Lennie Tristano, "Note To Note"

Here is a link to my transcription of Lennie Tristano's right hand on "Note To Note," recorded in 1964 or 1965. The chord changes, as Tristano lets on melodically in the first three measures, are those of Jerome Kern's "All The Things You Are."

While a transcription of Tristano's left hand would be illuminating, his harmonic substitutions are mostly apparent in the construction of the melodic line. His sophisticated and idiosyncratic rhythmic sense is also demonstrated to great effect.

As always with the transcription of jazz improvisations, "Caveat auditor."

Matt Voss Mouthpieces

The work of saxophone mouthpiece craftsman Matt Voss has already been praised by great saxophonists like Andy Farber, Mark Shim, Noah Preminger, and Julius Tolentino, and although I am happy to let their collective authority stand, I am nonetheless overdue in adding my meager voice to the chorus of acclaim. (Full disclosure: Matt is my brother.)

I have been lucky enough to play several of Matt's mouthpieces, including restored and perfected vintage mouthpieces like Goldbeck and Tonemaster, as well as a custom-made hard rubber mouthpiece. His workmanship is excellent, and, as a serious saxophonist in his own right, Matt has an uncanny ability to translate the player's desired sound-concept to the mouthpiece. In creating his custom mouthpiece, for instance, Matt succeeded in turning my vague layman's descriptions of sonic preferences into the concrete reality of chamber design, baffle shape, floor height, tip opening, etc. The mouthpiece plays very comfortably and well in-tune, and it has those often intangible qualities that each saxophonist strives for in his own way. You can hear me playing on it in the short excerpt below. (Any flaws are, of course, entirely my own.)

Surely the superlative mouthpiece craftsman must be a musician first and foremost, with a musician's ear and creative sensibility. Matt possesses this musicality in addition to a thorough knowledge of the science of sound production; a deep understanding of and appreciation for the sounds of the saxophone masters; and a deft and deliberate skill at manipulating the physical dimensions of the mouthpiece.

I look forward to continuing to work with him on my sound.

Six Notes

Surely these are not the only times anyone has ever played

on the tenor saxophone, but I was nonetheless immediately struck by the resemblance when I heard this Ben Solomon recording. Dig Solomon at 1:53 on "You Taught My Heart To Sing" and John Coltrane at 3:06 on "Venus" in the following videos:

Perhaps you could find many similar examples in Solomon's playing, but for some reason this one in particular really jumped out at me. Maybe it's something deeper than just the identical pitch content. Solomon is dealing with Coltrane's music on a profound level, evidently in a class by himself. 

Howard McGhee on Bird

"[Charlie Parker] used to tell me, 'Maggie, listen to this, remember this?' He'd play something from 1918, man. And I said, 'Man, I've heard that before; where's that from?' And he'd tell you, 'Well, this is from such-and-such a march out of Jim [James Reese] Europe's band, and Europe used to play that thing.' And he could play it note for note, and put it in anywhere. You know what I mean? I mean, how in the hell are you going to compete with a mother like that?"

Howard McGhee, in an interview with Scott Deveaux, "Jazz in the Forties," The Black Perspective in Music 15 (1987): 76.