In this tune I wanted to explore the idea of the 7/4 swing, where the original 4/4 bar is transposed into two bars, one of 4/4 and one of 3/4, creating a ‘swinging 7’ feel. Played at a frenetic tempo, the slightly longer harmonic rhythm still offers challenges in maintaining musical phrasing in the 7/4 meter whilst navigating the many key centre modulations of the Coltrane Matrix. Some interesting metric and stylistic devices are employed during both the bass and drum solos and to conclude the tune. Full Arrangement … [Read more...]

To close my recital I chose a swing tune that is often interpreted as a 3/4, 6/8 or 12/8. I arranged it predominantly as a 6/8, albeit with a few interesting twists in the head. To introduce the tune, I explore the harmony using wide-interval, disjointed arpeggios that imply the melody (and harmony) of the A sections over an extended intro. Then, joined by drums and bass, a cosy medium 4 is played at letter B, before a 6/8 ‘Magreb’ feel is settled on by the rhythm section, underpinning a displaced melodic line at letter C. Full Arrangement … [Read more...]

Here we introduce another rhythmic challenge with an 11/8 meter; prompting many long practice sessions, where the aim was to internalise and, as an ensemble, ‘naturalise’ the many possible combinations of 8th note groupings in 2’s and 3’s in a bar. A base rhythm was settled upon; 2, 2, 2, 2, 3; however, pulsing this as an ensemble quickly becomes monotonous and mechanical, so attention was given to exploring a range of other pulses (similar to written ostinatoes), to create a more organic feeling. With this tune I kept the melody freely rhythmically interpreted, as phrasing lines … [Read more...]

Here we tackle the 5/4 meter as a guitar and bass duo, keeping the pace brisk and thereby augmenting the challenge of improvising fluently over the quick and complex changes of the underpinning harmony. I developed a pianistic approach to chord accompaniment supporting the framework of the melody (in the head of the tune), using broken rhythms to create a tension against the all too tempting ‘Take 5’ 5/4 metric pulse. Furthermore I have focused on keeping a sense of swing and a fluent legato feel over this meter, again emphasising over-barline phrasing. Full Arrangement … [Read more...]

I rearranged the original chords and melody of this tune around what could be called a ‘4-and-a-half-over-4’ feel; a fitting description of the pulse phrases generated from the most comfortable rhythmic grouping the trio settled upon for the ‘quarter note accented 9/8’ feel (or 2, 2, 3 and 2 eighth note pulses per bar). Also, to create a more obvious 4 bar grouping to balance the complex metric feel, a 3x3 8th note bass and guitar figure is used every 4th measure of the intro, serving as a resolution phrase. In my improvising I’ve focused on playing lyrically and fluently … [Read more...]

A fast 7/8 Latin with a fairly straight ahead ‘bebop’ head arrangement and improvising sections. Emphasis is given to soloing using long 8th note lines based on 7/4 pulse groupings that created ‘comfortable’ phrases linearly across the barline, firstly between sets of two bars and eventually over longer measures. The arrangement commences with an intro vamp based upon a 7/4 rhythmic phrase placed over two 7/8 bars, a metric theme revisited in the B section of the melody. Full Arrangement … [Read more...]