Archive for the ‘Transcriptions’ Category

This bootleg recording is of Chris Potter teaching at a clinic. It’s been floating around the internet for a number of years now and is an amazing example of what Chris Potter can do with a jazz standard like “All the Things You Are”. He’s playing it solo! Just him and his tenor sax.

Now, if you are a follower of jazz and all things saxophone you are probably quite impressed if not in shock by this solo. But I have another item that will impress and shock you also. Ben Doherty has transcribed this whole solo! Every note. This is an amazing task. I know because I had the ambition to do this myself at one time. I transcribed about 4 choruses of the solo before I gave up. I thought “This is impossible and will take way too much time”. Well, shortly after this Ben came out with his transcription and I was one happy camper. I couldn’t believe that he had done this. Here’s the link to download the transcription.

You will notice that there is a donation link. You can download the solo without donating but I encourage any of you who are grateful to donate to Ben. Even if you can only donate a few bucks, I think it is important to acknowledge the work he has done here. Who knows maybe if we appreciate him enough he’ll transcribe another Chris Potter “monster solo” for us!  Thanks again Ben!

Here is a great solo that I transcribed a couple of years ago.  It’s from Jeff Helmer’s album “Peak Moments”.  The tune is a standard called “What is this thing called love?” and features Rick Margitza on tenor saxophone.   It’s a great tune by Cole Porter that all jazz players should know. It’s a 32 bar AABA form and is pretty easy to learn.  It has some cool minor ii-V sequences. I think it was the first tune i learned as a kid that had  a minor ii-V in it.  Rick Margitza takes a killer solo in it.  When I first heard it I knew I had to transcribe it.  He plays a bunch of lines in it that really intrigued me and I wanted to see  what he was playing and maybe get an idea of how he thinks. Here’s a link to the song if you are interested in buying it. I would really suggest listening to it so you get the sound in your ear. Just reading it off the page won’t give you the big picture.  What really attracted me to this solo were the flowing lines and the way that he uses tension and release.  Check it out!

What is this thing called love?

Peak Moments-Whole album

What is this thing called love-Rick Margitza Solo (420)

Here are two Chris Potter transcriptions that I received from  Corey Armstrong for tenor sax.  I haven’t had the time to check them out note for note but these are two great solos from the “Song for Anyone” CD and must have taken quite a bit of time to figure out. Corey said I could share them if I like so here you go. The thing that fascinates me about Chris Potter is his rhythmic concept. It’s so free and flowing. He plays with the time continuously.  Check out Chief Seattle. Note that in many instances he’s just playing sixteenth notes but he accents the notes in unique ways.  Read the rest of this entry »

Joshua Redman is one of my favorite tenor sax players out there. I especially love his early albums “Moodswing” and “Timeless Tales”. Here’s Joshua Redman transcription from the album “Live In San Francisco” with Pat Metheny.  This tune is called “Blues for Pat” and it’s a great solo on a blues form. Redman does a lot of things rhythmically that really caught my attention on this solo.  I love how he builds the energy on it. Check it out!
blues-for-pat

I received this Bb transcription from Kevin Jones who teaches at the University of South Carolina. This is from a version of Body and Soul that Chris played on for “Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis: Season 1, Vol. 3″. There are some great elements to check out in this solo. I haven’t played through it yet but I listened to it and it’s killer. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are two short transcriptions of solos Chris Potter did on a March 8, 2008 masterclass that he did somewhere. The bootleg was floating around the internet (www.dimeadozen.org) and I was lucky enough to grab it. In these two examples Chris is showing the differences in his playing style from when he was younger to now. The first solo is pretty straight forward rhythmically and he is sticking pretty close to the changes and a standard bebop type approach. Read the rest of this entry »

I found this site the other day. It has hundreds of Cannonball solos. If you don’t know Cannonball you need to check him out. He’s the man on alto! Whoever made all of these transcriptions………….Thanks You!

http://www.cannonballjazz.com/Cannonball/Cannonball_Solo_Song_List.htm