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Zwee Dot!
Zwee Dot!
Date Posted: January 20 2009
Written By: Kelly Sill
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Bassist Kelly Sill recently gave an explanation of what he calls the "god-essence" moments in jazz—those moments that transcend the music itself and form a spiritual connection between the artist and the listener. As a particular example of this, Sill notes that on a live recording of "Stella By Starlight" an audience member squeals with joy when Miles Davis plays two simple notes—zwee dot!—on his trumpet.
Zwee dot!, then, seems to be an apropos name for this column, as Sill will be using classic jazz cuts to share his "listening" with us. For this column, Sill listens to the Thad Jones Mel Lewis big band’s version of "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby." Time markers are placed next to the text to allow readers to follow along.
"Yes, Sir, That's My Baby"
From The Big Band Sound of Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Featuring Miss Ruth Brown (1968)
Thad Jones – Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Arrangements
Mel Lewis – Drums
Ruth Brown – Vocals
00:02: Great start.
00:04: And Mel fills beautifully.
00:06: This is classic Thad arranging.
00:08: Strong Richard Davis [bass].
00:14: Tritone sub in last bar before head. [A tritone sub is a harmonic substitution used to change the key of a soon-to-be resolved dissonant chord without changing its function or fundamental voice leading––in this case, A7 instead of E flat 7––wherein each chord has the same leading tones (G and D flat [C#]).]
00:15: And now Mel’s out.
00:16: And Ruth is so beautiful.
00:19: Man, that feels good.
00:22: Beautiful time feel.
00:30: Thad’s playing some funny stuff.
00:33: Funky, too.
00:43: Mel’s in at the bridge.
00:58: When Ruth sings the line “with a whole lot of feeling” she sings it with a whole lot of feeling!
01:03 Nice staccato horn parts.
01:10 Yeah, Ruth!
01:13 A half-step modulation up to A major.
01:20 What power!
01:30 And really busy horn parts that don’t get in the way of the cut’s simplicity.
01:40 Great horn moment.
01:45 Dig Ruth’s quarter notes––beautiful!
02:01 She’s flat out!
02:09 Another modulation, up to B flat major.
02:13 What a great combination of Thad’s figures and Mel’s setting them up! [Figures are the specific rhythms that an arranger chooses for his piece––each arranger is different.]
02:25 How high was that lead trumpet part? Man!
02:43 Mel’s tearing it up!
02:33 Man, the band is totally there.
02:45 You can hear the smile in Ruth’s voice as she reacts to the bone’s plungered response.
02:55 Richard sounds good right here in the last eight…
02:59 …but I didn’t like the tritone sub this time.
03:05 That’s some smarmy Thad!
03:13 Kissy.
03:18 Dig Thad making sure that he doesn’t step on Ruth.
03:29 What an amazing ending––I can’t even tell what’s going on.
03:36 Another great cut!
Kelly Sill has worked for over thirty years in the Chicago area as a house bassist for Rick's Cafe Americain, George’s, The Jazz Showcase, Pop's, and The Green Mill. Concert venues include the Chicago Jazz Festival, Ravinia, the Red Sea Jazz Festival, the Elkhart Jazz Festival, and Orchestra Hall (Symphony Center) in Chicago. His website is kellysill.com.
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