Kevin Sun

When I first heard about the Live at the Plugged Nickel  (1965) recordings in high school, I had only ever listened to the 'First Great Quintet.' Based on the track listing for these recordings, I was expecting to hear some moderately updated takes of existing repertoire, but I had no way to process what was happening. Where was the harmony? Where was the form? Where was 'one'?  A few years later, I came back to these recordings while feeling in a slump about playing over standards—the hopelessness of breaking free from 32-bar forms that began to feel like prison cells—and they instantaneously opened my ears to the possibilities of creating vibrant, living music within old forms. It wasn't about making the most pristine or slick melodic/harmonic/rhythmic statement within the form; it was about exploding these forms, overspilling their boundaries with the momentum of the music.  The opening tune from the first set of the second night, "If I Were a B

It's been a while since I've posted any solos, but now that Herbie's been giving the  Norton Lectures  at Harvard, I was reminded to revisit a solo I'd transcribed a while back but forgotten about.  This is from the alternate take of "One Finger Snap" from  Empyrean Isles  (1964), which is noticeably brighter than the master take and a little more rough around the edges. Freddie's solo on this take is brilliant; the interplay within the band is raw and deeply engaging throughout. This is Herbie's brief second solo statement after Freddie's solo and before Tony's. Check it out: C Bb Eb * * * It's hard to believe that it's already been another year. Thanks, everybody, for continuing to read and share your thoughts on this blog. I mentioned last year around this time that I was hoping to try to write more thoughts about music rather than just post transcriptions all the time, and I think that I've made some pr