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Jeanette has asked me to choose the tune for April and I have selected "Freedom Jazz Dance" by the great Eddie Harris. It has surprisingly simple harmony for the soloing section and that gives lots of scope to get creative. In fact, because the harmony is basically static there is no need to "run the changes". It's really all about groove and here is Eddie Harris and his band grooving along in concert Bb (C for the tenor and soprano saxes and G for alto and baritone).
View: https://youtu.be/k5V6xL6F7Sw?si=YdcSampkcDOhuRTb
The tune (head) sounds a little angular and weird, so may need some practice. I found a great backing track on the Quartet App and have uploaded that along with matching lead sheets to my fileshare directory here. I also made a version of the backing track with a guide melody played by a robot vibraphonist - you can use that to practice the head, or you could actually let the robot play the head and then record just your own soloing.
The form consists of an eight bar introduction, then the eight bar head is played, there's a two bar drum break, repeat the head and the drum break and then there is a 16 bar soloing section which is all on Concert Bb7 and is played five times until the finish (the tune isn't repeated).
Lots of scope for funky rhythms, use of space, blues licks and maybe some tension building use of chromaticism or double time or altissimo. Experiment and have some fun !
As always, you can use your own backing tracks - some of the other versions of Freedom Jazz Dance have slight differences in structure, but I love Eddie Harris' original.
Rhys
The tune (head) sounds a little angular and weird, so may need some practice. I found a great backing track on the Quartet App and have uploaded that along with matching lead sheets to my fileshare directory here. I also made a version of the backing track with a guide melody played by a robot vibraphonist - you can use that to practice the head, or you could actually let the robot play the head and then record just your own soloing.
The form consists of an eight bar introduction, then the eight bar head is played, there's a two bar drum break, repeat the head and the drum break and then there is a 16 bar soloing section which is all on Concert Bb7 and is played five times until the finish (the tune isn't repeated).
Lots of scope for funky rhythms, use of space, blues licks and maybe some tension building use of chromaticism or double time or altissimo. Experiment and have some fun !
As always, you can use your own backing tracks - some of the other versions of Freedom Jazz Dance have slight differences in structure, but I love Eddie Harris' original.
Rhys
