Adam Roger's chord melody and solo on "Evidence"

Well after a couple of days of work I am uploading my transcription of Adam Roger's chord melody and solo on "Evidence". This version of  Thelonious Monk's standard comes from John Patitucci's album "Line by Line". This album is kind of all over the place, presenting funk, swing, a bit of classical and contemporary music. This song is a fusion between jazz and funk I would say, with Patitucci on electric bass, Adam on his telecaster (I'm taking a wild guess) and Brian Blade just being the great drummer he always is. I love this solo because it rocks hard and shows Adam's electric side but at the same time it swings great with incredible bebop lines being thrown at us. Adam tends to respect the changes but a lot of times he will follow an idea over the changes creating more tension until he resolves wherever he lands. I also like how he can switch his rock side on and off during the solo, he is very dynamic and easily one of the best guitarist out there. Enjoy!

   Adam Rogers - Evidence

Ben Monder's solo on "Echolalia"

This solo comes from one of the guitarist I admire the most, Ben Monder. I will admit he is not one of the ones I listen to the most but I do admire him for his creativity and open mind when it comes to exploring music.

Oceana is a wonderful album, it is very unique and exploratory while still being just beautiful. Any contribution between Ben Monder and Theo Bleckmann is worth listening to. "Echolalia" is by far my favorite song of this album, and Ben's solo is amazing. It starts with lots of space and some great harmonic movement. It then develops into more melodic lines that are well placed and flawlessly executed. Ben knows well how to use space and develop a solo, this solo is no exception to that. I suggest you listen to this song about a thousand times and then some more!

Ben Monder - Echolalia

Joe Henderson's solo on "Felicidade"

From Henderson's classic Double Rainbow a transcription of one of my favorite Jobim tunes, "Felicidade". He picks a great personnel to tackle some Brazilian music with Oscar Castro-Neves and Eliane Elias on guitar and piano, bass player Nico Assumpcao and Paul Braga on drums. Apart from Getz, Henderson is one of the greatest at adapting to bossa nova and samba. I hope you enjoy this solo, Henderson leaves lots of space while developing great ideas organically through out the solo.

                             Joe Henderson - Felicidade

Pat Metheny's solo on "Nothing Personal"

This week's solo comes from the great Pat Metheny, one of the most influetial guitarist of all time. It comes from Michael Brecker's debut album Michael Brecker. This is an incredible album with a power house quintet with keyboard player Kenny Kirklank and Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette on bass and drums. Produced by Don Grolnick himself, this album is a most for any jazz player. Metheny's solo is great, short but fill with good ideas. He alternates between the Dorian scale, blues scale and chromatic lines. He also goes back and forward between rapid lines and syncopated rhythmic ideas. I will post more Metheny solos in the future!




                                        Pat Metheny - Nothing Personal

Horace Silver's solo on "Silver's Serenade"

Another great solo from the album Retrospective by Horace Silver. "Silver's Serenade" is one of my favorite Silver tunes and his solo in this tune is just great. His solo is very idea oriented, he uses a lot of question and answer phrases and enjoys the space. 

This is another great solo to work on your swing, Horace play with a delicate touch but that doesn't stop him from swinging. He also uses a lot of patterns given the amount of minor chords involved. I would suggest taking any of his ideas and working them on different scales. 

                                     Horace Silver - Silver's Serenade

Junior Cook's solo on "Silver's Serenade"

Here I post a great Junior Cook solo. This solo on Silver's Serenade comes from Horace Silver's album "Retrospective". This is a great tune, Horace Silver composed wonderful music that could swing real hard but stay cool. Cook adapts to his music real well, his solo is simple and well structured. Ideas are developed but it never gets too busy. It is always good for guitarists to learn solos from other instruments, particularly winds and piano. It is a good way to learn how to swing and learn great ideas and then adapt them to the guitar. 



                                    Junior Cook - Silver's Serenade

UPDATE

I've uploaded revised versions of Sweet and Lovely, All Of You and Rhythm-A-Ning. Those transcriptions were done in an older version of Finale and for some reason were not very clear. I've copied them to a newer version of Finale and this files seem to be much clearer. The link in each of these transcriptions post should take you to the new version. Hope that helps!

Jonathan Kreisberg's Chord Melody and Solo on "I Fall In Love Too Easily"

Here is my transcription of Jonathan Kreisberg's I Fall In Love Too Easily from his album "Trioing". This is the last transcription from this album I'll be uploading for a while. I'm working on The Sorcerer but that is not finished yet. This is an incredible version of this tune, as usual Kreisberg plays it flawlessly. His solo outro is beautiful and very creative. This is a must for any guitarist. 

                  Jonathan Kreisberg - I Fall In Love Too Easily

Jonathan Kreisberg's Chord Melody and Solo on "Sweet and Lovely"

Here is another great chord melody and solo from Jonathan Kreisberg's debut album "Trioing". This is a great standard and as usual Kreisberg approach is impeccable. The way he alternates traditional bebop lines with modern patterns is very unique. He also comps for himself better than anyone. 

I have transcribe the intro, melody and solo for this one. I hope you enjoy it. 

 Sweet and Lovely - Jonathan Kreisberg

Jonathan Kreisberg's chord melody and solo on "All of You"

This chord melody and solo come from one of my favorite modern trio albums, "Trioing". Kreisbrerg picked a powerhouse rhythm section for his album debut as a leader, Johannes Weidenmueller on bass and drummer Ari Hoenig. If you haven't checked out their instructional video on polyrhythms, Intro to Polyrhythms, make sure you do; it is worth every penny. 

Kreisberg's approach to standard is unique and worth studying, this whole album should be studied and definitely 

listened to endlessly. I will post more transcriptions from this album later on.
                                                                                          

                                                   Jonathan Kreisberg - All of You

Charlie Rouse's Solo on "Rhythm-A-Ning"

This week's solo comes from the great bebop saxophonist Charlie Rouse. He is by far one of my favorite sax players of the bebop era. He was a very intelligent player; he developed ideas organically and only used speed when needed. This version of Monk's rhythm changes contrafact "Rhythm-A-Ning" comes from the classic album Criss Cross. Every song in that album is now a great standard, it is a must have for any player. 

 Charlie Rouse - Rhythm-A-Ning

Lage Lund's Solo on "Wave"

Another solo from the great album "Romantic Latino for Ladies" with pianist Aaron Goldberg, and Matt Brewer and Rodney Green on bass and drums. Lage approaches this bossa as a straight-eights ballad/bolero and of course with his standard reharmonization of the chord progression. Great use of the diminished scale and some big II V I ideas. 

                                     Lage Lund - Wave

Lage Lund's solo on "Corcovado"

This solo comes from Lage Lund's album "Romantic Latino for Ladies" (I know, awful title). This, I believe, is Lage first official recording and despite its title, it is truly a masterpiece. 

Lage approaches Corcovado like he does most standards, reharmonizing the changes to his pleasing. I recommend studying his approach to harmony, it is very interesting. Although the personnel of this album presents Aaron Goldberg on piano and bassist Matt Brewer, he opts to play this as a duet with Rodney Green on drums (he overdubs his solo over his own comping).


                                              Lage Lund - Corcovado

Joe Henderson's solo on "Night and Day"

This is my transcription of Joe Henderson's solo on Night and Day. This track comes from his album "Inner Urge", one of Henderson's greatest albums. It features performances by pianist McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones on drums, and  bassist Bob Cranshaw. Night and Day is a beautiful tune from Cole Porter, originally in the key of Eb but Joe takes it in D major. 

This AAB tune presents the famous half- diminished tritone  progression that everyone should study (#ivø7 – iv – I(3rd in bass) – biii˚ - ii – V7 – I) at the end of both the As and the B section.

Joe's swing is incredible and some of his rhythmic figures are not right on the beat. I did my best to interpret them. 

Joe Henderson - Night and Day

Adam Rogers' solo on "Long Ago and Far Away"

This solo is taken from Adam Rogers' album Art of the Invisible, great quartet date with Edawrd Simon, Scott Colley and Clarence Penn. He takes the original version and adds a couple of bars of 6/4 to the melody (in the middle of the A section and beginning of B section) but keeps the original metric and changes on the solos. There is an intro that is also used as an interlude; you can hear (and see it) at the end of Adam's solo. 

32 bars AB tune in F major. Really fast swing where you can hear Adam's virtuosity, I hope you enjoy it. 

Adam Rogers - Long Ago and Far Away

Sonny Rollins' Solo on "Airegin"

This solo from saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins  is from Miles Davis' album "Bag's Groove". Airegin, a Rollins' original  is a 36 bar tune with an AB form (the A section is 20 bars long). 

Lots of great II V I ideas and plenty of use of the harmonic minor scale.

One of my favorite sax players of all time, and this solo shows you why.

Sonny Rollins - Airegin

Wynton Kelly's solo on "Green Dolphin Street"

Here is my transcription of Wynton Kelly's solo on "Green Dolphin Street", this solo is featured in the album "Miles Davis in Stockholm". This is a great bebop solo by one of his main artists, Wynton Kelly. It is 6 chorus long with a 4 bar tag at the end.

 If you would like a Bass Clef, Bb or Eb, version. Please let me know and I'll post it.


 Wynton Kelly - On Green Dolphin Street



Check out a great guitarist playing this solo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCoTwKfa7Oc