Category Archives: Modal

Eugene Friesen, Citric Motion

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(Eugene Friesen, courtesy of celloman.com)

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Download the PDF: Bass Clef, Treble Clef, Bb, Eb

Citric Motion, written by Glen Velez and performed by: Trio Globo (Eugene Friesen, cello; Howard Levy, piano; and Glen Velez, percussion). From the album ‘Carnival of Souls,’ released 1995 by SilverWave Records.

I’m FINALLY posting a cello solo, and since I’m an improvising cellist, it’s about time. There are actually quite a few fabulous cello-playing improvisers out there, and Eugene Friesen is a leader in the field.  This whole album, Carnival of Souls, is full of cello techniques and tone colors that you’ve probably never heard, some of them pulled from the acoustic bass, or even guitar lexicons.  As a trio member, Friesen excels at holding down the rhythmic accompaniment with arpeggiations and intricate basslines, as well as soaring, lyrical melodies when Howard Levy takes over the accompanimental role.
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Reid Anderson, Keep the Bugs off your Glass and the Bears off your Ass

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(Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson and David King – courtesy of bighassle.com)

Keep the Bugs off your Glass and the Bears off your Ass, written by David King and performed by: The Bad Plus (Reid Anderson, Acoustic Bass; Ethan Iverson, Piano; and David King, Drums).  From the album ‘These are the Vistas,’ released 2003 by Columbia Records.

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Download the PDF: Bass Clef, Treble Clef, Bb, Eb

Hearing the Bad Plus for the first time marked a major development in my musical development; it was my junior year of high school and the coolest thing I’d habitually listened to prior to this was along the lines of Sugar Ray.  That’s an exaggeration, but not as much as I’d like to think.  I started really listening to bass lines and beat placement, and just ate it all up–we’re talkin’ Bootsy Collins/Fred Thomas/Tim Drummond/etc. (James Brown), Chris Wood (MMW), Ron Carter (Miles Davis/Herbie Hancock/Freddie Hubbard/A Tribe Called Quest), Larry Grenadier (Brad Mehldau), James Jamerson…and the list goes on.

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Matt Moran, This Too Shall Pass

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Matt Moran, photo courtesy of downtownmusic.net

Download the PDF: Concert, Bb, Eb, Bass Clef

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This Too Shall Pass, music written by John Hollenbeck and performed by: The Claudia Quintet (Chris Speed; clarinet, Matt Moran; vibraphone, Ted Reichman; accordion, Drew Gress; acoustic bass, John Hollenbeck; drums).  From the album ‘For‘, released 2007 by Cuneiform Records.

This track grooves so hard I can’t possibly sit still while I listen.  It’s the way Hollenbeck employs distinctly different snare drum timbres and perfectly compliments the utterly simple descending bassline, and then Moran’s vibes solo floats effortlessly over the top and constantly subverts the swung 4/4 feel with 12/8 and straight 4/4 references.  This tune is incredibly special because it is a hard-grooving lament in memory of Matt Moran’s late father, Tom; have you ever heard of a hard-grooving lament?  No, me neither.

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