Category: Intros and Endings

Joshua Redman Ending on On The Sunny Side Of The Street

Joshua Redman and Christian McBride play this ending on the tune “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” from Redman’s self-titled 1993 debut album.

Joshua Redman and Christian McBride on “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” (concert pitch)

Bars 1 and 2 have clear elements of the common bebop language:

  • syncopated rhythm with a pickup beat
  • eighth note lines that outline the harmony
  • chromatic passing tones and enclosures that lead to harmonic tones on strong beats

The second half (starting with the C on bar 3) quotes the classic Strayhorn/Ellington ending on “Take The “A” Train” (originally recorded in 1941)

The final bit of vocabulary (beat 3 on bar 4) I first heard on the tune “Four” from Miles Davis’ Blue Haze (1954). I don’t know for sure whether that is the earliest recorded use of the phrase, but I’ve heard it used often. I particularly like the surprise harmonic substitution by the bass moving down a tritone from C to F#.

 

Listening
  • Joshua Redman, “On The Sunny Side Of The Street,” Joshua Redman, 1993
  • Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, “Take The “A” Train,” Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band, 1941
  • Miles Davis, “Four,” Blue Haze, 1954

Oscar Peterson Intro on The Nearness of You

Today’s intro comes from the classic album Ella and Louis (1956). The rhythm section on the album is Oscar Peterson’s quartet from that era with Ray Brown on bass, Herb Ellis on guitar, and Buddy Rich on drums.

When I think of Oscar, I often think of his astonishing technique or his bluesy vocabulary. This intro showcases another of his strengths: deep swinging lyricism.

I love that you can hear his foot tapping out the quarter note as he plays. The quiet quarter note pulse set against Peterson’s triplet syncopation makes this a textbook example of a medium-slow swing feel.

Oscar Peterson Intro on The Nearness Of You

Vince Guaraldi’s Intro to “Softly as In A Morning Sunrise”

Guaraldi Intro to Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise

Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise by Sigmund Romberg is a jazz standard commonly played in C minor.

The Vince Guaraldi Trio offers up this tidy intro on the album A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing from 1957.

This would work well as an intro to almost any minor tune with a similar groove, and could also be used as an ending (on the recording there is a studio fade, so we don’t know if this group used it).

 

Ending on Billie Holiday’s All of Me

Continuing the series on Intros & Endings, here is an easy ending that can be applied to many different tunes.

The melody for All of Me ends halfway through a four-measure phrase. When this happens, it works well to play an ending that finishes the rhythmic phrase, in this case two more measures.

Here is the two-measure ending that can be heard on Billie Holiday’s studio version of All of Me recorded for Columbia:

 

Using The Sound

Thinking in the key of F, notice the chromatic descent from the fifth of the chord and the chromatic enclosure of the third that eventually lead back to the root. In addition, the final tonic F6 chord is preceded by the same chord a half-step up, adding to the sense of finality when we finally hear the last chord.

This is a good ending to try in all keys because it is essentially a major triad with chromatic embellishments. The half-step shift at the end is also a common sound to be familiar with.

Consider using this ending when playing in a classic swing style at a medium tempo, especially when the melody of a tune ends part way through a four-bar phrase.

Oscar Peterson Ending on Night Train

We’re starting a new series here at TheJazzLanguage.com: Intros & Endings. Up until now, the majority of the posts have been solo transcriptions that represent the language of jazz improvisation.

Another important characteristic of the jazz language is the way tunes are arranged. Listening for how artists begin and end their arrangements gives you a sense for how their musical vocabulary relates to the broader jazz idiom.

To begin the series, here is the ending Oscar Peterson’s Trio plays on Night Train from the album of the same name.

 

You may recognize this as the “Count Basie Ending” featured on classic Basie band tunes like Splanky and Broadway.

For Oscar Peterson’s version, the sound is created by the combination of Ray Brown’s bass in the low end and Peterson’s two-note voicings in the upper range of the piano.

Oscar Peterson Ending on Night Train

This sound is a great contrast to the “typical” Basie ending that is played solely by the piano and represents the complementary relationship between the bass and piano in this trio.

Using The sound

To apply this in your own arrangements, pay attention to the relationships between the notes played and the key of the tune.

In this case, the tune night train is in the key of G major, and you’ll notice that the bass in playing G in three different octaves.

The essence of the piano part is the top line that starts on C (a fourth above G) and moves up by half steps to C#, then D. Combined with the bass part, this has the effect of providing tension-resolution to the home key of G.

The lower note of the piano part, an E, fills out the harmony. Combined with the upper note, it implies the chords C major, C# diminished, and G major 6, respectively.