![]() Major/ minor: A Diminished/ Blues Scale Hex-0-Tonic Plus Factor - An Augmented Scale Sequence notice it ! He continues in bar #3 with a Monkish sixteenth-note tritone containing figure, before outlining the Ab min7. In bar #2, he shifts the accents forward by an eighth note triplet, to the 3rd triplet of beats 1 and 2. 2), in which the accents of the eighth-note triplet figures in bar #1 are on the downbeats of 3 and 4 (the intervals involved are perfect 4ths). This is evidenced in the first few bars of his solo ( Ex. What impresses me most is not only Griff's aforementioned sound and chops, but his rhythmic approach, as well. It´s highly probable that - on this earlier session - it was the first time anyone, other than Monk, had seen the tune.įast forward to the Five Spot recording - after weeks or months of it being part of the band's nightly repertoire - and it's clear that by this time, Griffin is tearing it up it like he owns it. A quick listen to an earlier studio version, recorded some 5+ months earlier (which included trumpeter Clark Terry and baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, as well as Griffin and Monk), reveals an unfamiliarity by all involved. This controlled explosiveness is definitely in evidence on these live recordings.įocusing again on "Coming on the Hudson", it´s apparent that, by the time of this live recording, Griffin had this quirky, asymmetrical tune well tamed. But when the rhythm section gets cooking, I want to explode". "I get excited, and I have to sort of control myself, restrain myself. He was considered the "fastest gun in the West" (or East), well before Coltrane developed his so-called "sheets of sound". ![]() Even with the then recent emergence of John Coltrane (who Griffin replaced in Monk's band, when 'Trane rejoined Miles Davis in early 1958), Johnny Griffin was considered among the "top dog" contemporary tenor saxophonists in Jazz at that time and place in space.Ĭoming up in Chicago and nicknamed "The Little Giant", Griffin was known for his rugged, blues inflected sound and rapid fire execution. "Thelonious in Action!" features some of Johnny Griffin's strongest recorded efforts. 1 - Coming on the Hudson - Monk's Voicings ![]() There's always a method to Monk's madness.Įx. Monk plays them throughout the duration of Griffin's solo, as well as on his own. Likewise, the B-section - with its 2/4 bar on the end - feels like:ġ23 1 / 23 12 / 123 1 / 23 - or 2-bars of 3/4, a bar of 2/4 and two more of 3/4.Īs it is actually written in 4/4, this breakdown is only to show where the accents fall. If the 5-bar A-section isn't unconventional enough for the period, the melodic accents and harmonic rhythms give the illusion that this tune might actually be in something other than 4/4, as given in the time signature.ġ2 34/ 123 1 / 23 12 / 1234 / 1234 - in other words, a bar of 4/4, followed by 2-bars of 3/4, a bar of 2/4 and 2-bars of 4/4. This example, as well as the examples of Griffin's tenor solo below, are all in concert key. 90, Thelonious Monk Classics), is a notation graphic of Monk's piano voicings, which reveal how the tune is constructed, as well as what Johnny Griffin was working with for his solo. ![]() 1 below (from Hal Leonard's Jazz Play-Along vol. ![]() It's also noticeably devoid of any real ii-V-I harmonic resolutions.Įx. Each A- section is 5-bars long, with the bridge, or B- section, being 3 bars of 4/4, plus 1 bar of 2/4. "Coming on the Hudson" sports a quirky 19-bar, AABA song form. ![]()
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