LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Sonny Clark , solo run!!!!

ayolt -- 12/14/2006, 13:59:12 -- #31706

Hi all, On Sonny Clark's album "Sonny Clark Trio" Sonny Clark plays a solo version of i'll remember April. at 10 seconds into the song Clark does this typical quick run downward toward a D7alt chord. You hear "pro's" doing this a lot. And as it really sounds hip, i was wondering is it some kind of "quick"  trick. Some scale he plays??? Plz help! tnx!

nihonjin -- 12/14/2006, 14:17:48 -- #31706

I don't have the record but I can transcribe it for you if you can post an mp3 somewhere. Maybe it's a pentatone lick ala Tatum NIhonjin

jaledin -- 12/14/2006, 14:27:37 -- #31706

I've actually transcribed that solo -- when I come across it (my papers are a mess), I'll let you know what I came up with. Honestly, it'd be faster to just take it down yourself, but I'm curious as well, since I can't remember exactly the part you're talking about.

Jazz+ -- 12/14/2006, 14:49:53 -- #31706

You can listen to it here http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2614826

ayolt -- 12/14/2006, 15:01:59 -- #31706

i figured this out: Ab Bb Ab F Eb C Bb Ab F Eb C Bb Ab F Eb D So its a run over three octaves... What kind of scale is this and how does it relate to D7!! It is an Ab major pentatonic scale... So that means: Major pentatonic on the tritone of a dominant 7 chord always sounds hip :) Am i right?

ayolt -- 12/14/2006, 15:45:17 -- #31706

it's still played at the speed of light however... Very difficult to achieve...

jaledin -- 12/14/2006, 16:52:15 -- #31706

I still have to look that one up and check my transcription to verify.  I can't remember how Clark plays that.  I wouldn't think about it as a scale, though -- just putting the common tensions to a dominant 7 chord, repeating it over a few octaves.  That's just the way I'd think about it, though.   Another one to get into his rubato style is "Love Walked In" from "Dial 'S' For Sonny."  He was just as good as Bud at copping the Tatum style.  Plus, that one, you learn about all you need to know about block chords when he gets back to the head after a few wicked choruses. Great album, though -- love that "Tadd's Delight" and the rare reading of "Bebop."  He sure did have a nice touch. I'd like to look back and see if I can find my transcription and listen to the record again -- perhaps others can do the same.  It's a real masterpiece, that performance -- one of the few pieces I've bothered to transcribe both hands of since I was a teenager.

Ben Blau -- 12/14/2006, 17:48:58 -- #31706

That's actually a pretty standard fragment.  Jerry Coker refers to it as the "Cry Me A River" lick in his book, Elements of the Jazz Language for the Developing Improvisor.  I think it's a great book for learning to identify and apply these kinds of phrases in your solos. Ben Blau

Jazz+ -- 12/14/2006, 18:34:20 -- #31706

Yes, it's that descedning Ab (F-) pentatonic run. Those notes are characteristic of the keys of Ab major, Eb major and Db. It works over many chords rlated to those keys: D7 alt, Ab7, Abmaj7, Dbmaj7, Gbmaj7, Fmi7, Bbmi7, Ebmi7 Ab7 sus, Bb7 sus, Eb7 sus, etc.

ayolt -- 12/15/2006, 06:32:51 -- #31706

are there more of these typical licks? which are especially useful in playing solo?

hepcatmonk -- 12/15/2006, 07:28:23 -- #31706

you can always play the pentatonic scale a tritone away on a dominant chord. it's often called the altered pentatonic, because it contains a lot of the altered tensions of the chord. actually, teh cry me a river lick is different.  it would be, on an altered chord, F Eb Bb Gb F Eb

Jazz+ -- 12/23/2006, 20:42:13 -- #31706

What a great album, the guy really swings his great lines.

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