Straight, No Chaser

Last year I made a diagram of the Sonny Rollins tune Oleo, using coloured rectangles to show the straightforward 'rhythm-changes' harmony, and overlaying them with a lattice of diagonal lines encoding the irregular rhythm. Another tune in the same vein is Straight, No Chaser. Here Thelonious Monk takes a well-known harmonic outline - the 12-bar…

Swing (part 2)

It's probably a good idea to scroll down and read the previous post before this one. After I wrote the previous post I did some internet searching. To spare you the embarrassment of searching for "swinging", you know. I found a great video by Aimee Nolte, which deals with many of the points I touched…

The swinging sound of silence

A fortnight ago, in the class I go to, we had a discussion about swing. We agreed you have to feel it. There isn't a formula. We agreed it is something to do with the timing and emphasis of the 'ands' (the half beats, as in '1 and 2 and...'). Barry Harris has a wise…

Oleo

Oleo is a bebop tune by Sonny Rollins, as mischievous as anything that flew off the reed of Charlie Parker. Clearly on a mission to weave an interesting new tune around the overworked chords of I Got Rhythm, Rollins deployed shifting, syncopated patterns, with short and long phrases, gaps where you don't expect them, and…