Clifford Brown, Daahoud, and Ears.

Do you remember three-dimensional chess in the old Star Trek? That’s an image that kept coming back to me as I tried to pick apart this solo, along with a nagging question: What would this performance - note-for-note, the exact thing, played by the same guys - what would it’ve sounded like recorded and mixed on today’s equipment? And this: Jazz today operates in a world where we can make a “perfect” recording, fixing after the fact anything that might be perceived as a mistake. More and more young jazz players are able to fulfill the expectation (largely self-imposed) of intellectual rigor. Has the music lost complexity in the bargain? 

We’ll look at Brown’s solo first, then consider the contributions of two of his fellow mages, George Morrow and Richie Powell. The whole solo appears below, and here's a link: https://youtu.be/lv4EarQxGMo

Clifford Brown and company could definitely play over any changes they wanted to, but it’s hard to imagine many things in music more boring than a whole band “playing over the changes.” (Ask me how I know this!) What are “the changes” anyway? The written chords of Daaoud as seen below, are a surface representation. The play of harmonic motion against the gravity of the tonic leaves a broad mental impression. This “psychological imprint” (to use Saussure’s phrase) is necessarily less detailed than the actual written harmony. A set of changes is one way of eliciting a particular impression of motion. So much of what is interesting in this solo is not how Brownie plays over the changes. Rather, it is his shifting relationship to them which gives his solo so much of its depth and richness. 

Brown alternates between three harmonic/structural levels in his two choruses: the “home key” of Eb minor/major, which may be considered the “deepest” level, and the one which influences all the others; the key of the moment; and the chord of the moment. There are a few passages here which, on paper, might be seen as a “mistake,” unless viewed in relation to one or the other of these levels. For example, the line 

is obviously a line in Eb minor. Yet though it clashes visually with the written chord changes in the second bar,

nobody hears this as a “mistake” or a lapse. Notice also the way Brown all but ignores the V-I cadences in the home key of Eb maj/min (the II chord, Fm7b5, is written but rarely if ever alluded to by anyone, Brownie or the accompanists, in these two choruses).

The different levels of a tune are, in many if not most places, simultaneously compatible.

When Brown plays “chord-specifically,” he may outline a chord or play a scale line that reflects a chord substitution. Chord outlines usually begin with approach notes, with the fifth as a frequent insertion point into the chord. 

 Here is the solo, with annotations (in crayon… an experiment that as you can see didn’t really work) indicating my idea of which harmonic/structural levels Brownie seems to be in. This excellent transcription comes thanks to Petri Krzwacki and was posted at http://www.saxopedia.com/transcriptions-trumpet/#Clifford-Brown.

Tricotism: Oscar Peterson’s approach to “non-dominant” dominant 7ths

The following examples are from Oscar’s solo on The Sound of the Trio, recorded live in Chicago in 1961. https://youtu.be/2jL_Kg-lS_k

Eb7, in the context of the key of Db major, is generally understood to have a “lydian-flat-seventh” sound, and is traditionally interpreted (though rarely taught) using the one-chord of the scale in which it appears, the tonic of Bb melodic minor, BbmM7.  This is indeed Peterson’s preferred approach.

These are the basic changes to Tricotism with the chords we’ll be exploring in boldface:

Dbmaj7  | Dbmaj7  | Eb7    | Eb7    | Gb7   Gdim7     | Db   Bb7   | Ebm7 (A7 in the head)  |  Ab7     |  

Dbmaj7  | Dbmaj7  | Eb7    | Eb7    | Gb7   Gdim7     | Db   Bb7   | Ebm7   Ab7   | Db      |

A7      |  A7     | Dbmaj7  |  F7        | Bbm    Bbm(M7)  |  Bbm7    Bbm6   | Ebm7     | Ab7   |

Dbmaj7  | Dbmaj7  | Eb7    | Eb7    | Gb7   | Gdim7     | Db   Bb7   | Ebm7   Ab7   | Db      |

The examples are from the first four choruses of his solo. The numbering of the examples refers to the chorus (numbers 1 - 4) and the eight-bar section (a - d) within each 32-bar chorus. Thus “Ex 3(c)” would refer to what Oscar played over the A7 in the bridge of the third chorus. Please disregard any stray measure numbers - I just forgot to remove them from the finale file!

I’ve asserted in other posts (and still believe) that we play and hear jazz on a number of levels, sometimes simultaneously. In other words, it’s possible to be “in Eb7,” use Bbm gestures to play over it, and do so in a way that emphasizes the home key of Db. That is precisely what is happening in many instances here. 

            

                              Ex 4(d)

The use of blue notes is a reliable indicator of tonicization, that is, the improvisor’s conception of the tonal center at a given moment. In Peterson’s Tricotism solo, Fb’s (especially those leading to F-natural) are best understood as being blue thirds in Db, rather than the b9 of Eb7. I strongly believe that this is also how our ears perceive it.

                    Exx 1(a) and 4(a) 

                                               

Another blue third, in example 3(b), is an Ab in an upward F-Ab-A-C run, may not be heard as such - indeed it fairly flies by - but still indicates Oscar's investment in the F-major triad implied by the upper chord tones of a Bbm(M9) chord.

                       Ex 3(b)

In the first two choruses Peterson seems to be studiously avoiding the major third G of Eb7, preferring to play Bb-melodic minor passages, or reference the home key of Db with blues gestures. But as we saw in the previous example, starting with the third chorus a bit more attention is being paid to the "written" changes.

                       Ex 3(d) 

His approach to A7 is more enigmatic; he never “spells” an A7 or A9, preferring to arpeggiate Em7 or Em9. 

                        

                         Ex 2(c)

In the following examples, he seems to hold off as long as possible from the major third C#, which he never approaches by means of a blue third. Indeed this note appears to be the target note of the run, but sounds like neither a resolution or the home key tonic. Maybe Oscar's fingers recognized a Db?

 Exx 3(c) and 4(c)

In general, Oscar is playing in a very clear, chord-specific manner. But the chords he prefers to be specific about are substitutes rather than the written ones.

Following are all the examples from the first four choruses.

Major scales for Ukulele, 2 octaves, all 12 keys.

All 12-keys. Obviously we can't run "doe-to-doe" over two octaves in every key, but these all cover the entire 2-octave compass of the neck. The arrows indicate ascending or descending through the scale. These all start from the lowest root and go to the highest possible note; then you want to descend to the lowest possible note, and then back up to end on the starting note.

After you have "played" the scales, then "play WITH" the scales!

3-octave scales for 6-string bass

I use a low C instead of B, so for the very few notes that occur on the 6th string, just add 1 to the fret number. Fingerings are above the TAB staff, and the brackets indicate notes within a position. Probably redundant, but for me it's a helpful visual aid.

Jazz and Soul Mandolin - comping 7th chords

The Mandolin Diaries - some hip 7th chords to use on "Assanhado"

Jacob do Bandolim's "Assanhado" is one of those tunes - like "Sweet Georgia Brown," "There Is No Greater Love," "Lazy River" et al - that can be a veritable study in dominant 7th chords. The tune is in A, but sooner or later you run through Bb7, F7, C7, G7, D7, A7 and E7. What with all the chord voicings available on mandolin in GDAD tuning, there's a lot to explore. Here's some hip 7th and 9ths for the B-section.

Then some arpeggio exercises which should be self-explanatory. You can also do these diatonically.

"Here's That Rainy Day" chord solo for mandolin

A chord-melody solo on an old jazz ballad.