"Single Petal of a Rose" Transcription

I recently posted a transcription of Duke Ellington's "The Single Petal of a Rose." Written in 1959, it wasn't officially released until the mid-1970s, save for one recording presented to the dedicatee, Queen Elizabeth II.

The song has been a favorite of mine for several years; you can read an earlier post I made about the song, including a YouTube recording, here.

This transcription is partially based on Ellington's original recording and partially based on memories I had of the David Berger transcription I originally got in undergrad and subsequently lost during a move. The loss of the Berger transcription was the impetus for writing out my transcription, as was the opportunity to demonstrate more of my engraving skills. I intentionally left out pedal markings, unlike the error-ridden version published by Hal Leonard, because each pianist is going to approach that differently (just as Ellington did, on different live recordings such as The Great London Concerts and The New York Concert, released by the Jazz Heritage Society). I also wanted to include the bass part, because even though the piece is frequently by a solo pianist, it originally had an arco bass that adds a different dimension to the piece.

I recently found a recording of the piece by Ben Webster, on his See You At the Fair album, and a horrible transcription of a great performance by Marcus Roberts is available on YouTube. My favorite recording remains, though, that of Sir Roland Hanna's from his Duke Ellington Piano Solos album - a superb masterclass in solo piano performance throughout. That's next on my list to transcribe; his slight changes in chords are fantastic, and the overall performance is sublime.

Thoughts after seeing the Maria Schneider Orchestra

Some non-analytical, off-the-cuff thoughts after seeing Maria Schneider and her eponymous orchestra perform at Birdland on June 4th, celebrating the release of her new album The Thompson Fields.

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Image via Texas Public Radio

I’ve been a fan of Maria Schneider for … 15 years? Probably closer to 20, now that I think about it. My dad introduced me to her after he got Coming About. As usual, it took me a little while to latch on to her style and to understand what she was doing. (I was in early high school at this time, trying to learn as much about music as possible, but my ears were much more inclined to hard boppers like Horace Silver and late 50s Miles Davis or Count Basie and Duke Ellington than Maria Schneider.)

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Can we talk about how she won a Grammy for Concert In the Garden, how that album was completely crowd-funded - one of the first jazz albums to do so, and a trend-setter in that regard - and lead to a successful record label that's almost completely crowd-funded?

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My favorite piece of her’s depends on when you ask me. Sometimes it’s “Hang Gliding.” Others, it’s “The ‘Pretty’ Road.” Or “Cerulean Skies.” Or “Bulería, Soleá Y Rumba.” You catch my drift.

But there are moments in songs that give me chills or make me want to jump up and down with glee whenever I hear them:

• The reed parts in “Dança Ilusória,” particularly after the trombone solo, around the 6:30 mark.
• The “Rumba” in “Bulería, Soleá Y Rumba,” which modulates its melody up by a minor 3rd as it progresses.
• The alternating 3/2 and 12/8 feel in the “Bulería” portion of “Bulería, Soleá Y Rumba.” Steve Reich used a similar idea in the last movement of his “Electric Counterpoint,” and there’s something about that shifting of beats - even though the number of eighth notes stays consistent - that gets inside me in the best way possible.
• The part after Ingrid Jensen’s solo in “The ‘Pretty’ Road,” that is the epitome of Maria Schneider: dense harmonies, mixed orchestrations, melodies on top of and handed off to various sections, long lines supported by vibrant countermelodies …
• The backgrounds behind the tenor solo, and then coming out of that solo, in “Hang Gliding.” And its 11/8 meter.
• Frequent moments when she has sustained tones supported by angular countermelodies.

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I can say that my favorite album is Concert In the Garden, but I also love Sky Blue and The Thompson Fields immensely. I think I wore out Concert In the Garden the summer of 2005, playing it in my car and at home almost non-stop. I can sing any and all lines on that album, if you ask me nicely.

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The set list from when I saw the band was a mix of old and new:

• “Dance You Monster To My Soft Song”
• “A Potter’s Song”
• “Gumba Blue”
• “Lembrança”
• “The Thompson Fields” (about “everything that’s beautiful about being from a small town in the Midwest”)
• “Arbiter’s of Evolution” - with the tricky beginning where you have no idea what the time signature is, and then you realize it’s been 4/4 the entire time and you exclaim, “What?!”

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She has filled her band with some of the best musicians around, each one a superb soloist and excellent ensemble player.

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Scott Robinson is the only person who can make the alto clarinet sound good. (Check out “Walking By Flashlight” from her new album.)

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Scott Robinson came to my high school once or twice, with Frank Mantooth’s big band. (Mantooth wass another superb composer and arranger, who’s untimely death left a void in the jazz world.) Robinson wasn’t on Mantooth’s Sophisticated Ladies album, but he took the bari solos while at SPHS, and sounded incredible (obviously). One of these times was also when I had dinner with baritone Kevin Mahogany, sitting in a home ec room, eating spaghetti made by band moms.

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I think that her being from the Midwest (southern Minnesota) has not only affected her sensibilities - she has the air of being one of the most pleasant and down to earth people ever, and that’s saying a lot because so much of the jazz world shares her humility and humor - but also the quiet beauty of her music. It’s not forceful or brash; it has that false simplicity, an impression of effortlessness, that gives way to a relentless energy and drive - sometimes it’s apparent and sometimes it’s simmering just below the surface.

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Schneider looks like a painter when she conducts, brushing broad strokes on the canvas of her band.

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No, better yet: she looks like a dancer. Those who say contemporary jazz is not danceable need to watch Schneider lead her band.

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When you see her live, you can see the look on her face during the bass solo of “Lembrança.” Appreciation. Pride. Trust. Gratitude. To have that feeling while hearing your music performed must be incredible.

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She is beautiful. Her music is beautiful.

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She’s not the first to use an non-standard instrumentation with a big band, but, in my opinion, she orchestrates better than most anyone else out there. (Even, dare I say, better than Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer, two of her mentors.) Especially since she started adding wordless vocals as another instrument in her band. Alto flute, alto clarinet, oboe, accordion … She makes her big band sound like a full-fledged chamber orchestra.

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Make sure to listen to Winter Morning Walks if you want to hear her music performed by an actual chamber orchestra (and sung superbly by Dawn Upshaw).

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I am not a composer. I have no real desire to be one. But if I were, she would be one of my role models. I would consider myself lucky if I could write 4 bars as good as she does.

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I love that her band is still thriving. They started seemingly eons ago, performing Monday nights in New York, which turned out to be a great workshop for her new arrangements and compositions. She's a slow writer, compared to some other contemporary composers, so we're not always blessed with a new album or live performances. I think that makes me cherish a new album or concert even more than usual.

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If you haven't heard any Maria Schneider, remedy that as soon as possible. Then send me a message and let me know what you think!

Red Garland's solo on "Bye, Bye Blackbird"

Red Garland was one of my first jazz influences. Early high school was spent listening almost nonstop to the albums he recorded with Miles Davis. I’m not sure why I was so drawn to him. I remember that my teacher was the first to introduce me to him, and that my friends and I wore out those albums. I was so enamored with Garland that my AOL username was partly a “tribute” to him. As is the case with much of what I listened to in high school, over time I listened to him less and less - but whenever the mood struck me and I turned on some of those early Miles albums, I couldn’t help but smile and sing along to Garland’s solos.

A previously unreleased set of Garland’s was released a few months ago. I purchased it without pause, excited to hear him play in a live trio setting, towards the end of his career (and his life). It reminded me that I’ve been wanting to formally transcribe and upload his classic solo from “Bye Bye Blackbird,” off of Miles’s ‘Round About Midnight album. I transcribed it a long time ago, but over the years, as my jazz practice fell off and transformed into jazz appreciation, I forgot it - about the solo, and how to play it. Of course, whatever notes I made years ago were lost to the ages.

So I started from scratch. I hadn’t transcribed a jazz solo for a long time and this experience made me realize how much I missed this simple act. It’s an act of creativity, in a way, even if it’s not creative in the sense of making something anew. There’s something special about spending time with a piano, a pencil, some staff paper, and a recording, and blocking out the rest of the world as you listen to a masterful recording, taking what you already know inside and out and putting it on paper.

This solo is such straightforward Garland that it should be in every textbook. The melodic contour is pure medium tempo bebop: we see tritone substitutions, chordal outlines, passing tones and entrapment, ghost notes. The comping left hand plays on the and of beats 2 and 4, a rhythm that can be heard in many Garland solos and when he’s comping behind other players; the anticipation of the beats helps propel the solo forward.

We wouldn’t have a Garland solo if there weren’t a block chord section. Garland’s block chord style is unique but relatively simple. The left hand usually plays rootless voicing of the chord, oftentimes with alterations. The right hand outlines an octave with the middle voice sounding a fifth up from the bottom. This interval often creates tension, because it falls outside of the chordal harmony. As was typical of Miles recordings from this era, Garland only plays half of this chorus before Miles enters in with the out head.

Garland plays a block chord introduction, also included here. It’s a classic intro in the jazz world, and a great starting point for inexperienced musicians to begin creating head arrangements in a combo setting.

The complete transcription can be found on my transcriptions page. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do with this transcription, but I'm glad I worked on it. I hope that people can find a good use for it!

Please do send feedback or corrections!

In memoriam: Clark Terry

Late Saturday evening, word came out that Clark Terry - great jazz musician and educator - passed away. His wife Gwen, who has been keeping the jazz world informed of CT's health for quite a while now, posted a note on Facebook, and word - and tributes - disseminated rapidly.

I wrote about CT last month, after I finished his memoirs. I don't have much more to add to it, other than this is a devastating loss to the jazz and education communities. One we knew was coming, to be sure, but still a loss.

““After that surgery in ‘91, I understood why it was imperative that I should encourage my students. When I was teaching them what I knew as far as playing the music was concerned, it was really about establishing relationships. Of course, it was extremely important to me that they would perpetuate jazz far and wide, but it was mostly about spending time together and listening to what their dreams were. To me, jazz was love. And like the old saying goes, ‘It’s better to give than to receive.’ It worked out well for them and it felt great to me, thinking that I could contribute something to make their dreams come true.””

— Clark Terry, “Clark: The Autobiography of Clark Terry” p240 (2011)

I never met CT, but his spirit was infectious. I can think of no better way to remember him than by listening to two of his most high-spirited recordings: "Brotherhood of Man," with the Oscar Peterson Trio, and, of course, "Mumbles," from the same album.

Rest in Peace, CT. You brought the world great joy and innumerable knowledge. You live on in your countless recordings and the thousands of people you taught and played with, and who continue to spread the gospel of jazz.

Grainger on Grieg and Gershwin

By Central News Photo Service, via Wikimedia Commons

"'The Man I Love' is one of the great songs of all time, taking its place in immortality beside the finest love-songs by Dowland, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Gabriel Fauré, Henri du Parc, Hatton, Maude Valerie White, Cyril Scott, Roger Quilter, Debussy and John Alden Carpenter.

... Such similarities (to Grieg) amounts to almost identicalness! But none of this detracts from Gershwin's immense and indisputable originality. It only shows what a life-giving inspiration Grieg's startling innovations provided for almost all truly progressive composers that cam after him: Debussy, Ravel, Delius, Cyril Scot, Albeniz, Stravinsky, MacDowell, Gershwin. And it goes to prove how deeply Gershwin's genius (whatever inspiration it also drew from popular and local sources) was rooted in the traditions of classical cosmopolitan music. So much of Gershwin's unique and subtle greatness lies in his humanistic universalism - in his effortless ability to reconcile hitherto unreconciled contrasts and seemingly opposing tendencies."

-Percy Aldridge Grainger, June 22, 1994 (forward to his concert version of The Man I Love)