When You Sneak Stravinsky, Prokofiev AND Parker Into A Solo

JJ Johnson.
'Buzzy' by Charlie Parker.
Original Video: • Sonny Stitt,Howard McG...
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[@SuperKeswick]

Classic solo , JJ at the top of his game in the mid 1960’s

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

I love how coolly he walks away after finishing!

[@SuperKeswick]

@@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions the absolute governor

[@johnandmarie7250]

Little grin at the end! A little shine in the eye! Lasts about a half-second. No swagger but oh yeah I just did a thing…

[@mymo_in_Bb]

Maan, he even managed to sneak in Toby Fox's "Dummy!" The man's a genius

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

Where's that?!

[@mymo_in_Bb]

@@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions at 1:55

[@TheSteelDialga]

Oh my gosh hahaha

[@Tatman1212]

One of my favorite JJ solos of all time! He was such a gift to the trombone world!

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

I appreciate him more and more as I get older!

[@gfexc]

@@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions Very true

[@bobcosmic]

The most singable and lyrical trombonist to of ever set foot on the planet . By the way @02:24 Jamaican folk song Sly Mongoose is quoted, that’s how hip J.J. was or should I say still is !

[@JeffreyChilton]

god damn what a monstrous solo

[@joeplavin]

YOOOO that's the bassoon part, let's fucking goooo

[@mewsick5093]

Helll yeeeeeaAAAAAH

[@postatility9703]

Curtis Fuller,in remembering what first attracted him to the trombone,recalls seeing a concert that included Illinois Jacquet and JJ,among others.Curtis recalled how Jacquet was blowin' hard,honkin' and screamin and jumping around on the stage.But when it came time for JJ to solo,the thing that made the most impact on Curtis was how JJ projected such cool command and dignity when he played.

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

Love that!

[@Akwilliams_97]

This is some of the best playing I’ve ever heard from JJ

[@ethanhopper2467]

1:32 is William Tell Overture too.

[@seanfitz81]

it’s close, not 100% it’s not coincidental. the other ones were obvious though

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

Good call. It's quite well disguised, though!

[@davidtatro7457]

Nice job catching all those! He also at one point seems to hint at Send In the Clowns, but it wasn't really an explicit quote. JJ was certainly a master quoter.

[@SeanFenlon]

Irrespective of the quotes, one of the greatest Trombone solos I have ever heard in my life :-O

[@vahpr]

Love this recording, I’ve “incorporated” many of JJs lines. Also got part way through Sonny’s solo which on trombone is pretty tough, but so brilliant.

[@christinadone774]

1:50 Sonny stitt lick blues walk

Man, that’s swing!!! J. J. for president!!

[@markjohnson3413]

Your transcriptions are always so accurate, how long does it take you to transcribe something like this, a 3 minute long solo

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

Thank you! It depends on the duration and complexity of the solo. This took a few sittings as it's quite long, but very clean audibly. I try to keep a number on the go at the same time so I can chip away at the trickier ones.

[@Carlos-qz7ul]

One-of-a-kind 🎶 musician

[@franklee1550]

I’m not an English Horn! There’s also reveille and I believe a tune called Behind the Green Door in there.

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

Interesting! The Reveille could also be the opening to the 1812 Overture, but it's less explicit than the others.

[@lihuealejandroleguizamon1879]

What a bell had that trombone!

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

What a sound it produces!

[@estesgeorge6323]

@@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions That's not the horn that's JJ:)

[@DVDKC]

Genius.

[@NoahSpurrier]

That was intense.

[@incogitatus]

Pretty sure there are snips of a dozen or more pieces. I swear I heard bits of Carmen.

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

I wouldn't be surprised. There's almost an 1812 Overture quote in there, but it's not as obvious as the others.

[@schnieef]

There's Cherokee at the end.

[@essorguifabien5771]

Jazz Master Jay Jay ! Thx !

[@essorguifabien5771]

Maybe Nutville one day ! Thx for all !

[@willshannon5022]

This is one of my favorite jj solos

[@timboyer8783]

Wow, thanks for sharing!

[@umbertozanella5086]

GREAT...!!!

[@DelphinusOrcastra]

One of the best blues solos by sonny stitt before JJ as well 🐬

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

Yeah, maybe I should look into taking that down too...

[@gfexc]

2:07 Hymn. Also used by Sonny Stitt. From Biscuit Mix kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHqtqGymlMyGaKc

[@brunoespinola7]

Missed “William Tell overture”

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

A few people have said that. At around 1.30?

[@Garrett_Swanger]

When you need to write an essay so you write about stuff that you learned in other classes:

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

True! 😄

[@mewsick5093]

@@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptionsliteral student activities

[@alexdamasio2388]

Excelente trabalho parabéns 👏👏

[@waynejrice]

That's it. Next solo has to quote the Rite.

[@DanielKJohanssonTrombone]

Sneaky, snazzy, supreme!

I guess there is also William Tell Overture at 1:31

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

I think you're peobably right, even though it's less explicit than the others.

[@mustafa1name]

The clinical precision of the spare, beautifully percussive tonguing @2:03 and @2:45 is more impressive than the quotes, imo, which are nevertheless amusing and erudite

[@violinhunter2]

How about Rossini at 1:33?

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

The Theiving Magpie?? Could be!

[@TheLazyTrombonist]

Reminds me of Carl Fontana always adding those “children lullaby” ad Libs in his solo (like la cucaracha- wrong spelling I know)

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

Some say quoting in a solo is cheesy, but I like it. Keeps the audience on their toes!

[@stevecarter8810]

Well that's how I spell cucaracha, and now I'm paranoid

[@TheZigzagman]

Bill Evans did a lot of that too. Always weird to find yourself impressed by hearing old McDonald.

[@albertooliva2565]

mamma mia che roba

[@jackwilloughby239]

Swing'n.

[@itamarbar9580]

What year is the video from? Because it's interesting to imagine a Jazz legend, quoting his Contemporary Classical composers.

[@fedelei.1767]

MOSTRI!!!

[@jamier65551]

I can play trombone but I was shocked by how high up those notes are transcribed. I honestly can't hear it myself but maybe that's because I just play only a little above the staff since I'm in HS.

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

JJ used a good portion of the trombone's range. Some players go higher, but it's a bit gimmicky to me, and loses the timbre of the instrument.

[@jorymil]

It's a Bb blues, and JJ played high Bb. You'll get there as your playing matures. And I guarantee that JJ wasn't thinking about ledger lines during his solo :-). For myself, it's weird, but my range has gone up as I've gotten older. Bb first couple of years of HS, Db by the end of HS and first couple of years of college. Eb last couple of years. F or G on my good days now. But it's not about how high you can go; it's what you say with it. Jimmy Knepper on "Pussy Cat Dues" gets up there; JJ here only needs Bb.

[@ili626]

There’s another quote at 1:49.. but I can’t recall the name. Anyone know?

[@alexpagan4814]

song name?

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

It 'Buzzy' by Charlie Parker.

[@mewsick5093]

Pisses me off what the jazz community did to him.

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

How do you mean?

[@mewsick5093]

@@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions heard he was supposed to get an award of jazz recognition but didn’t and so he thought the jazz community didn’t appreciate him after so much work he put in so he unalived himself on the fourth of a February over a decade ago.

[@douglasfur3808]

is it me or is the transcription an octave high?

[@wavecycle]

No thats standard tenor trombone stuff

[@MichaelSidneyTimpson]

I am always amazed by how many people don't know how to indent the last staff in Finale...it really isn't that hard...the giant last measures should be a give away to indent.

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

I'm one that doesn't know! I use MuseScore, but I'm sure it's similar.

[@MichaelSidneyTimpson]

@@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions I am sure it isn't hard to figure out (or just google it). Doesn't it bother you when there is a large measures on the last system? I mean normal professional printed music will always indent the final staff to fix this. I have been using music notation and teaching at universities since the 1980s, and it was not so hard then even with the very basic software of that time. I am surprised how many lead sheets these days are improper that I find...it is almost like the error has become the norm, after centuries of published music doing it correctly....seems like no one notices or bothers to compare in the younger generations...you all grew up with tech, seems you can be savvy enough to figure it out.

[@TheSteelDialga]

@@MichaelSidneyTimpson the notes look good enough on the page to me. What's the problem? Sheet music isn't art, it's an instruction manual

[@MichaelSidneyTimpson]

@@TheSteelDialga Clarity, and it looks stupid to have such large measures suddenly on the last line, when it has no reason to look that way and is an easy fix on all software. Look at professionally published scores. and yes sheet music is art. You are talking to a 40 year veteran of professional composing and 25 years as a music professor. I have mentored 1,000s of students, judged hundreds of competitions and know what other judges criticize, worked with multiple symphony orchestras and know what conductors and performers consider as lazy, unprofessional notation. The fact you say that "sheet music is not art" shows you really have no sense of reality in the music world and professional standards. This is pretty serious. No professional publisher would accept such a mistake. And I am one of the easy-going and open-minded people in the profession. Many more would have much harsher words than me.

[@aycc-nbh7289]

I’m sorry, but is there a transcription in tenor clef available? I don’t own a trombone myself, but I’m just concerned for those who don’t necessarily read the treble clef all that often and are concerned by the sheer number of ledger lines in the bass clef transcription.

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

I can do you a tenor clef PDF and put it on Wayopay with a link if you want?!

[@aycc-nbh7289]

@@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions Maybe if that’s what others want, though, since it may not necessarily be the best move, but it could pay out great if it is a product people actually want. Again, I don’t play the trombone myself, but I do compose for it on occasion.

[@jonathanaul]

You'd often see the higher bits written in tenor clef if it were an orchestral trombone part, but in jazz lots of ledgers lines just come with the territory. Not too bad with J.J. -- if it was a Ray Anderson or Bruce Fowler solo, there could be quite a few more.

[@aycc-nbh7289]

@@jonathanaul If Mozart wrote his requiem mass for the tenor trombones in the tenor clef and alto trombone parts are read by tenor trombonists in the similar alto clef, then shouldn’t tenor trombonists use the tenor clef, at least for the higher parts such as doubling the trumpets?

[@jonathanaul]

@@aycc-nbh7289 For orchestral parts, yes -- not always the case, but that would not be unusual. For Classical-period sacred and opera music such as that of Mozart, the three-trombone / alto clef-tenor clef-bass clef writing would have been pretty standard, and that persisted with some composers into the Romantic period. Brahms would still be using it in the later 19th century. For jazz, however, just treble and bass clefs. And ledger lines, wherever needed. I went back over the J.J. solo, and I don't think he ever goes past E-flat above high C. Not that unusual for a 1st or lead part. Written tenor trombone range typically extends to high C, and the shift to tenor clef may be optional even in orchestral writing unless the part is spending a lot of its time at three / four ledger lines and above.

[@kristinpie]

Most likely this part would be written in the tenor or alto clef, which would really help with the leger lines Other than that it's nicely done.

[@RobEgertonJazzTranscriptions]

In big band scoring, trombones are written exclusively in bass clef. Whilst it would make sense to use tenor or alto, only classically-trained players would be able to read it.