A little behind the scenes here... I plan the transcriptions for this newsletter months in advance. When I scheduled this recording -- which is particularly insane to transcribe -- I made a note to give myself some extra time to get it done.
But, I forgot to consider the Martin Luther King holiday on Monday, so here I am powering through at 9:30 pm the night before... Ah, the joys of arbitrary self-imposed deadlines, right?
This week we are continuing our series pursuing fluency of the most important comping voicings. This is week 3, but if you've missed the last 2 weeks you should come anyway. We'll get you caught up.
Each week I share 2 transcribed phrases, 5 ideas observed from 1 featured jazz recording.
Both excerpts I've transcribed today come from Michel's one-handed solo. His left hand takes a break, leaving just a naked solo line in the right hand. Michel does this kind of solo quite often, which relies entirely on the solo line to imply the changes.
The head of Caravan is essentially just one long dominant chord. Here in F minor, the chord is a C7alt which lasts for 12 measures, before finally resolving to Fm6.
The opening phrase of the solo is a call and response. It alternates between a simple motif introduced earlier in the solo and the melodic line.
The call and response almost feels like a duet with himself with each part starting in different octaves.
Never have 6 measures taken so long to transcribe...
These lines fly by so quickly. They really showcase Michel's incredible technique. This line, and most of the similar lines that follow later in the solo, are based on the same scale. C half-whole diminished. That's an 8 note scale thats commonly used on an altered dominant. It's one of the most important scales to master if you want to play bebop.
The line does not move linearly up and down. It twists and turns a bit, and to achieve that Michel uses chromatic enclosures to surround a note of the scale and then continue the line from there.
Are you on BlueSky? After this weeks TikTok ban I'm re-thinking what platforms I spend my time on. If you have a profile, shoot me a follow and a note. I'd love to connect.
Josh Walsh
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