Alto Blues
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11 bar blues??
Eddie Vinson and Hank Crawford come to mind. Lots of jazz players were great blues players too: Bird and Cannonball for instance.
Eddie Vinson and Hank Crawford come to mind. Lots of jazz players were great blues players too: Bird and Cannonball for instance.
Please do elaborate on "11 bar blues". Is that the name of a tune or some variation of the 12 bar blues? What is the form exactly?
For some current players, check out Gerald Albright (in spite of the album cover, he plays a lot of alto):
A few other jazz players who can play the crap out of the blues on alto: Sonny Stitt
Here's Hank Crawford somebody already mentioned:
Sanborn isn't a blues player per se, but just about everything he plays is dripping with blues.
For some current players, check out Gerald Albright (in spite of the album cover, he plays a lot of alto):
A few other jazz players who can play the crap out of the blues on alto: Sonny Stitt
Here's Hank Crawford somebody already mentioned:
Sanborn isn't a blues player per se, but just about everything he plays is dripping with blues.
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I posted these a while ago ...
https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?370530-Some-blues-on-Alto
https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?370530-Some-blues-on-Alto
Great stuff, Tony.
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Sonny Stitt and Roy Eldridge:
Leo Wright:
Check also this jam session clip I just posted in below thread. It has 9 alto players and they play a blues at 15:00:
https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showt...-Trio-Hank-Jones-North-Sea-Jazz-Festival-1986
Leo Wright:
Check also this jam session clip I just posted in below thread. It has 9 alto players and they play a blues at 15:00:
https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showt...-Trio-Hank-Jones-North-Sea-Jazz-Festival-1986
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Lou
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The late great Sonny Criss - it can't get much better than this for a blues alto player...
Enjoy!
Greg S.
Enjoy!
Greg S.
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John Lee Hooker was famous for not being able to have a bass player with him, because he would play the blues with 11 or 13 bars thrown in a song.
I wish I could find the source, but the interview as I remember it went like this,
JLH: "Of course I know how to count. I can count to 12. But I don't count my music, I feel my music. And if it needs 11 bars or 9 bars, that is what I give it. And if it needs more that 12, I do that, too. Not everybody can play with me because of that."
My memory is rapidly being overtaken by my forgettory, so I cannot recall the source for this. I will do a little digging.
It would be well to get a correction. To quote rather than garble recollection. I shall hunt in my liner note collection.
It is, of course, not about an alto saxophone, but there was a direct question about 11 bars in a blues form.
I wish I could find the source, but the interview as I remember it went like this,
JLH: "Of course I know how to count. I can count to 12. But I don't count my music, I feel my music. And if it needs 11 bars or 9 bars, that is what I give it. And if it needs more that 12, I do that, too. Not everybody can play with me because of that."
My memory is rapidly being overtaken by my forgettory, so I cannot recall the source for this. I will do a little digging.
It would be well to get a correction. To quote rather than garble recollection. I shall hunt in my liner note collection.
It is, of course, not about an alto saxophone, but there was a direct question about 11 bars in a blues form.
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No luck. About half of my blues 33 1/3 collection is missing. What is more, I found a lot of empty sleeves. I wonder how that happened ...
No harm at this point finishing out the details of this alleged memory of mine.
I think that the quote from Hooker comes from the liner notes of an album where he was backed by (perhaps) Canned Heat. There was his "quote" paraphrased above in the liner notes, as well as a similar statement from one of the band members along the lines of "We all have listened to John Lee Hooker for a long time. So we know how to be flexible with his form and back him up in his style. You can't just count 12 bars. You have to listen."
But, as Winston Churchill said, "Verify your quotations!" And I cannot do that.
No harm at this point finishing out the details of this alleged memory of mine.
I think that the quote from Hooker comes from the liner notes of an album where he was backed by (perhaps) Canned Heat. There was his "quote" paraphrased above in the liner notes, as well as a similar statement from one of the band members along the lines of "We all have listened to John Lee Hooker for a long time. So we know how to be flexible with his form and back him up in his style. You can't just count 12 bars. You have to listen."
But, as Winston Churchill said, "Verify your quotations!" And I cannot do that.
I vaguely recall playing a couple of big band charts that had weird blues forms - 11 bars, 13 bars, etc. I wish I could remember what they were. It took a lot of rehearsals to get it down since everybody was feeling 12, yet that wasn't the form. We eventually got it, and it sounded pretty cool.
It's amazing how many tunes are based on the blues form yet still manage to sound unique. Some are very well disguised, like Steely Dan's "Peg". It's a straight up 12 bar blues but doesn't sound like it unless you listen carefully.
I digress...
Check out this lesson from Wynton, especially around the 16 minute mark:
It's amazing how many tunes are based on the blues form yet still manage to sound unique. Some are very well disguised, like Steely Dan's "Peg". It's a straight up 12 bar blues but doesn't sound like it unless you listen carefully.
I digress...
Check out this lesson from Wynton, especially around the 16 minute mark:
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Dare I mention Bud Shank? He has a whole bag full:
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In addition to all the above, Bird was a master of the blues. One of my favorite examples (Bird comes in at 2:04):
For a more 'basic' blues alto player, we should probably mention David Sanborn as well.
John Lee Hooker aside, it would be difficult to find an 11-bar blues. But there are plenty of 8-bar, 16-bar, and 24-bar blues.
For a more 'basic' blues alto player, we should probably mention David Sanborn as well.
John Lee Hooker aside, it would be difficult to find an 11-bar blues. But there are plenty of 8-bar, 16-bar, and 24-bar blues.
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