Blue: Mostly Other People Do The Killing's Transcription Homework Assignment

Mostly Other People Do The Killing.....I mean, wait.....

Mostly Other People Do The Killing is quite a provocative name for a jazz group. I've been aware of them for a few years; I have heard a few samples from their earlier recordings( "This Is Our Moosic, "Forty Fort", and "Shamokin!!!"". Clearly, it's not all about the hype; these guys can play, and they combine a post modern sense of humor with a solid grasp on virtuosity and the jazz tradition.  I think this group is a great example of where jazz is today and how conservatory trained musicians can think outside the box in order to find their niche.

It was brought to my attention that Mostly Other People Do The Killing recently released "Blue", which is not a tribute to Joni Mitchell, but rather an attempt at a note for note reproduction of "Kind Of Blue", which is probably trumpeter Miles Davis' most famous album and one of the most important as well as popular jazz albums in history. I was curious about the project. I will say off the bat that I did not purchase the album, I listened to samples on Itunes, which many of us do before making the decision to buy music( if you actually still buy music......anyone?). I decided not to buy it; instead, I download some of Mostly Other People Do The Killing's earlier work and study it a bit more. I'm not saying that I won't purchase it in the future, but I have reasoning why and I'll get to that later.

I am very conflicted about "Blue"; the clips I heard were impressive, and the jazz educator side of me is always impressed with the technical ability to hear and reproduce solos(especially since many of my students have real challenges with that kind of activity. I wasn't going to mention that one of my student groups couldn't name the musicians on "Kind Of Blue," which is rather disturbing, to say the least.) Transcribing solos and trying to play along with the recording and trying to match every nuance is a great tool in jazz education; however, even the most "derivative" musicians rarely try to perform a transcribed jazz performance and pass it off as their own. ( I'm not saying that MOPDTK is trying to do that, exactly.) It is a little odd that musicians would spend so much time on something that they would never present in a performance; in this way, transcriptions are like etudes- they are studies. You can't play the entire solo of  McCoy Tyner's on Passion Dance whien you play Passion Dance. You could play part of it, you can be influenced by it, but you can't play the whole thing. EVEN IF YOU CAN! IF YOU CAN, YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO! In this way, jazz is like comedy- young comedians listen to the greats, but they MUST create their own material to be legitimate. Without Richard Pryor, there would be no Eddie Murphy, and without Eddie Murphy, there would be no Dave Chappelle. BUT, Dave Chappelle would NEVER release a comedy special called "Live On The Sunset Strip" or "Delirious." Why not? Because he has more than enough of his own jokes, and doing something like this would be an enormous waste of time and energy!
 

I read Nate Chinen's review of the CD, and he address some of the reasoning behind the project, and his own take on it seems just as conflicted as mine, although in the end he heartily endorses "Blue". Again, these are great players from a technical and creative standpoint. However, in my mind, this album has GIMMICK written all over it. The sad thing is, gimmicks work. This is especially true in the entertainment world, the music world, and the jazz world. Most of the time, it isn't about the notes, about the sound, about the artistic message. It's about the gimmick, the image, the sound byte, the selling point. It's not, "How can we make great music that will reach people and take an art form to a higher level?" It's, " how can we trick people into buying our product?" I've tried to stay away from gimmicks as a musician, mostly because it doesn't interest me, usually seems cheesy to me, and most importantly because I haven't found a gimmick that has made me rich and successful.....

The paradox of transcribing solos and playing them along with the recording is that it's nearly impossible to sound exactly like the musician who originally played the solo. It is impressive that MOPDTK  on "Blue" sounds at times exactly like Davis and crew. But even so, it's still not close enough. The recording quality is obviously different. As soon as trumpeter Peter Evans starts playing, you know it isn't Miles Davis. Maybe because he isn't playing on a 1947 Martin Committee trumpet? Is he using a Heim 2 mouthpiece with a deep V cup? Did they record on the same Steinway that was at Columbia's 30th Street studios? (I played that piano when I was recording at Clinton Studios years ago. It was a great piano, but I didn't sound like Bill Evans or Wynton Kelly, oddly enough.) I'm willing to engage in a "Kind Of Blue" challenge to test my own ears, if anybody wants to facilitate that.

I'm not saying that "Blue" is disrespectful of the tradition; indeed, I don't think MOPDTK would have spent all that energy on this if they didn't love that music. However, I would rather see them play their own music. This is why I'm not going to buy "Blue." I won't buy it, but clearly, I've already bought into the hype, and even this little blog will give them more press, so in the end, isn't that what matters? In an era when no one is buying music, it's not surprising that anyone would resort to extreme tactics.

In the end, the existence of a project like this reaffirms my belief that jazz is about innovation through imitation. Check out the greats, but in the end, do it your own way. MOPDTK, as evidence by their earlier recordings, already did this in spades. I guess they had a lot of extra free time to make "Blue". But I can't help what are some other records that warrant note for note reproduction:

A Love Supreme?
Birth Of The Cool?
Way Out West?
Duke Ellington Live At Newport?
Black Codes(from The Underground?
No Jacket Required?
Songs in The Key Of Life?
The Chronic?
Enter The Wu Tang(36 Chambers)?
Revolver?

Don't be offended, MOPDTK, but when my son's Bar Mitzvah rolls around, I'll know where to find a "Kind Of Blue" cover band.

My Solo on Come Together

In 2009, I released a CD on Sunnyside called Come Together. The CD was record about a month after a successful tour with a trio featuring bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Donald Edwards. We felt that the vibe was so good, during the 10 day excursion in Japan, that we HAD to record. Since the CD was released, I've lost track of how it's doing in terms of sales or whatever. But every once in a while, people tell me they hear it on the radio, or that they enjoyed it (some people probably downloaded illegally-hey, whaddya gonna do?). I think most people really like the title track, which is my arrangement of the famous Beatles tune. Most of the rest of the CD is originals, which came out great, but "Come Together" seems to be the standout.

I was surprised when someone sent me a transcription of my entire solo on this track. This person actually hired Andy at jazznote.co.uk to transcribe it. I had never seen my improvisation transcribed; it was kinda freaky, like when you hear your own voice on tape for the first time. I asked Andy if it was ok to present it here in jazztruth, and he agreed.

It's best if you listen along with the track. Fortunately, somebody has posted it on youtube. The chord changes are simple; it's literally a 4 chord tune (Dminor, or D7#9, A7,G7 and then B minor later on). I used a lot of diminished scale ideas on the D7#9, or I might use polytonality; for example, in bar 73, I played a Db sus4 chord in the left hand over D7. Or especially, if you look at bar 147, during the vamp out, where Absus is implied over D7.

I suppose you might say the idea of posting one's own solo is self-serving. Well, I thought it would be interesting, and also, I needed material. I hope you enjoy it, and if you want a PDF copy, please let me know. And be sure to check out Andy's other transcriptions at http//jazznote.co.uk/.

Miles Davis' Solo on "So What"

Most people who know me know me as a jazz pianist. (Funny because the other night at a performance, our guide told that she was surprised that I would be playing piano, because someone told her I was a "keyboard" player. Good thing piano and keyboard use the same fingerings...) But I really started as a trumpet player. I gave it up for a long time, and I barely have a chance to play now. When I told Jack Dejohnette that I also played trumpet, he asked me to bring my trumpet for the tour, because "it adds another color to the band." So I've been playing one tune a night; luckily, it's a tune in B minor concert (C# minor for trumpet. A sarcastic "Yay".)

I'm trying to practice a little every day while we are on the road. One cannot really miss a day from trumpet and expect it to sound or feel good the next day. The "embouchure", or facial muscles that are used with the mouthpiece to produce the trumpet sound, are very delicate. I developed very bad habits as a kid, and I actually had to drastically change my embouchure twice. I struggled a lot with the "embouchure", probably more than most. But on this tour, I can get through one tune, and it's good enough for the novelty of a keyboard player (or piano?) standing up to play trumpet and get some pity applause.

I want to get back into trying to learn solos on trumpet. In college, I initially transcribed trumpet solos: some Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, and Woody Shaw. (I think I even transcribed part of a Lew Soloff solo from Blood, Sweat, and Tears. But it had too many high notes and I couldn't play it.) So I'm going to go back to basics and learn this Miles Davis solo from "So What", probably one of the most classic solos. It's not technically difficult, but it's a great musical statement. Miles was a minimalist, but his solos have great architecture, which is something that I find many students fail to understand. I talk a lot about how the "shape" of a solo has to be like a book , or a movie; you want to have something interesting happening, and a sense of "going somewhere", otherwise, why will people pay attention to it? There has to be some kind of drama, even if it is subtle( as it is in the case of Miles Davis).

So here is the solo. I transcribed this a few years ago on a keyboard, so it's in concert key. I'm determined to get to it on the trumpet. Posting it here is extra motivation. If you see me, ask me if I can play it yet. Don't be a jerk about it! But, hey, everything is a work in progress....

McCoy Tyner's Solo on Blues on The Corner

The great McCoy Tyner

OK, sports fans! I get the message. Based on my stat counter, there is considerable interest in transcribed solos. And, in my effort to try not to disappoint my readers, I have decided to keep the momentum going by digging up this McCoy Tyner transcription. It's from The Real McCoy, a classic album on Blue Note from the 60's featuring Tyner on piano, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Ron Carter on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. If you want the quintessential McCoy Tyner, this is the album to have.

Tyner has long been one of my favorite pianists: indeed, I felt as though I had to stop listening to him, in order to not sound like him so much.  However, sometimes it's more beneficial to go deeper into one's study of a particular artist, as opposed to developing a superficial imitation. With more in depth study, one can realize that "gee, I don't sound like my favorite jazz musician after all." I also felt, from an educational and academic standpoint, I wanted to see exactly what Tyner was doing, and document it, just to be thorough. It took some time-and if you see me in the vicinity of a piano, do NOT ask me to play this transcription, 'cause it's HARD.

One aspect that made my transcription of "Blues On The Corner" difficult was the left hand. It wasn't so much the notes as it was the rhythms. Oftentimes, piano solo transcriptions will omit the left hand. However, I believe the left hand gives an important look at what the pianist was thinking, and how the pianist "comps" for himself or herself. And in McCoy Tyner's case, his playing is very two-fisted. So that took extra time. Another thing that made this transcription challenging was the predominant triplet
rhythm of the piece. Sometimes, it was perplexing as to whether to notate a particular passage as swung eighth notes , or triplets, or in the case of double time, sixteenths. Finally, some of the right hand runs were so fast that even slowing the recording down to 25% speed didn't make it any easier. So only Tyner might actually know what he really played.

So here is is. As before, it's fun to listen along with the track while you follow the written music. And some of this solo really surprised me: for example, the left hand chords will be three note fourth voicings, and then all of a sudden switch to four note third voicings, which might be considered inconsistent, but it all sounds right- because all of the music has that magical "McCoy Tyner touch". Also, Tyner uses more augmented 4ths, whole tone scale, and diminished implying harmony that I realized. The pacing of the solo is great, and there is much use of motivic and harmonic development. Even just a bar or two of this solo can open up a whole world of ideas for you. Enjoy!

Hank Mobley's Solo on "Remember"

If you are trying to develop your vocabulary as a jazz improviser, you'll want to transcribe from other players, hopefully great jazz players. You can do entire solos if you have the time, but you should at the very least take some "licks" from the masters and work them into your own solos. You'll start to see how linear vocabulary works with jazz harmony, and if you really stick with it, it should all snowball into you being able to improvise in a jazz manner. The goal is to have your own sound, or at the very least, being able to "put it in your own words", so to speak. Be that as it may, it can be fun and valuable to transcribe an entire jazz solo. This can give you a sense of the overall structure of a solo, and it's a way for the student to sort of "step into the shoes of a master".

I personally haven't transcribed a lot of solos in their entirety. However, I wanted to share one that I did a few years ago. It's tenor saxophone legend Hank Mobley's solo on Irving Berlin's "Remember", from the classic Mobley album Soul Station (with Wynton Kelly, piano, Paul Chambers, bass, Art Blakey, drums). Here is a link to the recording on youtube. I've known about this album for years, but initially, it was hearing drummer Carl Allen sing this entire solo along with the recording that made me want to transcribe it. The whole album is great, and this solo is great because Mobley's lines make so much sense, and they outline the harmony perfectly.

I think this is a good solo for students because there are many small phrases which could be incorporated easily into one's vocabulary. I have marked some of these phrases in red. It's fun to just follow along while you listen, but the next step would be to learn to play along with the solo, or maybe take some of the small phrases and transpose them to all keys. Keep in mind, that I am not a saxophone player, so there might be some better ways to notate some of the idiosyncratic aspects of the solo. Also, some of the rhythms I had to approximate, because they were not 100 percent falling into western rhythmic notation. This is why it's good to learn solos by ear first, so that you get the organic rhythmic feel of the artist.

The first chorus is obviously the melody of "Remember", with rhythmic interpretation and also some embellishments. Mobley gets right to it with a two bar solo break pick up. There are lot of nice sequences (taking the same idea and repeating it but in a different key), which go well with the descending chromatic chord progression. It's all a really good example of Hard Bop, with a lot of "bebop" lines and some "bluesy" interludes. Around letter J,K, and L, which is the second improvised chorus, Mobley implies double-time, but in a complex way, which made it hard to notate. I mused about different options, and went with what you see here. Hopefully it makes sense. Again, it's best to listen to the solo as you read. I like how bar 120 and 121 have a nice diminished scale idea that feels really natural.


If you see anything that really looks wrong, let me know. I haven't looked at this in a while, and just like the written parts of my blog, I can always use some proofreading. I'm hoping to post more solos in the future, and I'm also hoping to get to some more transcribing this summer. I have a hard time doing entire solos nowadays because I find that I can get a lot of mileage out of even one bar from a masterful solo. But I'll have my keyboard with me on tour, so I'm hoping to get to it. So anyway,  here is Mobley's solo, enjoy!