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Download the PDF: concert pitch, Bb, Eb
Charms of the Night Sky, written by Dave Douglas and performed by: Dave Douglas, trumpet; Greg Cohen, acoustic bass; Mark Feldman, violin; Guy Klucevsek: accordion. From Charms of the Night Sky, recorded 1998 and released on the Winter & Winter label.
Greg Cohen’s bass solo on this track is so cool because it grooves so hard and really changes up the texture of the tune. The rhythmic backbone of the whole tune is defined by Cohen’s basslines, characterized by tied 8th notes and variations on the tresillo rhythm (3+3+2). His solo is very much in the same character as he’s still carrying the rhythm, and he makes a seamless transition from a soloist role to accompaniment when the melody comes back in for the B section.
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Dave Douglas (trumpet) really blurs the line between soloing and playing the head (such as measure 30), which is one thing that really makes the magic happen on this recording. I wanted to transcribe every improvised note that Dave plays on this recording, and I’ll get there eventually, but he just goes and goes! It sounds to me like these chord changes really resonate with Dave’s ear, or that he lived with them for a period of time, because his creativity seems to be absolutely bottomless on this tune. This is true for the whole album actually, and can largely be accredited to the fact that Dave Douglas is a monster improviser, but there’s something else about his playing on this tune that really goes beyond skill.
And like I said for Mark Feldman’s solo – there’s some stuff that Dave plays on this recording that I can only approximate because he’s stretching and contracting the time (such as mm. 4 and 45-47). This transcription is only functioning as a roadmap to help the player/listener stay oriented as they play/listen to the solo, so I hope Dave will forgive me for trying to force his rhythms into a box.