Bill Evans' solo on Minority

This is my second Evans' solo and I am real excited about it. This one comes from his classic album Everybody Digs Bill Evans, definitely an album everyone should have. "Minority" is a 16-bar standard in F minor with a great amount of inconclusive II-Vs; this is a great solo to steal some of Bill's II - V's ideas but that is not my favorite thing about it.

 Evans ideas go beyond a single chorus, he starts phrases at the end of a chorus and end them in the middle. He does this so flawlessly that sometimes it is not easy to know where the beginning  of the form is. It is such a great study on how to go beyond a chorus and have a more organically developed solo.

Also, his rhythmic figures are incredible. He creates tension in measures 95 through 102 with the dotted eight figures and then resolves it with a great swinging line. He does something similar in measures 63 - 66.  Enjoy this solo and also enjoy Bill Evans!

Bill Evans - Minority

Lage Lund's solo on How Deep is the Ocean

More Lage! This one from his debut album Romantic Latino for Ladies. A very laid back version of Irving Berlin's standard, "How Deep is the Ocean" with some great swing and a beautiful solo. 

Really well balanced linear solo; some blues, some bebop, some harmonic minor and some diatonic lines. This one was also a bit of work but definitely worth it. Enjoy!


How Deep is the Ocean - Lage Lund

Lage Lund's solo and melody comping on From This Moment On

This solo comes from the great album OWL trio. This is a project Lage Lund embarked on with Will Vinson (alto sax) and Orlando le Fleming (bass). They approach some unconventional standards with a very modern touch. This is a great album for guitarists because you can easily hear Lage's comping and his approach to improvisation without a drummer.

 Lage is easily one of my favorite guitarists out there. His ideas are unique, his triadic approach to improvisation is very interesting. I have transcribed some more stuff of his; I'll post it when it's ready to go. Enjoy!

                 From This Moment On - Lage Lund

Bill Evans' solo on Invitation

I finally got around to transcribing a Bill Evans solo. The man is a genius. This is his take on the great standard "Invitation" by Bronislau Kaper from his beautiful album with Eddie Gomez "Intutition". He adds an 4 bar extension at the end of every chorus (including the melody) to bring it back to C minor more smoothly.

 The main thing I got out of this solo, aside from his great swing and incredible lines, is his use of  a bII chord on a dominant chord (G7 = G#-7). This gives the chord a darker sound, the main tones now being b9 - 3 - b13. He does this a lot in this solo, check most II-V-Is and you'll probably find it. Enjoy!

Bill Evans - Invitation

Charlie Parker's Solo on Cheryl

More bop!! I'll switch it up soon. I do think bebop language is very important so continue working on this vocab. Enjoy!

Charlie Parker - Cheryl

New album and website!

Hi guys, I am excited to announce the release of my first album "Uno". It is a mix of my own compositions and arranged standards in a trio and quartet setting. You can listen to it and buy it directly from my new website www.gabrieldavila.com! Go check it out. It has my transcriptions there along with videos, and other artists music. I will go back to posting transcriptions real soon. Thanks for reading!

www.gabrieldavila.com

Miles Davis' solo on "Half-Nelson"

More bebop! Miles' solo on Half Nelson from the same recording "The Birth of Bop". I'll keep uploading more bop, this is fun. 

Miles Davis - Half-Nelson