeled "Al Cohn and his Charlie's Tavern Ensemble." Charlie's Tavern was a favored haunt of many New York jazz musicians in the late '40s and early '50s. Situated on 51st Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue, it is frequently mentioned in the writings of bassist Bill Crow, such as his book Jazz Anecdotes
Something For Lisa was titled for Al's daughter, Lisa.
Something For Lisa was titled for Al's daughter, Lisa.
- Recording: Chet Baker - Chet Baker And Crew
- Recorded on: July 31, 1956
- Label: Pacific Jazz (PJ 1224)
- Concert Key: E-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Trumpet - Chet Baker
- Tenor Sax - Phil Urso
- Piano - Bobby Timmons
- Bass - Jimmy Bond
- Drums - Peter Littman
This faster version is rhythmically quite different from Al Cohn's original arrangement. There is no pickup; the G that was on the first beat of the first version's first measure is now on the "and" of the first beat. The notes on beat 3 of the first measure, 1 of the second, 3 of the fifth, and 1 of the seventh are not anticipated as they are in the original; similarly, the B section is smoothed out to even half notes except for the first and fifth measures. The D section is simplified. Many notes that are long in Cohn's arrangement are short here (i.e. not tied over), such as the "ands" of beat 2 in the fourth and eighth measures of A, and the third beats of the fourth and seventh measures of B.
About the arrangement: The two horns are largely harmonized in thirds and sixths, with the occasional octave or unison. There is no intro and no coda. Occasionally during the solos, the rhythm section pedals on beats 2 and 4 for the first four measures of the A and C sections.
About the arrangement: The two horns are largely harmonized in thirds and sixths, with the occasional octave or unison. There is no intro and no coda. Occasionally during the solos, the rhythm section pedals on beats 2 and 4 for the first four measures of the A and C sections.
This version was miss-titled as Something For Liza on the recording, as with Conte Candoli's version. In the summer of 1956 Chet Baker had just returned to Los Angeles from Europe, where he had been (mostly in Paris) since the previous fall. This brand-new quintet lineup lasted only a few months; 20-year-old pianist Bobby Timmons had only started his recording career exactly two months earlier (May 31, 1956), recording for Blue Note Records with Kenny Dorham's quintet ("'Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia"). Ours is Timmon's second record session; however, he did play a TV show with Chet a little earlier in the month (July 9). Timmons continued to work and record in L.A. with Chet and others through October 26, 1956, before returning to NYC.
Al wrote the song for his daughter Lisa.
Al wrote the song for his daughter Lisa.
- Recording: Conte Candoli - Conte Candoli Quintet
- Recorded on: June, 1956
- Label: VSOP (43)
- Concert Key: E-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Trumpet - Conte Candoli
- Piano - Vince Guaraldi
- Bass - Monty Budwig
- Drums - Stan Levey
This quartet version is based on Al Cohn's original recording (see "Mr. Music"), and it's interesting to compare our lead sheet with Conte's recording. There are only a few differences in the melody. The "ands" of beat 2 in the second and fourth measures of A, and the fourth and eighth measures of B, are short (not tied over). Beats 3 of the third and seventh measures of B are anticipated by an 8th note. There is a different intro, eight measures of drum breaks based on the first phrase of the melody. Similarly, the coda tags the last four measures, with the first two of these followed by two-measure drum breaks, repeated twice, and then played a third time followed by two chords: E7 and E♭7.
Though titled on the album Something for Liza like Chet Baker's version, this recording is clearly derived from Al Cohn's original arrangement. This was Conte's fourth album as a leader; though re-released on VSOP Records, the original release was on a Los Angeles-based label, Mode. This label released a total of thirty albums, all recorded in the summer and fall of 1957.
Al wrote this song for his daughter, Lisa.
Al wrote this song for his daughter, Lisa.
- Recording: Joe Cohn - Shared Contemplations
- Recorded on: October 6, 2007
- Label: Criss Cross Jazz (1309)
- Concert Key: E-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Guitar - Joe Cohn
- Piano - Peter Beets
- Bass - J.J. Wiggins
- Drums - Joost van Schaik
This is a recording by Al's son, guitarist Joe Cohn. Comparing our lead sheet with this recording reveals Joe knows both his father's and Conte's recording. He plays the melody essentially the same as Candoli, but anticipates beat 3 of the second and sixth measures of B, and the second measure of D, with an eighth note that is not tied over. As with Chet Baker's recording, there is no intro and no coda.
Joe has paid tribute to his father by playing his compositions on many recordings. This time he also pays tribute to his sister Lisa, for whom this song was named.
"Shared Contemplations" was recorded in two sessions, one in the Netherlands in 2007 and the other in New York in 2008 (see Danielle). Both feature Dutch pianist Peter Beets, who had previously recorded with Joe on his own album, "New Groove" from April 2007. Joe also played on Peter's 2009 "Chopin Meets the Blues" album, and Peter is on Joe's "Fuego" from the following year, which also features bassist John Webber.
"Shared Contemplations" was recorded in two sessions, one in the Netherlands in 2007 and the other in New York in 2008 (see Danielle). Both feature Dutch pianist Peter Beets, who had previously recorded with Joe on his own album, "New Groove" from April 2007. Joe also played on Peter's 2009 "Chopin Meets the Blues" album, and Peter is on Joe's "Fuego" from the following year, which also features bassist John Webber.
Al Cohn
November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988
Al Cohn, born in Brooklyn, NY, went on to become not only a brilliant jazz tenor saxophonist, but an arranger, leader and sideman par excellence. From the "Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection," East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania website: "His career in jazz spanned more than 45 years. He performed with the bands of Henry Jerome, Joe Marsala, Georgie Auld, Alvino Rey, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Elliot Lawrence and others. Many of the arrangements used by these bands were written by Al, and he also arranged for Gerry Mulligan, Quincy Jones, Terry Gibbs and Jimmy Rushing. Read more...