Bags' groove
Bags' Groove is a 1952 composition by Milt Jackson that quickly became a jazz standard . Bags was Jackson's nickname, which supposedly goes back to the bags under his eyes.
Characteristics of the composition
Bags' Groove is a minor -like riff theme in blues form and excessively rapid pace. The theme begins with a phrase in F minor with an introductory fifth jump that is repeated twice. According to Martin Williams , it is "earthy, traditional and modern" at the same time.
Early recordings
Jackson played the title on April 7, 1952 with his quintet, which included saxophonist Lou Donaldson in addition to his colleagues from the Modern Jazz Quartet . Bags' Groove was initially released as a single. He recorded the piece with the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1956 for the Atlantic album of the same name . The title had been part of the group's repertoire for several years; For decades it served as an encore in the concerts of this ensemble.
In 1953 Bud Powell covered Bags' Groove , which was also recorded by Howard Rumsey in 1954 . "In these first recordings, the head theme with the parallels of thirds is still in the foreground," which no longer played a role in later interpretations.
The best known recording is by Miles Davis . The title is on the album Bags' Groove , which was released by Prestige . Davis reduced the theme by only intoning the first motif in a simpler variation and created a solo with a great “openness, in which sound, form and expression create a new dimension.” Monk's solo is also considered a “brilliant example of the rare art of creating a great arc of tension with simple means (motif cores, pauses, rhythmic shifts). "
Way to the jazz standard
Bags' groove quickly caught on in modern jazz . Within a few years musicians like Bobby Jaspar (1955), JJ Johnson and Kai Winding (1957), Gerry Mulligan (1957) and Hank Mobley (1957) made it a classic; Davis recorded the same year. Other versions exist u. a. by Toshiko Akiyoshi , Ray Bryant (1959), Ron Carter and Jim Hall , Jimmy Forrest (1960), Hampton Hawes , Shelly Manne , Horace Parlan , Duke Pearson (1962), Oscar Peterson (1962) and Mal Waldron . In 1992, for the fortieth anniversary, Bobby McFerrin and Take Six provided a (text-free) vocal version.
literature
- Carlo Bohländer , Karl Heinz Holler, Christian Pfarr: Reclam's Jazz Guide . 4th, revised and supplemented edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-15-010355-X .
- Hans-Jürgen Schaal (Ed.): Jazz standards. The encyclopedia. Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a. 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1414-3 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry ( jazzstandards.com )
- ↑ a b c d e Hans-Jürgen Schaal, Jazz-Standards , p. 49f.
- ↑ Reclam's Jazz Guide
- ↑ cit. n. Hans-Jürgen Schaal, Jazz-Standards , p. 49
- ^ Milt Jackson discography
- ↑ On the recording on December 24, 1954, Davis and Milt Jackson included Thelonious Monk , Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke .