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Post new topic Paul Desmond's Wendy - a sax-inspired C6th tune
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Author Topic:  Paul Desmond's Wendy - a sax-inspired C6th tune
Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 24 Sep 2015 10:34 am    
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We were recently talking in the Music section about the George Garzone saxophone clinic on YouTube. George talked about the importance of holding long tones and how seldom players do this. Bill Hatcher brought up alto sax great Paul Desmond, who was known for his beautiful sense of melody and "let's take time to smell the roses" approach to improvisation.

The thread reminded me I'd always meant to transcribe at least the head to Desmond's beautiful tune, Wendy. It's a nice tune for practicing those sustained notes. I arranged it as mostly single notes with a few thirds. Desmond's Bmaj7 to Emaj7 chord change at the end is a real harmonic surprise. For the last time through, it's Bmaj7/Emaj7/Eb. 'Hope you find this useful ....

PDF Arrangement for C6th Lap Steel
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjief90eym68qln/Wendy.pdf?dl=0

MIDI Audio of C6th arrangement
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2z7ono6amn4339a/Wendy.mp3?dl=0

BIAB backing track
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3j8b84ny6epj0lt/Wendy%20-%20Paul%20Desmond%20BIAB%20backing.m4a?dl=0

Link to Paul Desmond & Ed Bickert’s performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_XU8Vdbr8Q
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Charlie McDonald


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out of the blue
Post  Posted 26 Sep 2015 3:30 am    
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Pursuant to the topic on the jazz sax seminar, I'm looking forward to hearing your take on Wendy, but no pressure...
wouldn't be in keeping with the ever cool Mr. Desmond, always smelling the roses.
The version you posted Wendy: Ed Bickert's guitar lays it out pretty well for steel to me. What a lovely melody in an intimate setting.
Desmond could write a cool tune; this one has all the chords it needs without one it doesn't, and Bickert makes them work.
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 26 Sep 2015 4:49 am    
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Bickert is towering figure in chordal playing on the guitar. On one hand, his playing sounds very tame and diatonic without much dissonance but if you look at the harmonies he superimposes, it can get pretty sophisticated. Desmond said Bickert's comping sounded like it was written for orchestra.

Here's a cool run I picked up from Bickert's playing. He played it over a ii, V, i in Eb. I moved it to D. The final 6/9 chord is for the adventurous but you could just sit on the major 7th. In C6th tuning: ECAGEC


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Last edited by Andy Volk on 26 Sep 2015 6:53 am; edited 1 time in total
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Nate Hofer


From:
Overland Park, Kansas
Post  Posted 26 Sep 2015 6:21 am    
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Andy, thanks. I'm gonna check this out.
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Charlie McDonald


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Post  Posted 26 Sep 2015 6:40 am    
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Andy Volk wrote:
The final 6/9 chord is for the adventurous but you could just sit on the major 7th.

That wouldn't be any fun.

The BIAB track is really very nice. I'd forgotten how familiar Eb felt on piano (my first playing partner in jr hi played alto sax) as I played along. Good luck on this one, not that you'd need it.
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Rick Bernauer

 

From:
Kansas, USA
Post  Posted 26 Sep 2015 8:12 am    
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Thanks for posting the tab and sound files, Andy. I'm still exploring and enjoying your C6th book.
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 26 Sep 2015 10:47 am    
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You're welcome. I figure if I turn one person on to the brilliance of Desmond and Bickert I've done my job.

I like high energy swing/bebop as much as many people do here on the SGF. To my taste, these guys played ballads in such a beautiful, pure way that it never feels slow and low energy as opposed to .... as one example, I had a few CDs by Howard Alden with George Van Eps and even though I was supposed to marvel at their brilliance, I consistently snoozed.

Desmond on the other hand, once you put Brubeck in another location, was really one of those rare guys who could improvise melody lines that were often better than the composed melodies of the tunes he was playing. And Bickert? The guy wove tapestries of sound. I'll shut up now.
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2015 5:31 pm    
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A few days ago, this 45 min. Ed Bickert concert popped up on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=237&v=5ctwApXDKE8

Poor video quality but great music.
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 30 Sep 2015 3:06 am    
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That is one beat-up (well-played) Telecaster Bickert's playing. He's a tireless soloist; as an orchestra on his own he really shines
as he accompanies Renee Lee at the end on 'I've Got You Under My Skin.' Pretty brilliant stuff; really shuts my mouth. Cool

I think you're right on about Desmond vis Brubeck. They had a somewhat tempestuous relationship, maybe a little love/hate.
There's a good accounting of it in Wikipedia, showing their history and differences, and a lot of the humor that Desmond was.
At the time I 'met' Brubeck, he was pursuing the compositional and orchestral career he wanted after abandoning quartet work.
(I got a smile from Chris Brubeck as I 'took the stage' to tune and played a few bars of 'Three to Get Ready' before I got down to work.)
That was not long after Desmond died I think. Brubeck was a serious fellow, but probably had a soft spot in his heart and head for Desmond.
Certainly, Desmond softened their sound, could write a good song (and their big hit) and they complemented each other, but Brubeck remained the dominant personality.

There is a big difference between Desmond with and without Brubeck, as you said. Brubeck was somewhat pedantic and academic,
and Desmond epitomized (for me) the cool of the period and wanted to have fun, a little too much of it for Brubeck and perhaps for
his own good, but man he could solo. You can hear the difference in him from 'Bossa Nova USA' and 'Bossa Antigua.' (You may have guessed
that I love the bossa nova, and blame everything on it.) To me, his musical relationships with Jim Hall and Ed Bickert (along with Chet Baker
and Gerry Mulligan, both of whom also liked to have too much fun) were the perfect partners for that cool.

I'm sure you and I could go on forever about this era in jazz, Andy, so I too will shut up now.
People who think jazz is dead or dying aren't listening to the right stuff. It lives in the recorded literature.
There's a wealth of it on Utube alone, and records are seeing a resurgence. Maybe the south will rise again.
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Chris Sattler

 

From:
Hunter Valley, Australia
Post  Posted 2 Oct 2015 9:58 pm    
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Paul Desmond & Ed Bickert’s performance is just so smooooooth. Love that style. Thanks for posting Andy.
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Christopher Woitach


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 5 Oct 2015 7:14 am    
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Ed Bickert's guitar playing is not only absolutely wonderful, but the approach, texturally, is absolutely made for steel - lots of 2 to 4 note voicings embedded in the lines. Just wonderful stuff!
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 5 Oct 2015 7:43 am    
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Absolutely!

Bickert gave a few live clinics over the years but refused multiple requests to teach on an individual basis so there's almost nothing out there on paper showing his exact voicings and general style.

So we really have to use our ears. Ed's retired now but still alive. His son has posted some illuminating interviews with Ed on Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/search?q=ED+Bickert
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2015 3:32 am    
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At the risk of beating a dead horse, for those who are interested, here's my C6th lap steel transcription of the intro Ed played on Wendy. I got as close to the rhythm's as I could.

PDF: http://tinyurl.com/p3owffn

MIDI Audio: http://tinyurl.com/pekh76g
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G Strout


From:
Carabelle, Florida
Post  Posted 12 Oct 2015 2:19 pm    
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Love Ed Bickerts playing! Got turned on to him years ago with Rob McConnell. An old friend (now deceased) Ron Dann turned me on to so many great people that were "North of the border."
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