Here’s the original studio version of the song I posted last week.
Again, for the sake of time, my video doesn’t include the melody, it starts with Maceo’s solo on page two, about 3:40s into the track.
Maceo Parker - Advanced Funk (School's In)
Enjoy!
@SDartSax
I’m going through my backlog of Maceo solos, and ‘A’ seemed like a fitting place to start. This is a live version with a full big band. I’ll post the studio version soon.
For the sake of time, my video doesn’t include the melody, it starts with Maceo’s solo on page two, about 4:40s into the track.
Maceo Parker - Advanced Funk (Roots and Grooves)
Enjoy!
@SDartSax
More Paul Desmond from the Time Out album. I’d like to finish all the transcriptions on this album someday soon, they are all so beautiful!
My usual caveat with the chord changes on this chart – it’s especially complex, and chords are not my strong suit, so fair warning on the accuracy! I cobbled together what I could from a lead sheet and my ear, neither of which I trust a great deal…
Paul Desmond - Strange Meadow Lark
Enjoy!
@SdartSax
More Paul Desmond from “Time Out”. This one is tricky, alternating two-bar phrases in 4/4 and 3/4. Even though I’ve heard it a thousand times, it’s still hard to feel some of the entrances!
Paul Desmond - Three to get Ready
Enjoy!
@SdartSax
Continuing from part 1 last week, here is part 2…
The trickiest part of this solo is the rhythm. It’s very syncopated. The bank half of the track is a long blow: Two full choruses of the form followed by twenty four bars of a single chord ‘breakdown’, then three more choruses of the form to finish out the track.
One interesting thing that I noticed is that there are a bunch of places where Maceo plays two notes with one using an alternate fingering. This by itself is not unusual – lots of people use this technique (including Maceo). The thing that’s interesting to me about this is that in this solo, it sounds like he’s using the alternate fingering on the first note of the grouping, and not the second note, which is what he (and other players) would more commonly do. Maybe he was just in a certain mood when he recorded this.
For convenience, the PDF is for the entire track, but the video below is for the second solo in the track, starting at the top of page 3.
Maceo Parker - Splashin'
Enjoy!
@SDartSax
I saw a request for this solo on one of the SOTW forums, so I gave it a listen. I don’t know why I had never transcribed it before – it’s such a fun song!
This was a bit of a rush job for me. It’s a long song, with two very distinct sections, so I’m posting them one at a time as I complete them. With any luck I’ll have part 2 done next week. On a good day, I get about an hour to practice after work is done and the kids are in bed. So I transcribed about two choruses a night on Monday-Tuesday, practiced and recorded it Wednesday, and edited the video and blog post for publication tonight. Whew!
In retrospect I would have liked to have practiced the solo for another hour before posting, but I believe the transcription is pretty accurate, even if my playing isn’t 😉
Maceo Parker - Splashin'
Enjoy!
@SDartSax
UPDATE: Part 2 is posted here, I’ve updated the PDF above to contain both parts.
Another great Kenny Garrett solo from Amandla. Actually, there are two solos in this track, so be sure to keep watching the video after the first fade. The solos are split across two pages in the PDF.
I think there’s only one or two more Kenny Garrett solos on this album, I’ll shoot to get the rest done before the end of the year.
Kenny Garrett - Big Time
Enjoy!
@SdartSax
More Kenny Garrett! I love his playing on this album, even though the solos are so short. I’ll have to double-check the chords on this one. I pulled them from a lead sheet, but Kenny seems to be consistently playing major 3rds against the C minor. Even a major 7th and sharp 4. I wish I had a better ear for chords!
Kenny Garrett - Jo-Jo
Enjoy!
@SdartSax
Paul Desmond – So smooth, so dry. So many metaphors have been used to compare his sound to various foods or alcoholic beverages. He is so unique and special, and this is one of his best known solos.
His playing is deceptively simple on this tune, which defies the level of complexity introduced by the 5/4 time signature. It lays so well you would think it’s in 4/4.
Funny story – As I was editing the solo for upload it dawned on me that the solos are just over the vamp. I’ve played this song so many times over the years and every rhythm section I’ve played it with plays the form over the solos – bridge and all!
Paul Desmond - Take Five
Enjoy!
@SdartSax
I love me some Kenny Garrett! He’s probably my favorite jazz Alto player on the scene today. It’s like Maceo Parker and John Coltrane had a musical baby.
Kenny has a beautiful, bright, clear sound with a very percussive attack, much like Maceo, but he generally plays music that is much more harmonically and technically complex (which you’d expect given their respective genres).
This is an especially interesting track because it shows Kenny playing over a one-chord funk/fusion groove. I love how he plays with the major seventh in the 4th and 5th bars. He really doesn’t stray too far from the blues scale, but when he does, the alterations really pop.
I think that I’ve got most of Kenny’s solos from this period with Miles transcribed, so I’ll be working them into the mix over the next couple months.
Kenny Garrett - Jilli
Enjoy!
@SdartSax
