"Pent-Up House" Recorded On This Day!

Or so says PassionForJazz on twitter. So there ya go, you can play the same thing Clifford Brown did today if you want.

Join yours truly on the twitter here - http://twitter.com/BassoRidiculoso

Daily Licking 035: Chorus 2 of Clifford Brown on "Pent-Up House"

The second chorus of the ii-v-I fest from Mr. Brown today. It just keeps getting better.

Some patterns are developing:

1. Starting off sparsely. Just like in the first chorus, the first 4 measures of this chorus are much more sparse rhythmically compared to the rest of the chorus. Leaves him room to take it somewhere.
   
2. Not starting on the root of the chord. Again, he doesn't do this very often, he does in two places he hasn't done it before, but usually he saves it for the G Maj, when the ii-v resolves. Maybe this gives the 1 chord a extra sense of resolution? Interesting. The rest of the time he starts on 3rds, 7ths, 5ths and other juicy chord tones.
3. Outlining chords with arpeggios. All over the place, going up from the third, fifth and other strong chord tones straight up the arpeggio, just not starting on the root. He does chordal type lines, much more than scalar type lines.

The middle of this chorus is one grosso ridiculoso 9 measure long phrase of continuous 8th notes which go through a classic run-down of bebop altered licks. It is a thing to behold. So take a listen below, and behold it. But be warned, with all those half-steps in there, this one is another chorus where there are not going to be a nice, bass-centric, familiar box patterns for your fingers to fall into. This one is going to get your fingers thinking. All of these solos that come from non-bass sources are going to really get your fingers out of any lazy habits that they have developed. It sure has made me have to think. And we all know how exhausting that can be.

Pent-Up House - Clifford Browns Solo Chorus 2

bass lick 4/4 tempo 200 | Gmaj r2 e8 g b8 r8 | Amin7 a2 a2 | D7 a8 r8 r4 d-8 g b4 | GMaj g2 g2 | GMaj g8 r r4 r8 b c ab | Amin7 b a e g gb a c d | D7 [f8 e eb] d c db e d c | GMaj b c d e gb a ab gb | Gmaj g d b c d e f e | Dmin7 d c b a g gb f a | G7 e+ d c a b- d f a | Cmin7 g eb d c b g bb g | F7 a c eb g d c f e | Amin7 eb e g e f g a c | D7 r2 c8 db8 e db | Gmaj d bb b r r gb [bb a gb] | Gmaj g8 d r4 r2 |

Daily Licking 034: 1st Chorus of Clifford Brown on "PentUp House"

Another new one today. And, yes, I realize there are multiple tunes in progress, but hey, I get bored easy. So piano, tenor, trumpet, bass...that should do it for a while. Maybe.

After Mr. Evans and Mr. Coltrane, Clifford Brown is almost easy to transcribe. His tone is so clear, there is no ambiguity in either his notes or his rhythms, his execution is very, very precise. It's like he plays piano, but just with his mouth.

Daily Licking 012: More ii-v's. Now With Analysis Quiz!

Yea, thats right, a quiz.

Here is todays ii-V-I lick, courtesy of Mr. Freddie Hubbard. And as I have repeatedly said, the point here is to understand what makes these lines the way they are and to start figuring out recipes to make your own lines from them, not to just learn where to put your fingers.

bass lick tempo 140 4/4 | Am7 f#+8 g f# e d c# c b | D7 a# f# d# c# d c# c a# | Gmaj b d e a r a g4 |

And here is the quiz, with answers in the comments.

All the questions are in relation to the chord that is mentioned, so if the question is "what are the altered notes" and there is "Gb" on the Gmin (the ii chord) a Db on the C7, (the V chord) the answer to both would be "b9".

So move what is considered the root to each chord.

Q: What note does the lick start on?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: If there are any altered notes (notes not in the chord or scale) what are they?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: If there are any altered notes what beats do they fall on?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: What is the range of the entire lick (interval distance between highest note and lowest note)?

1. A: ______________________

Q: How many chord tones are there in each measure and what are they?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: What beats do the chord tones fall on (if there are any)?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

And if these licks are all tooooo easy for ya, tough guy, remember you can always turn them into only-two-beats-each-licks at the same tempo by just turning all the 8th notes to 16ths like below.

But you already knew that. Right?

bass lick 4/4 tempo 140 | Am7 f#+16 g f# e d c# c b D7 a# f# d# c# d c# c a# | Gmaj b d e a r a g8~ g4 r |