I wrote out an arrangement of this piece as part of some incidental music I was arranging for a show I was musical director on; sadly it was cut in the end, but here’s a chart I made for the arrangement played on the MJQ record anyway. Straight 8s for the John Lewis’ solo piano… Continue reading Blues in C Minor – Milt Jackson
Something completely different! Even though they both only last for 8 bars each, I thought i’d transcribe Ge0rge Benson’s solo and the groove (played by fellow jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour) on this Quincy Jones-produced track. This solo is a really good example of developing a theme – the same, F minor arpeggio-based idea is repeated… Continue reading Give Me the Night – George Benson (solo)
Six choruses of great playing by Stern on a jam session favorite, from the 2002 record ‘Four Generations of Miles’. Stern features alongside fellow Davis-band alumni George Coleman, Jimmy Cobb and Ron Carter. Watch out for the extended 16th note phrases in this one – a Stern trademark perhaps, but his phrasing isn’t as clear… Continue reading Freddie Freeloader – Mike Stern’s Solo
Here’s the title track off Mike Stern’s 1999 release ‘Play’. It’s a fun rock-ish number which features John Scofield alongside Stern. Bill Frisell guests on ‘Blue Tone’ and ‘All Heart’ as well. I’ve written the head out at crotchet = 115 and the solos at a double time feel as this seemed clearest to me… Continue reading Play – Mike Stern
Here’s five choruses of minor blues soloing by Wes. I love the way he builds up the melody in the final two octave choruses. Something Like Bags (solo) – Full Score
I found this recently while organizing sheet music to take to Oxford – I was set to transcribe this as homework by my Jazz teacher, the great pianist John Law. I obviously never finished it, as I was only able to find the first chorus and the two A sections and B section of the… Continue reading What Is This Thing Called Love? – Bill Evan’s solo (unfinished)
Following up from my transcription of Wes’ solo on the alternate take of Moanin’ I thought it’d be good idea to post another transcription of a lesser known solo on these changes. This is Lee Morgan’s solo on the alternate take of Moanin’, issued with some of the latest re-releases of the album on CD. The reason… Continue reading Moanin’ – Lee Morgan’s solo (alternate take)
Taking a quick break from the straight-ahead stuff I’ve put up recently I’m going back briefly to funk for a bit. This one is from the 2015 album ‘Juice’ by Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood and penned by Billy Martin, the drummer. Like a lot of the tunes on this album its fairly simple (this… Continue reading Louis the Shoplifter – Billy Martin (Medeski, Martin & Wood)
I’ve transcribed lots of Wes solos but haven’t put any up here yet. As most of the ones I’ve transcribed have been done much better by other people I’ll instead focus on my transcriptions of some more obscure Wes performances: in this case, this transcription is from a rare broadcast of NPR’s ‘Jazz Workshop’ recorded… Continue reading Blue Monk – Wes Montgomery’s Solo
Here is another tune from Cameron Pierre’s album ‘Pad Up! (Get Ready)’. This one is obviously inspired by John Leslie (Wes) Montgomery, in particular the sort of sounds on the Boss Guitar album. The melody here is played entirely with the thumb, and Courtney Pine on baritone saxophone joins Pierre for both the intro, B… Continue reading John Leslie – Cameron Pierre
Wallpaper Jazz 