Waiting Game – Harold "Tina" Brooks

This arrangement is from Tina Brooks' last recording session as a leader. The session wasn't released until many years after it was recorded. In the US we got to first hear this session on the limited edition LP collection "The Complete Blue Note Recordings Of The Tina Brooks Quintets" from Mosaic Records, now unfortunately out of print. Tina only recorded one more session after this, a Freddie Redd session recorded in June, 1961, which is still not released.

Piano Comping Voicings à la series
On The Waiting Game, pianist Kenny Drew smoothly navigates through Tina's chord progression. Notice how on the bridge, when there are two measures of a dominant chord, he uses a sus chord to vary the sound across the two measures. Also, with careful orchestration, he is able to use the 4th as well as the 3rd on the dominant chord. At the end of this chorus, you'll notice a smooth use of upper structure triads.

The à la series (in the style of) provides a sample chorus of voicings drawn from the song's original recording, but notated as footballs: simple whole notes and half notes, or the basic harmonic rhythm of the chord progression of the solo section. They are also annotated, showing the original chord symbol above the voicing, as well as any extensions below the voicing. The idea is that these voicings could be of varied uses to any level of pianist—a beginner pianist could play the music exactly as on the page and provide a supportive and harmonically hip sounding accompaniment to a soloist, while a more advanced pianist could use these same voicings with varied rhythms in the style of the recording. Ultimately, a pianist would be able to absorb how these voicings were derived from the chord symbols, and then be able to create their own.