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How bassist Kelly Sill hears Jazz
How bassist Kelly Sill hears Jazz
Date Posted: March 14 2010
Written By: kelly sill
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Zwee Dot!
How Chicago musician and educator Kelly Sill hears jazz music
“In a Mellow Tone”
Count Basie Orchestra
Breakfast Dance and Barbecue, September 1959
0:03 The cut begins; just Basie and the other three rhythm section members.
0:04 Basie’s improvising, but playing the same shapes as the melody.
0:08 They’re taking it nice and easy.
0:13 Almost like a bass solo at times.
0:17 And Basie adds a little more.
0:23 Do you hear Basie singing?
0:26 Ah, Basie!
0:32 Now the horns come in with a call and response.
0:36 The saxes sound thicker than the bones.
0:44 It feels really good.
0:49 This is the last eight, or what I like to call the punchline.
0:53 The saxes are really delicate here.
0:56 Great!
1:02 And here’s the melody.
1:06 They’re playing the melody straight, with a simple call and response.
1:16 Very direct.
1:21 The same thing.
1:31 Very even––medium simmer.
1:37 Saxes on the melody now, leaning heavier. Bones now with a thicker response.
1:40 Oops! A minor clam.
1:47 They’re really starting to go now.
1:55 Wailing.
2:02 Almost full out.
2:11 Nice contrast between the saxophones and the brass.
2:15 The drummer (Sonny) set that up beautifully.
2:18 Double-time––he’s really changing it up.
2:25 Sonny really uses his bass drum nicely, and great horn backgrounds for the bone.
2:31 The bass drum on all four, which is not used currently as much, but very effective when done as well as he does it.
2:40 Nice bone solo.
2:45 A lot can be done with quarter notes!
2:53 Beautiful!
2:59 A great call and response between bone and bass drum, which was improvised–– unless they do it the same way every night.
3:08 That was a beautiful moment.
3:14 Whoa, baby––saxophones full out!
3:19 A tremendous sax soli.
3:40 Beautifully together.
3:49 Wow!
4:01 Incredibly powerful.
4:17 Very few people play that way nowadays, and I wish that everyone could hear it every day.
4:21 Recap of the head, with what amounts to a bass counterpoint.
4:30 We really get to hear the bassist (Eddie Jones) on this one.
4:41 Very sparse, except for that trumpet player sneaking in with those little kitty calls––I’ll bet that it was Thad.
4:48 Now someone sang along––bet that it was someone in the band. It is 5 am.
5:00 They’re really taking their time.
5:09 It’s almost delicate.
5:15 Dig that bass drum response––a simple four and one.
5:19 Man, did that feel good! Four and one––Sonny!
5:31 Now they take off!
5:38 Great setups by Sonny.
5:45 This is a classic shout chorus.
5:54 The most beautiful bass drum playing that I’ve ever heard!
6:03 Basie getting his word in.
6:09 A tremendous crescendo.
6:23 An explosive ending.
6:32 Bringing it all home!
6:41 There was so much momentum that Basie couldn’t even play his standard ending–– he had to play more. And Sonny set it up for beautiful conclusion. Another classic!
Charlie Fowlkes (baritone sax), Count Basie (piano), Frank Wess (tenor sax), Harry “Sweets” Edison (trumpet), Frank Foster (tenor sax), Al Grey (trombone), Freddie Green (guitar), Eddie Jones (bass), Sonny Payne (drums), Benny Powell (trombone), Marshall Royal (alto sax), Wendell Culley (trumpet), Thad Jones (trumpet), Snooky Young (trumpet), Joe Newman (trumpet)
nCJM
Bassist Kelly Sill once 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 uses classic jazz cuts to share his “listening” with us.
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