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You are here: Home / Transcriptions / Ryan Devlin Burnin’ Tenor Sax Solo on Softly as a Morning Sunrise Transcription

Ryan Devlin Burnin’ Tenor Sax Solo on Softly as a Morning Sunrise Transcription

November 25, 2023 by Steve 2 Comments

Here is a burnin’ tenor saxophone solo on Softly as a Morning Sunrise that the young saxophonist, Ryan Devlin posted on Facebook a number of months ago.  As soon as I heard it, I saved the URL to my computer file entitled “Solos to Transcribe”.  Yesterday, I decided to get her done and here is the transcription below in Bb, Eb and C.

Ryan Devlin (photo from his website)

If you haven’t heard of Ryan Devlin, then you are in for a treat.  The first time I heard him playing on social media I thought, “Wow, this guy has listened to a lot of 70’s Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman!”  Ryan uses a lot of that language which uses a ton of Coltrane 3-tonic lines, chromaticism and pentatonics (Check out Elvin Jones “Live at the Lighthouse” if you don’t know what I am writing about).   Along with those concepts, Ryan adds a ton of energy and “in-your-face” rawness to create an edge of your seat performance.

Many of you will be confused by many of the lines played in this transcription.   As I say in many of my video lessons,  “you can play whatever you want while improvising as long as you play it with confidence and resolve it.”   George Garzone  basically told me this in lessons while I was at Berklee and the whole concept just totally blew my young “analytical-everything has to make sense and be correct” mindset at the time.

As you can see in the transcription, Ryan is sticking to the form and hitting the changes at some key spots but in  between those moments, it’s like the wild west of jazz improvisation with lots of the concepts I mentioned above to fill the lines.  This kind of playing always puts me on the edge of my seat because the listener doesn’t know where it is going or how the player is going to get out of these complicated lines.    When they do, it feels incredible and magical.   Ryan does a great job of this in this short solo.   I hope you enjoy it as much as I did transcribing it.

If you want to know more about Ryan Devlin, check out his website and follow him on Facebook and Instagram.  He is always posting new videos of his playing to check out.  I love watching these young up and coming players progress and mature before our very eyes and I look forward to his future musical endeavors.  Thanks to Ryan Devlin for sharing his playing with us in the video below,,,,,,,even if you are in your boxers……hahaha!

Ryan Devlin Burnin’ Tenor Sax Solo on Softly as a Morning Sunrise Transcription Bb PDF
Ryan Devlin Burnin’ Tenor Sax Solo on Softly as a Morning Sunrise Transcription Eb PDF
Ryan Devlin Burnin’ Tenor Sax Solo on Softly as a Morning Sunrise Transcription Concert PDF
*If you would like to support me here at neffmusic.com, you can do so on the support page of my store by debit or credit card.   Any support is appreciated and will go towards keeping this site running, saxophone reeds, mouthpiece patches, coffee, and towards justifying the many hours I spend on providing free transcriptions to the saxophone community!  Thanks,   Steve

 

https://cdn.neffmusic.com/2023/SoftlyasaMorningSunrise-RyanDevlin.mp3

Audio Clip of Ryan Devlin playing solo over Softly as a Morning Sunrise

 

https://cdn.neffmusic.com/2023/Softly-RyanDevlin-Small.mp4

Ryan Devlin Playing a One Chorus Melody/Solo over “Softly as a Morning Sunrise” from Facebook/Instagram

If you like these types of modern lines like I do, be sure to check out my Devastating Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing for Minor and Dominant Grooves. These two books are filled with great modern 16th note lines in all 12 keys that you can learn and use while soloing.  Check out all the 5 star reviews! Steve

DevastatingFrontCoverAdDevastating Minor Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing

DevastatingDominantAdDevastating Dominant Lines for Jazz & Funk

Filed Under: Transcriptions Tagged With: jazz saxophone, Ryan Devlin, Softly as a Morning Sunrise, tenor sax, transcription

Steve

About Steve

Steve Neff has been playing and teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation around the New England area for over 30 years. He is the author of many best selling jazz improvisation methods as well as founding the popular jazz video lesson site Neffmusic.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarGiuseppe C. says

    November 28, 2023 at 1:04 pm

    Fantastic!
    Giuseppe.

    Reply
  2. AvatarSonso says

    December 20, 2023 at 11:14 am

    In other words, always know where you are in the form, and make sure you hit a few chord/melody tones on the downbeat(s)!

    Reply

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