Saturday, February 26, 2011

"The Sidewinder" by Lee Morgan



Factoids:

  • Album released in 1964 with 6 tracks
    • the Album was entitled after the first track "The Sidewinder"
    • All six tracks were original compositions by Lee Morgan and five of the six were heavily blues influenced
  • Artists on the album
    • Lee Morgan (trumpet), Joe Henderson (Tenor sax), Billy Higgins (Drums), Barry Harris (piano), Bob Cranshaw (Bass)
  • Critics label it "soul jazz"
    • The entire album influenced the format of many future albums by having a long funky blues-based chart followed by more hard bop tunes
  • Chrysler car company used "The Sidewinder" in television commercial advertisements 
  • Listen for:
    • the chord structure is based on the 12 bar blues - The Sidewinder is 24 measures
      • I7 (8 bars) |  IV7 (4 bars) |  I7 (3 bars) | iii7 VI7b9 (1 bar) | ii7 V7 (4 bars) | 17 (3 bars) | break on the last bar
    • the use of repetition in the head, piano accompaniment, & bass line
    • Lee Morgan (at the 2:17 mark) pulls a lick from the head in his improvisation to give structure and foundation to his solo

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