more Elvin!

ikol

Junior Member
Todd at http://shipdrummer.blogspot.com/
just posted a fantastic 3-page transcription of Elvin Jones with Coltrane playing "Your Lady."
For those unaware, this track was recorded during Coltrane's modal phase, which means it's more like a jam over a single chord than a conventional jazz tune that contains frequent chord changes. Should this be called 'jazz?" I don't really care! It's just great great exciting music. There's a convergence with other genres that do jams over extended vamps, but this one is played by jazzers and certainly utilizes a rhthmic vocabulary from jazz. whatever...
Semantics aside, it's a freakin awesome tune, and Elvin is an integral part of it. His jazz waltz pattern is quite busy, but always swings. Most of his measures do not really repeat, instead, they just morph. He has several phrases with unusual accents, going over the barline, with deceptive cadences. In fact, when I first started listening to this years ago, I'd get lost in the form, mistaking his deceptive cadences for actual cadences. Once I was able to 'feel' four bar phrases, this piece, and Elvin's drumming, became easier to follow.
Coltrane is great -his playing during these years is my favorite. Tyner on piano is fantastic too. Just perfectly appropriate colorful chords, extremely indebted to Debussy and Ravel with those stacks of fourths. Tyner's placement is actually deceptive too- nothing like a typical waltz!
The band is totally in sync- especially elvin and trane. they do some extremely intense climaxes together. just indescribably beautiful. to me, at least!
pardon the babbling. just got excited, since this has been one of my favorite tunes for years.
Todd's website's has the youtube link to the tune (and the transcription), but I'll include it here anyway. He's also got many other great postings, including many exercises that help one work towards Elvin-like playing. Well worth checking out.
Thanks Todd!
here's Your Lady:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1X073w2xUo
-D
 
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