Windflower – Sara Cassey
A beautiful, subdued and meditative song, a minor-key blues variant. It has been recorded several times by pianist Hank Jones as well as by a few others.
- Recording: Hank Jones - Hanky Panky
- Recorded on: July 14-15, 1975
- Label: East Wind (EW 8021)
- Concert Key: E minor
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Piano - Hank Jones
- Bass - Ron Carter
- Drums - Grady Tate
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Though it may not seem so at first, this beautiful, meditative song, after an elegant intro, is based on minor blues changes. There is no IV chord in the fifth measure, but it feels like that sort of resolution because of the A (the fourth) in the melody over Dm7. The F♯, B and E chords in the last four measures all lack thirds. The solos are on a more typical minor blues.
The piano voicings on Hank Jones' recordings are part of Sara's own arrangement; she didn't write chord symbols on the manuscript Hank Jones gave us, but we've put them on the lead sheet. These voicings, in both the intro and the head, explore parallel motion of minor 7 sus4 chords: minor 7th chords with the 4th added, voiced with the fifth on top, then the third, seventh, fourth, and root. (This is the same voicing structure Bill Evans used on Miles Davis' classic So What.) The C♯m7♭5sus in the seventh measure contains these notes from top to bottom: G, E, B, F♯ and C♯. Sara breaks up this structure with more third- and second-based voicings in the first four measures of the melody, and larger triadic voicings in the last four measures.
Hank ended this song on the ninth measure. The C♯min7 here contains an E major triad; this has a similar effect to the "Picardy third" used in Baroque music, the major chord that concludes a minor-key piece. However, the F♯ (the second of E) in the bass gives it an open-ended quality.
About the sextet arrangement: The sextet arrangement is taken from Sara's original voicings as recorded by Hank Jones. These voicings mostly have three notes in the right hand; the three-horn voicings are taken from these top three notes. The second note of the head, the E held out from the "and" of beat 1, does not appear in the first part; it is stated in the third part, while the first holds out B on top.
The piano voicings on Hank Jones' recordings are part of Sara's own arrangement; she didn't write chord symbols on the manuscript Hank Jones gave us, but we've put them on the lead sheet. These voicings, in both the intro and the head, explore parallel motion of minor 7 sus4 chords: minor 7th chords with the 4th added, voiced with the fifth on top, then the third, seventh, fourth, and root. (This is the same voicing structure Bill Evans used on Miles Davis' classic So What.) The C♯m7♭5sus in the seventh measure contains these notes from top to bottom: G, E, B, F♯ and C♯. Sara breaks up this structure with more third- and second-based voicings in the first four measures of the melody, and larger triadic voicings in the last four measures.
Hank ended this song on the ninth measure. The C♯min7 here contains an E major triad; this has a similar effect to the "Picardy third" used in Baroque music, the major chord that concludes a minor-key piece. However, the F♯ (the second of E) in the bass gives it an open-ended quality.
About the sextet arrangement: The sextet arrangement is taken from Sara's original voicings as recorded by Hank Jones. These voicings mostly have three notes in the right hand; the three-horn voicings are taken from these top three notes. The second note of the head, the E held out from the "and" of beat 1, does not appear in the first part; it is stated in the third part, while the first holds out B on top.
Pianist Hank Jones was the first to record this composition (1975), and in June 1976, he and bassist Ron Carter recorded it again, on a Mel Lewis trio session. In 1977, Windflower was recorded three times; the first, in February, was a live version by Hank, Ron, and Tony Williams (check out this version by clicking on the second album cover above). Hank always kept it in his repertory, recording it again on July 5, 2007.
- Recording: Hank Jones - The Great Jazz Trio At The Village Vanguard, vol. 2
- Recorded on: February 19 & 20, 1977
- Label: East Wind (EW 8055)
- Concert Key: E minor
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Piano - Hank Jones
- Bass - Ron Carter
- Drums - Tony Williams
On this version, drummer Tony Williams plays a much more active role from the beginning than Grady Tate does on the first recording. Tony uses sticks here (Grady plays brushes throughout), playing time on the ride cymbal for the intro and switching to hi-hat on the head. Tony plays time for the first 10 measures of the head, then hits beat 1 of the second to last measure almost as a "break"; after the second time through, both him and Ron Carter lay out, giving Hank a chorus to start developing his solo before coming back in.
About the sextet arrangement: The sextet arrangement is taken from Sara's original voicings as recorded by Hank Jones. These voicings mostly have three notes in the right hand; the three-horn voicings are taken from these top three notes. The second note of the head, the E held out from the "and" of beat 1, does not appear in the first part; it is stated in the third part, while the first holds out B on top.
About the sextet arrangement: The sextet arrangement is taken from Sara's original voicings as recorded by Hank Jones. These voicings mostly have three notes in the right hand; the three-horn voicings are taken from these top three notes. The second note of the head, the E held out from the "and" of beat 1, does not appear in the first part; it is stated in the third part, while the first holds out B on top.
This was the first of three recordings of this song from 1977. The second, on May 16th, came from bassist Richard Davis' album "Harvest" which featured fellow bassist Bill Lee alongside his sister, pianist Consuela Lee Moorehead. Finally, in October, guitarist Herb Ellis recorded it; his album was also titled "Windflower" and featured the two-guitar combination of Ellis and Remo Palmieri. Ellis' version has a slightly different arrangement without an intro.
- Recording: Marian McPartland - Portrait Of Marian McPartland
- Recorded on: May, 1979
- Label: Concord Jazz (CJ 101)
- Concert Key: E minor
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Flute - Jerry Dodgion
- Piano - Marian McPartland
- Bass - Brian Torff
- Drums - Jake Hanna
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This arrangement is a bit different from Hank Jones' but it uses many of the same voicings. The audio clip is the out head where flautist Jerry Dodgion plays the melody with only piano accompaniment. At the beginning, Dodgion plays the melody rubato [other clip] accompanied by piano and drums. When he is playing the melody, Marian plays Dm7 for measures 5 and 6, and Em7 on the seventh measure. After the rubato melody, the rhythm section plays the intro (same as Hank's) and the head once again with the original passing chords, in time, before the solos. After this out head, the rhythm section again plays the intro as an ending.
About the sextet arrangement: The sextet arrangement is taken from Sara's original voicings as recorded by Hank Jones. These voicings mostly have three notes in the right hand; the three-horn voicings are taken from these top three notes. The second note of the head, the E held out from the "and" of beat 1, does not appear in the first part; it is stated in the third part, while the first holds out B on top.
About the sextet arrangement: The sextet arrangement is taken from Sara's original voicings as recorded by Hank Jones. These voicings mostly have three notes in the right hand; the three-horn voicings are taken from these top three notes. The second note of the head, the E held out from the "and" of beat 1, does not appear in the first part; it is stated in the third part, while the first holds out B on top.
Marian McPartland fell in love with the song when she heard Hank Jones play it, and Hank gave her a copy of the music for her recording. This was one of two Marian McPartland albums featuring Jerry Dodgion on alto sax and flute; the other is a Billy Strayhorn tribute album from 1986. Marian had been recording with drummer Jake Hanna since the early '60s; her first recording alongside bassist Brian Torff had been in an all-star ensemble backing vocalist Tony Bennett in 1977; coincidentally, two days before this, bassist Richard Davis recorded his version of Windflower.
- Recording: Ellis - Palmier - Windflower
- Recorded on: October, 1977
- Label: Concord (CJ56)
- Concert Key: E minor
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Guitar - Herb Ellis, Remo Palmieri
- Bass - George Duvivier
- Drums - Ron Traxler
This piece sounds gorgeous with just two guitars covering the melody and harmonies.
Although Herb and Remo didn't use Sara Cassey's original introduction in their arrangement, Don Sickler suggested to Bruce Acousta to also add Sara's intro to our Guitar Duo arrangement for our Guitar Corner. Now you have the option to add Sara's intro, which also sounds great with just two guitars and bass.
Although Herb and Remo didn't use Sara Cassey's original introduction in their arrangement, Don Sickler suggested to Bruce Acousta to also add Sara's intro to our Guitar Duo arrangement for our Guitar Corner. Now you have the option to add Sara's intro, which also sounds great with just two guitars and bass.
A minor blues with a lyrical melody and unexpected harmonies, Sara Cassey's Windflower combines sophistication and subtlety. As the title track of guitarists Herb Ellis and Remo Palmier's 1978 album, Cassey's composition becomes a vehicle for tasteful blues soloing.
Guitarist Bruce Acosta, a Columbia University senior, spent the summer of 2021 at jazzleadsheets.com, working on our Guitar Corner. He wrote this beautiful duet, which includes Sara's original introduction, and we hope to record him playing it later in the year.
Guitarist Bruce Acosta, a Columbia University senior, spent the summer of 2021 at jazzleadsheets.com, working on our Guitar Corner. He wrote this beautiful duet, which includes Sara's original introduction, and we hope to record him playing it later in the year.
A minor blues with a lyrical melody and unexpected harmonies, Sara Carrey's Windflower combines sophistication and subtlety. As the title track of guitarists Herb Ellis and Remo Palmier's 1978 album, Cassey's composition becomes a vehicle for tasteful blues soloing. Bruce Acosta's guitar score features their arrangement of the tune as well as Cassey's original intro—a perfect way to practice phrasing and blending with another guitarist.
Sara Cassey
April 1, 1929 – May 5, 1966
from Don Sickler: I can tell you a few things, but unfortunately only a very few things about Sara Cassey. I know she was from Detroit. She came to New York sometime in the mid '50's. She was a pianist, but not a performing jazz pianist. She wrote her music out in full, through composed, in notation, not melody with chord symbols. While in New York, she worked for Riverside Records and therefore got to meet many of the great jazz musicians who recorded for that label. Many of the Detroit musicians, such as the Jones brothers (Hank, Thad and Elvin), pianists Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris and Roland Hanna, and bassist Ron Carter, knew she was a talented composer. They passed that knowledge on to other great musicians like trumpeter Clark Terry, saxophonist Johnny Griffin, pianists Billy Taylor, Junior Mance and Marian McPartland, as well as drummer Charli Persip, all of whom recorded her music. Read more...