94 DOWNBEAT AUGUST 2014

Michael Blake’s Tenor Saxophone Solo on ‘Tiddy Boom’LAST YEAR, I RECEIVED CHAMBER MUSIC AMERICA’S 2013 NEW JAZZ WORKS: Commissioning and Ensemble Development grant funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. My resulting work, Contrasts In Individualism, reinterprets the contrasting styles of tenor saxophone pioneers Coleman Hawkins (1904–’69) and Lester Young (1909–’59). I premiered and recorded the work this year with my group World Time Zone, which includes bassist Ben Allison, drummer Rudy Royston and guest pianist Frank Kimbrough.

For years, the contrasting styles of Hawkins and Young often led musicians and listeners alike to choose between two different “schools” of jazz. I never took sides, and within this new work I strive to share my admira-tion for both “Hawk” and “Pres” (as these two historic figures are commonly known). The source of the music drew from the technical resources of both saxophonists, the individualism of their improvisations and the legacy that they left behind. I view their rhythmic, harmonic and melodic structures as similar to an elevator (Hawkins) and an escalator (Young): two different ways to get to the same place.

The title of my piece “Tiddy Boom” (which can be found online at michaelblake.net/tiddyboom) is a Youngism used to describe when a drummer plays a sup-portive backbeat. The static harmonic structure, old-school key center (Db concert) and medium-up tempo (quarter note = 200) all provide a nice landscape for me to develop thematic solo material that draws from the leg-acy of the swing era. Hawkins certainly had a wider pal-let in terms of his harmonic imagination, but what Young can do with less notes (especially the sixth and ninth) is invaluable to any melodic improviser.

In Excerpt #1 from my “Tiddy Boom” solo, after a rather abstract and bluesy opening (bars 1–8), my fol-low-up idea contains a rhythmic pattern of eighth notes that has elements of early Pres. The percussive nature of this phrase anchors the solo and tightens up the rhythm section. Although known for his melodic approach, Young’s early solos are also ripe with a fully formed rhyth-mic structure that has had a huge influence on countless jazz artists. His sophisticated take on how a phrase can begin, develop and end is immediately evident in his early work with Count Basie. Later in life, Young’s resourceful and economic approach was a poignant response to the fast-paced style of bebop. In bars 9–16, note the limited range of one octave and the use of accents to create a vari-ety of note groupings.

Bars 18–22 (see Excerpt #2) exemplify a very Hawkins-like approach, and I enjoy taking some harmonic license before the piano accompaniment enters. The piano brings a new vibe, and at bars 27–29 I go for a “throaty” tone, leaving a little space for Kimbrough’s entrance to reso-nate. It’s only four bars, but it steers me in the right direc-tion. The following lines are also reminiscent of Young, who, like Hawkins, was exceptionally capable at “tagging” the chords. Bars 39–42 show my reverence for Hawkins’

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Woodshed BY MICHAEL BLAKESOLO

Excerpt #1

Excerpt #2