alto saxophone solos

Confirmation: Sonny Stitt Solo

Some years back, I offered a transcription of alto saxophonist Richie Cole soloing on the Charlie Parker original “Confirmation.” In this post I’m revisiting the tune, this time featuring Sonny Stitt holding forth on five moderately fast choruses on the 1966 Atlantic album Stitt Plays Bird.*

Stitt was compared to Parker early on, but he clearly had his own voice—perhaps not quite as sophisticated harmonically as Bird’s, but distinct, technically clean, and masterful. He was a redoubtable exponent of bebop, creative, deft, and downright fierce at even the fastest tempos but also accessible and certainly a great study. On slower tunes he seemed to instinctively carve out large passages of double-time, and even here at a more upbeat tempo, his love of sixteenth-note runs is on display, notably in a couple of the bridge sections (measures 49–51 and 145–148).

Some parts of this transcription are approximations rhythmically, and while I’ve incorporated a few slurs where I felt they’d be helpful, I haven’t attempted to duplicate Stitt’s articulation. So as always, get a true feel for the tune by listening to the recording, available, at least at the time of this post, on YouTube (see footnote).

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* Remastered edition of “Confirmation” published by Rhino Atlantic on YouTube, November 28, 2019, https://youtu.be/ZFQG2sMAAM4?list=OLAK5uy_lcjTYSk7YLONbfUqDgz3YQj300mB1wZs4.

July 4, 2020 by Robert Hartig

Filed Under: Jazz, Jazz Solo Transcriptions, Music, Saxophone Tagged With: alto saxophone solos, Bird changes, Bob Hartig saxophone, Confirmation alto saxophone solo, how to improvise Confirmation, jazz solo transcriptions, learn to improvise jazz, Sonny Stitt solo transcription, stormhorn

Stella by Starlight: Phil Woods Solo

So much time has passed since I’ve posted in this blog that I’m not sure how it’s done anymore. My posts these days are all in my Fox’s World blog at my CopyFox editing and writing website. But for the first time in ages, I’ve completed a solo transcription, and here is the place for those.

So I’m firing up my Stormhorn blog at least this once, long enough to make Phil Woods’s alto saxophone solo on “Stella by Starlight” available to whoever is interested. Right-click on the images at the bottom of the page, then click “View image”; you’ll then be able to enlarge them.

Phil takes two 32-bar choruses in this quintet arrangement.* I have provided the standard harmony for the first chorus, but Phil obviously digresses from it in places. Since comping is minimal, he’s not locked in to chord structures, and in a couple spots I haven’t been entirely certain of his note choices. I’ve done my best to discern them accurately, but sometimes, you know, after looping a segment over and over, and weighing what I think I’m actually hearing in the solo line against my understanding of the harmony when the two don’t jibe, I just have to make my best guess. That said, Phil isn’t hard to follow (in this tune, anyway), and I’m satisfied that this transcription is 99 percent on the mark. Have fun with it.

In closing, a plug for the Audipo transcription app that I used to transcribe this solo. A month ago, I paid $5.99 for a year’s subscription to the pro version, and I am delighted. It’s easy to use, and it has made me excited at the prospect of transcribing more solos. So stay tuned. I’m considering which tune I want to work on next, and I expect to post another one in a couple weeks.

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* The Ultimate Jazz Archive 32, “Swing to Bebop–Modern Jazz: Phil Woods (2 of 4)” (2007 Carinco AG), provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises, https://youtu.be/w9yv8UN-QSI.

May 5, 2020 by Robert Hartig

Filed Under: Jazz, Jazz Improvisation and Technique, Jazz Solo Transcriptions, Music, Saxophone, Uncategorized Tagged With: alto saxophone solos, Phil Woods solo transcription, solo transcriptions

How to Solo on “Confirmation”: Guide Tones

In recent months I set myself to tackling a project that I had put off far, far too long: getting my arms around Bird changes. In one way or another, the Charlie Parker tune “Confirmation” has been a regular part of my practice sessions these days. Recently I finished transcribing a Richie Cole solo on “Confirmation,” and of course that was enlightening. I’m currently in the process of memorizing both it and a Parker solo on the changes. It has all been profitable in unlocking the logical but nevertheless challenging harmonies.

Developing a set of guide tones is immensely helpful in mastering Bird changes, particularly in the first four bars. The exercises on this page will help you do so. Click on the image to enlarge it. Note that the exercises are written for Eb instruments. If your instrument is pitched differently–eg. Bb tenor sax or C flute–you’ll need to transpose accordingly.

In exercises one and two, I’ve stripped the guide tones down to a whole note for every bar. You can modify them as you wish, but I find it helpful to start by keeping things as simple as possible.

Exercises three and four take the form of boppish etudes that utilize the guide tones.

I highly recommend that you practice these exercises with some form of harmonic accompaniment so you can hear how the pitches sound in context with the actual chord progression.

That’s it–gotta scoot. I hope you find these little nuggets profitable. If you enjoy them, you’ll find plenty more on my jazz improv page.

June 3, 2012 by Robert Hartig

Filed Under: Band, Jazz, Jazz Improvisation and Technique, Saxophone, Uncategorized Tagged With: alto saxophone solos, guide tones for Confirmation, how to improvise jazz, how to play bebop, playing Bird changes, Richie Cole solo, saxophone improvisation, solo on Confirmation

Confirmation: A Richie Cole Alto Sax Solo Transcription

I am not the world’s most accomplished jazz solo transcriber, but every time I tackle a project, I discover anew just how beneficial the discipline of transcribing jazz solos is. This latest transcription has kicked my butt. Richie Cole is–to put it in words you’ll rarely hear from a sedate, late-middle-aged Germanic male–one bad mofo on the alto sax. He has carved his niche as a bastion of bebop, and as such, his language is largely accessible. However, Richie has a way of interpolating material that requires serious effort to figure out exactly what the heck he’s doing.

So it is with his rendition here of the Charlie Parker standard “Confirmation.” Some of Richie’s rhythms and trills caused me to sweat blood for hours trying to at least approximate in a measure or two ideas that flew glibly from the man’s horn in the matter of a second.

The solo is transcribed from Richie’s 2007 CD The Man with the Horn. A quintessential bebop tune, “Confirmation” rips along at 246 beats per minute, providing Richie with a perfect vehicle to demonstrate his formidable chops and his broad bop vocabulary. Anyone who wants to gain mastery of Bird changes will profit from working on this one.

Note: I transcribed Richie’s solo for Eb instruments, specifically the alto sax. I haven’t attempted to show all of Richie’s slurs and nuances, just a few that I felt needed to be indicated. To get a real feel for his articulation, you’ll need to listen to the recording.