I transcribed the John Lewis composition Django several years ago because I never saw a lead sheet for it that accounted for the different changes that they solo over. All the fake books I’ve seen just list the 20-bar head. So here’s my chart in case you want to play the tune the way MJQ does.
read more of analysis: Django
This Bud Powell video grabbed my attention when I found it on Youtube. I had never actually seen video of Bud playing, and his solo here is just outstanding. Anthropology is a Bird head on rhythm changes. I’ve been shedding rhythm changes myself recently, so getting a window into the mind of Bud was a huge boost for me. My whole conception is changed having taken the time to look closely at what he’s doing. So here’s some transcription love for you guys. I hope it helps you as much as it did me.
read more of transcription: Anthropology Bud Powell 1962
Another case of transcription with a bonus analysis at no extra charge. Warm Valley is a marvelous Duke Ellington composition. It doesn’t get played enough, probably because it’s in very few fakebooks. When it does appear it’s hideously disfigured (at least the chart I finally found turned out to be grievously flawed).
read more of transcription: Warm Valley
Transcription is an immensely profitable activity. Both figuratively and literally–if you can produce good charts, you’re not a sideman, you’re a “music director.” But it’s a great way to study music. Transcription is a learnable skill. And lucky for us, there are better tools available today than ever before to assist.
In this post I run down my repeatable method for doing a transcription. I’ll also hip you to some excellent software to help out.
read more of advice on doing transcriptions
The transcription in this post is Miles Davis’ solo on the Kind Of Blue version of So What. A lot of people talk about how this tune is the beginning of modal jazz and so forth. I think that misses the real significance of So What.
read more of transcription: So What
Actually, this is analysis and transcription.
The real book chart is horribly inadequate. I think that a lot of the notation behind the sounds is open to interpretation–go with what works for you. But there’s also a good deal of just incorrectness in the real book changes.
So, I went to the Sorcerer album and transcribed the comping Herbie does behind the first two choruses (and verified the bass notes).
read more of analysis: Pee Wee
