Cherokee – Al Haig

Actually this is a Cherokee contrafact called Parker ’51…

This with Stan Getz, Live at Storyville, in 1952. I’ve been meaning to work up some mojo for Cherokee, and it’s an interesting problem. My mid-tempo vocabulary doesn’t work on Cherokee because of the fast tempo, not to mention the difficult key centers on the bridge. I like Al Haig’s vocabulary on this solo (one chorus only), but it’s also an interesting solo to listen to because he was having difficulty getting the eighth notes out fast enough. At the end of the bridge, you can hear Getz start snapping his fingers because Haig kept getting behind (by which I mean he couldn’t seem to play his ii-V patterns quite fast enough, so he’d finish late and need a couple of bars to “regroup”). I had to “rationalize” the timing of some of this, since certain licks dragged so much. I suspect Al had been drinking…

Parker 51 (Cherokee) – Al Haig

 

Ascension – Barry Harris

This is a Barry Harris original from his 1962 solo piano album “Listen to Barry Harris – Solo Piano”. I highly recommend this album for study. The tune is similar to Rhythm in F, but with a different bridge. It’s also similar to Parisian Thoroughfare. This is great classic Barry Harris vocabulary, and I’m using it as a practice exercise.

Ascension – Barry Harris