Ursula – Harold Land
Tender, delicate, and beautifully lyrical, Ursula is a real treat you'll come back to time and again.
- Recording: Harold Land - West Coast Blues!
- Recorded on: May 17, 1960
- Label: Jazzland (JLP 20)
- Concert Key: F minor
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Trumpet - Joe Gordon
- Tenor Sax - Harold Land
- Guitar - Wes Montgomery
- Piano - Barry Harris
- Bass - Sam Jones
- Drums - Louis Hayes
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Video
- KDF Quartet at Outpost 186 - 8/8/15: Kira Daglio Fine - saxophone; Andrés Rovira - piano; Conner Duke - bass; Benny Woodard - drums
With Ursula, Harold Land takes the typical AABA form and stretches it out a bit—instead of the typical 32 bars, he brings it out to 42 bars with 10-measure A section and a 12-measure bridge. The extended length of each section gives it a more relaxed feeling which complements the medium-swing groove. Another unusual feature is the bar of 6/4 that ends each A section, including the whole form. This unexpected long measure breaks up the form and twists the listener's expectations. On top of all of this, Ursula has a charming and pleasantly complex melody that is a delight to both play and hear—a winner all around.
Don Sickler writes: "I've run into quite a few guitarists who have heard this recording of Ursula. Obviously, with legendary guitarist Wes Montgomery on the date, I'm not surprised. Any tenor saxophonist who isn't that familiar with Harold Land should check it out. Harold Land is a marvelous player and composer."
From Wes Montgomery's first record date following the recording of the seminal "The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery," Ursula documents Wes in a relatively rare position: a sideman on a record mostly comprised of tricky, advanced hard-bop compositions. Despite Wes's inability to read music, he performs Harold Land's intricate, unison melody with perfect phrasing and tonal blending, serving as testament to his masterful listening abilities and musicality in general. Wes also delivers a lively half-chorus statement atop the magic-carpet laid down by Barry Harris, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes, making extensive use of triplets as he weaves melodies through Land's quickly shifting harmonies.
In all, Wes's performance is a wonderful study for guitarists seeking to understand how to phrase melodies with musicality and navigate complicated chord changes in a melodic and economical manner.
In all, Wes's performance is a wonderful study for guitarists seeking to understand how to phrase melodies with musicality and navigate complicated chord changes in a melodic and economical manner.
- Recording: Larry Coryell - New High
- Recorded on: September 10, 1999
- Label: HighNote (HCD 7052)
- Concert Key: F minor
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Guitar - Larry Coryell
- Piano - Ronnie Mathews
- Bass - Buster Williams
- Drums - Yoron Israel
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As the sole melody player, Larry Coryell takes more liberties with the melody here than was possible on the original recording, which has trumpet, tenor sax, and guitar mostly playing in unison. Otherwise, the arrangement here is the same as the original.
Note: the lead sheets available here are the same as the ones available under Harold's "West Coast Blues!" album cover.
Note: the lead sheets available here are the same as the ones available under Harold's "West Coast Blues!" album cover.
The second of Larry's five High Note albums, this was the only album of his with Ronnie Mathews on piano. Buster Williams, meanwhile, has played on seven Larry Coryell albums including his fourth one for High Note, 2001's "Cedars Of Avalon" with Cedar Walton and Billy Drummond. Between these two albums was "Inner Urge" from 2000, which features two other Harold Land songs—the other two that originally came from the 1960 album "West Coast Blues": Compulsion and Terrain.
For more from "New High" check out Ronnie Mathews' John Charles.
For more from "New High" check out Ronnie Mathews' John Charles.
In this rendition of Harold Land's Ursula (whose first recording features the legendary Wes Montgomery on guitar), Larry Coryell showcases his prowess as a melodic interpreter, transforming the hard-drive of the original three-horn recording into a graceful string of octaves, chords, and single notes over a lilting two-feel from Buster Williams, Yoron Israel, and Ronnie Mathews.
Coryell also flexes his formidable command of the guitar during his chorus of solo, seamlessly stringing together extended bursts of double-time and buoyant melodic invention through the song's maze of harmonies. Any intermediate to advanced guitarist would learn much about how to take command of a melody and difficult chord changes by studying Coryell's performance here.
Coryell also flexes his formidable command of the guitar during his chorus of solo, seamlessly stringing together extended bursts of double-time and buoyant melodic invention through the song's maze of harmonies. Any intermediate to advanced guitarist would learn much about how to take command of a melody and difficult chord changes by studying Coryell's performance here.
Harold Land
February 18, 1928 – July 27, 2001
Many people only know of Harold Land as the great tenor saxophone soloist who made the classic quintet recordings with the Clifford Brown - Max Roach Quintet: Joy Spring, Daahoud, The Blues Walk and other classics—many of which are available from jazzleadsheets.com. Harold is far more than just a great tenor saxophonist sideman. Read more...