Soppin' The Biscuit – Roy Hargrove
Sassy and charming, this classic Hargrove song was first recorded with tenor great Stanley Turrentine.
- Recording: Roy Hargrove - With The Tenors Of Our Time
- Recorded on: January 16 & 17, 1994
- Label: Verve (314-523019-2)
- Concert Key: G
- Style: 6/4 swing (medium up)
- Trumpet - Roy Hargrove
- Tenor Sax - Ron Blake, Stanley Turrentine
- Piano - Cyrus Chestnut
- Bass - Rodney Whitaker
- Drums - Gregory Hutchinson
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- "Soppin' The Biscuit," 2011 Pablo Prieto Jazz Quartet at Polak Forum
A tribute to the funky side of hard bop, this song could be called a 16-measure blues. However, the last four measures are different in the two times through the head; this difference is also part of the solo changes, making it a 32-measure form.
The melody of this song is constructed almost entirely from the blues scale, making it a good educational tool especially for players who are less familiar with 6/4 meter. We use the term "6/4 groove" in the lead sheet; on the recording, the drum groove is syncopated like a 12/8 Latin groove but with swing eighth-notes. This song could also work with a straight-ahead 3/4 swing feel.
The melody of this song is constructed almost entirely from the blues scale, making it a good educational tool especially for players who are less familiar with 6/4 meter. We use the term "6/4 groove" in the lead sheet; on the recording, the drum groove is syncopated like a 12/8 Latin groove but with swing eighth-notes. This song could also work with a straight-ahead 3/4 swing feel.
The "With The Tenors Of Our Time" album features Roy's quintet with several special guest tenor saxophonists. Besides Turrentine, Johnny Griffin, Joe Henderson, Branford Marsalis, and Joshua Redman sit in. Mental Phrasing is one of the tracks from this album featuring Redman.
On Soppin' The Biscuit it is fascinating to hear tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine at this later stage in his career sounding pretty much exactly the way he did in his heyday in the 1960s. Stanley was the younger brother of trumpeter/composer Tommy Turrentine. Several of Tommy's compositions are on jazzleadsheets.com, including the Brazilian-tinged João which was recorded by Stanley on his "Nightwings" album.
On Soppin' The Biscuit it is fascinating to hear tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine at this later stage in his career sounding pretty much exactly the way he did in his heyday in the 1960s. Stanley was the younger brother of trumpeter/composer Tommy Turrentine. Several of Tommy's compositions are on jazzleadsheets.com, including the Brazilian-tinged João which was recorded by Stanley on his "Nightwings" album.
Roy Hargrove
October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018
Roy Hargrove was a pioneer in modern hard-bop jazz and is widely regarded as one of the best trumpeters to emerge from the 1990s. As a high school student in Waco, Texas, young Roy met Wynton Marsalis in 1987. Impressed with the young man's talent, Wynton encouraged Roy. In April, 1988, while still a teenager, Roy traveled to NYC and slept on the couch in Don Sickler's rehearsal studio in preparation for his recording debut in the big leagues with Don ("Superblue"). Before leaving New York on that trip he also recorded with alto saxophonist Bobby Watson ("No Question About It"). Read more...