How Paul Desmond Improvised Counterpoint like J.S. Bach

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Few additional notes I didn't include in the video: the very first example (which comes back later in the secondary dominant part) is an unpublished recording made by somebody in the 50's at Dave Brubeck concert with a remote tape recorder, so this is actually some very exclusive material which you won't find anywhere on cd (it's of course with this persons permission). Also the example with the Wide Triads as well as the Bach literal quote come from an unpublished library from a concert hall. This audio is way better, as it was intended to become an actuall cd, but there the mix was messed up in two tunes so it never happened. And if you would like to support the channel or/and get all the (extra) transcriptions and analysis from this video: www.patreon.com/sharpeleventranscriptions Thanks for alll the kind comments already, greatly appreciated! Jorre

[@JonDeLucia]

Cool! That first example is crazy.

[@SharpElevenMusic]

@@JonDeLucia hey Jon, yeah so fortunate to get that one! Such a pitty that concert wasn't recorded for an album, I was totally blown a way when the guy mailed me his little tape recorder with this

[@alonsotoro7904]

DiosDesmond, Paul Desmond was a genius, one of the greatest American musicians of all time, a gem of refinement and sublime poetic elegance.

[@jakemf1]

Love this type of beyond the transcription

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thanks jakemf1! Me too, that's kind of why I transcribe so much, to see the proces behind the creative output 🙂 hope more people start to see transcriptions that way

[@furtherdefinitions1]

If you listen to the recording he did with Gerry Mulligan called "Blight Of The Fumblebee", during Paul Desmond's solo, he fits a quote from Bach's 5th Brandenburg Concerto/ Paul Desmond is one of my favorite sax players

[@boltezt]

I've been listening to that Stardust recording for so many years, and I'd never caught on to that quote from Debussy's string quartet until now. Kind of makes you wonder how many great moments there still are, just waiting to be discovered. Seeing how your work on KZbin is exceptional, I'd love to see you delve a bit deeper into Desmond's quotes and their inspiration. You did a wonderful job on this video, great work!

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thank you for the kind words! Yes, there are so many quotes in Desmonds playing, some have pointed a few out I wasn't aware of and I never would, as he also used some relevant songs of the day to quote that didn't stay popular. So I'm wondering how many I even missed because I just don't happen to know the song... Anyways, the examples in this video was partly recognised by myself and a big other part people just mentioned to me or I got it from the beautiful biography book by Doug Ramsey. I will certainly continue to do research and hopefully gather enough for a new video, so if you have any for me that would be greatly appreciated! The most funny one in my opinion is his use of "American Patrol" by Glenn Miller on Bossa Nova USA from live at the Carnegie Hall concert. That one always cracks me up 😁

[@boltezt]

@@SharpElevenMusic Thank you for the reply! I can think of a few more quotes, but since you've already mentioned Stravinsky's Pétrouchka, Desmond quotes the Russian Danse theme from the same ballet in Brubeck's "Truth": kzbin.info/www/bejne/novdlHWjjcmnmZI 'Original': kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5-VqIOam6mpj68 Let me know if you have a more private place where I can drop off a quote when I think of one. That way I don't have to bother the nice viewers with a ton of comments.

[@SharpElevenMusic]

@@boltezt Hi there, sorry for the late reply, but somehow never got notified of this comment... It's a great catch! He also plays that one in The Way You Look Tonight at Oberlin I believe. If you have more quotes like these, I love them, please let me know at [e-mail] , would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[@bogdanfrincu3226]

Thank you so much for this breakdown! this is pure gold when trying to learn as much as I can about that sound and phrasing

[@maurodegiorgi63]

excellent work mate. thank you. and you are absolutely right: Desmond was a genius!

[@tanrebcucarellosqui4321]

So good and so inspiring, thank you!!! 😊

[@pipityri]

Excellent.

[@robertbrittain3996]

Great great work.. the sort of analysis and understanding I can only aspire to.. very many thanks..

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Great to hear you found value in the video Robert, thanks a lot for the kind words!

[@clearbrain]

Beautiful video .. Really hard work behind.... Bravo ❤❤❤

[@quintinpace2627]

Very cool

[@fg87fgd]

Thank you!

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thank you Norbert! 😃

[@bartoszhaliniak3030]

Wow ! Genius ! Very interesting ! Good job !

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thank you Bartosz! 🙏

[@sitarnut]

On the Brubeck Qt. Reunion LP Paul quotes no less than 7 other songs within his solo...he's not underestimated by we fans who grew up in the 50's and 60's. We bought every Brubeck LP when new. Could hardly wait to hear how Paul was going to clean the changes with his alert, intelligent, swinging mind and Tone to live for.

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Hi thanks for that input! Love to listen to the LP your refering to, but when I search it on google it points to Desmond/VanKriedt album in 1958, so doesn't seem to be the DBQ What's the exact name of the album or year perhaps? I guess that will be the reunion in the 70s right?

[@Bird_Coltrane_Monk_Dizzy1113]

Awesome to hear someone speak the language so well! I have over 300+ transcriptions I’ve done. If you want I’ll share

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Hey, thanks! Ow that's a crazy lot of transcriptions! Sure, we could see if there are some published if it fits a bit the current stream of transcriptions we put out, like Desmond etc. You can contact us at our mail: [e-mail]

[@Bird_Coltrane_Monk_Dizzy1113]

@@SharpElevenMusic right on. I’ll send you a few I think fit. Thanks, man!

[@bwalker99]

Great job.

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thanks Bob🙏

[@behzadasgharpour661]

....simple and clear and perfect .....great....tanx

[@TheShakour]

one of the best content that i saw in youtube

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thank you Mohammad 🙏 that is very kind of you

[@PfhorShark]

Very insightful, I'm going to be listening to some of Desmond's recordings in more depth now, thanks.

[@psychicsushizoid]

Thank you, this is inspiring!

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Glad to hear psychicsushizoid!

[@bernardkocioek685]

This is HUGE!

[@danielgersax]

fantastic! thanks again!

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thanks Daniel!

[@zwuuuuu]

Nice work on putting the reference piece adjcent I. Really helps to compare and contrast

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thanks, glad you like it!

[@petergreen1869]

Very interesting. Many thanks.

[@stangetz534]

thanks

[@HarmoChopin]

I've learned Bach's music for 2 years, I can compose with his language. Your lesson is very interesting. The difficult is to remember all these elements in an improvisation! Have you written a method?

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thanks! No, not yet at least. I'm busy writting a style analysis method on Paul Desmonds approach. I hope this will take shape more in this coming year, and in meantime, there is plenty of both educational and new material that will be published soon on Paul Desmond! Subscribe to stay updated, or check the channel once in a while :) all the best, Jorre

[@HarmoChopin]

I subscribed, @@SharpElevenMusic, thanks much.

[@rico._5067]

Nice

[@omonimo]

Thank you, that's so interesting

[@SilasThorn]

What recording of Igor Stravinsky's - Sacre Du Printemps did you use?

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps / The Rite of Spring - Jaap van Zweden - Full concert in HD It's taken here from KZbin

[@EytanLerner]

Thanks, can you write down the records in which he corresponded with Bach ?

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Hi Eytan! They've recorded "Brandenburg Gate", which is used in this video with analysis. There is also a beautiful live version of that one live in Amsterdam. Another one that comes to mind is the second part of his solo on "Bru's Blues", completely incredible and you'll definitely hear the Bachlike motivic development there for an extended time. There is some great question and answer with himself over the octaves in "the song is you", and "All The Things You Are" from the Live at The Pacific you'll hear him develop in a classical way his sequences. Or check anything from his two albums with Mulligan, those are also suc h gems and have some counterpoint in them ( on "Just The Way You Look tonight" he actually overdubt one extra voice, which makes it a kind of 3 part invention. Very cool! ) These are some of the top of my mind, but there is more. I hope at least you find a nice start discovering the awesomenes of Desmond :)

[@alonsotoro7904]

By the way, there are many more quotes from Bach, Kachaturian, Ellintong ...

[@SharpElevenMusic]

I'm absolutely sure there are many, many more indeed. Which one do you recall? Would love to check new ones 😁

[@miguelseoane7586]

6:34 which version of these foolish things is this?

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Hi Miguel, this is actually recorded material from a private tape recording somebody while attending a Brubeck Quartet concert in the 50s, so you won't find that on an official published album. The person was so kind to share it with me and gave permission to use it in this video

[@miguelseoane7586]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnqwd6euiKqkZqc For anyone still looking for this version

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

love it!!

[@paxwallacejazz]

Underestimated by whom? certainly not Parker .

[@RottenApple737]

What’s the tune called in the beginning of the video?

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Hi there, it's on "These Foolish Things", this was from somebody's tape recorder he brought to a concert in the 50s, so there isn't a official album where it's on, hence the poor quaity a bit :)

[@RottenApple737]

@@SharpElevenMusic oh so it’s nowhere to be found online?

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Nope, private collection from a remote tape recorder somebody brought to a concert

[@ritmicoazul]

Exelente!

[@freddyarellano3907]

👏👏👏👏

[@stevekobb3850]

And don't forget the "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" quote in "Strange Meadowlark"!

[@SharpElevenMusic]

haha yes, he also uses Santa Claus is coming to town in a counterpoint way on "The Way You Look Tonight" from Live At Oberlin. There are tons of examples more, couldn't cram them all into one video unfortunately :)

[@henrykwieniawski7233]

Two words: “Partimento” and “Figured bass.”

[@jxnglxst6874]

you know what paul desmond and this video just taught me? Jazz music should not and is not played like classical music. If you mad you aint listen to the Big 5 thats facts!

[@paulyoung1341]

You are from Russia?

[@SharpElevenMusic]

No, Belgium 🙂

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

I like your analysis to an extent, but let’s not fall into the trap of overanalysing (like many do in the jazz theory, making it a total gobbledygook). Playing music is like writing a good novel; a writer may be inspired by, and ‘quote’ previous writers in some form; and we may go as far and say that everything we write “was already written”. However, quotations as such happen when a writer is seeking a safe ground to go into a new, original direction. It is same with improvising own melodies in real time; A/ player relies a lot on quotations from other composers (a good pivotal idea), from the music he knows it works or, B/ using a thesaurus and a dictionary to deliver a mediocre idea while he is suffering mental block (using the chords of the accompaniment), or, C/ deliver something entirely new (excellent idea). While entertaining others in concerts a good players hardly ever goes into C, because it’s too risky, but plays ‘on the safe ground’, in A and B.

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Great analysis!

[@bluetv6386]

Super mais ... le micro...

[@dr.chrisketo7193]

D.Brubeck destroyed much of the harmonies & rhythms - so in my opinion- these two didn’t fit together at all.

[@dr7246]

I listen to Bach’s peerless melodic writing, then I hear Mr Desmond’s meandering, and I think: “No”

[@wavebouncemusic]

What are you going on about? Do you not find a little bit of satisfaction in Desmond's fantastic voice leading and melodic playing with beautiful passing tones and sequencing? Many of his improvisations could easily be likened to the solo works of Bach.

[@edwarddesenne6153]

Is it his sometimes highly intellectual personality and moments of sadness and depression in his love life which made his imaginative escape into melancholic nostalgic themes too remote from the everyday feelings of his audience?