A little bit of Shadow Wilson’s playing on Nutty, from Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, at Carnegie Hall. This is Monk’s second solo chorus, starting at 2:33. The tune is 32 bars long, form is […]
Category: transcriptions
Solo transcription: Billy Higgins – Dear John
More soloing from Billy Higgins, on Dear John, on Freddie Hubbard’s record Bolivia. The tune has the same chord changes as John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, which is a 16 bar form, but the drum solo […]
Transcription: Billy Higgins trading
Some uptempo trading 8s and 4s on Moose the Mooche, from an old favorite album, Wish by Joshua Redman, with Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins on drums. I used to play along […]
Very occasional quote of the day: the way they got built
“I’ve never really been interested in the books that do things like analyze Sonny Rollins or Coltrane solos because I’ve never seen one that breaks them down in the same way they got built.”– Melvin […]
Groove o’ the day: Grady Tate Afro
Grady Tate playing a heavy Afro-Cuban style groove, or Afro 6, as I’ve been calling it, on Grant Green’s The Final Comedown movie soundtrack. The track is Soul Food African Shop, and the transcription is […]
Transcription: Tony Williams – Cantaloupe Island
A student was asking about Cantaloupe Island, played by Tony Williams on Herbie Hancock’s Empyrean Isles album, so I went ahead and transcribed the whole thing. Why not. The style may get called as a […]
Transcription: Buddy Rich – Big Mac
Buddy Rich drum solo on Big Mac, a prodigious funk/rock arrangement by Ernie Wilkins, from Rich’s album Ease On Down The Road— it’s actually better known from Roar of ’74, but I have it on […]
Transcription: Mel Lewis comping
On Chess Mates, from a 1985 Joe Lovano record, Tone Shapes & Colors— a live recording with Mel Lewis on drums, and Kenny Werner on piano. A lot of what I’d call “non-independent” drumming here, […]
Transcription: Elvin Jones – Foolin’ Myself – 04
UPDATE: Boy I suck. This is of course the third solo chorus, and the fourth total entry in this series. I’ll fix that… sometime. Continuing that Elvin Jones transcription from late last year— Elvin Jones playing […]
Transcription: Elvin Jones – Foolin’ Myself – 03
We’ll keep going with this. Part 3 of Elvin Jones playing on Foolin’ Myself, from Lee Konitz’s record Motion. This is the second chorus of Konitz’s solo, starting at 1:57 in the track. The previous […]
Elvin’s Biddy Oats
No, this is an ALL Elvin Jones site. I think we have to earn it if we’re going to talk about him, put in some work, have some humility, don’t be a leech. I imagine […]
Transcription: more medium tempo Elvin
Here’s some more of Elvin Jones playing that same tune from yesterday, Foolin’ Myself, from Lee Konitz’s record Motion. This is the first chorus of Konitz’s solo, starting at 0:58: It’s pretty straightforward if you […]