Roger Corman

Set Two: First Piece

I glance out at the audience, who are waiting expectantly. I am seated at the piano,
and I look oer at my !ellow musicians"the drummer, #ass player and sax player.
$e look in%uisitiely at each other, all thinking pretty much the same thing. $hat
are we going to play&
I gie oice to the thought: 'Someone call a tune.(
The sax player suggests ')ae *ou +et +iss ,ones(. The three o! us nod in
agreement. I ask '$hat key&( The sax player, temporarily the leader !or haing
named the tune, responds 'F(. $e nod.
The sax player counts it o- #y snapping his .ngers. )e snaps them on #eats / and
0 o! the measure. The speed is %uick, and we all understand it will #e played with a
swing !eel. I am imagining the melody, as we will come in right at the #eginning o!
the 1/2#ar piece. Then the sax player calls out '02#ar piano intro(.
I hae the length o! the count '3, /, 3, /, 1, 0(, may#e two seconds, to come up
with a 02#ar solo piano introduction, which will #oth introduce the piece and lead
the #and into the start o! the tune. I play a !ew notes o! the #eginning o! the tune,
oer the .nal !our #ars o! chord changes"a !ormula that per!orms #oth !unctions.
Then, at once, the #ass player, drummer and sax player hae 4oined me.
$hile playing the head, or the melody o! the tune, we listen intently to each other,
and settle on a common grooe. $e hear how each other are playing their parts,
how the sax player is phrasing the melody, how the #ass player and drummer are
structuring the rhythmic 5ow. In this case the #ass player is playing two2#eat, rather
than the usual walking common to 4a66 swing. This gies the melody a more airy,
lighter !eel. The sax player is playing close to the standard melody, which gies me
a chance to support the melody #y improising an accompanying line a third or
sixth #elow his line. $ith my le!t hand, I am playing chords to support the melody.
I now remem#er that this tune has a somewhat unusual 7 section 8or #ridge9 which
changes key seeral times. The key changes in each case are #y ma4or third, as !ar
as you can go tonally in 4a66, and part o! the genius o! the piece is how the melody
5ows so naturally oer these a#rupt key changes. I am also not sure I remem#er the
keys correctly, and I hope that my ears and hands will somehow remem#er when
the time comes. They do. The key changes to 725at, then to :25at, then to ; and
#ack to :25at, #e!ore returning to F.
<s we near the end o! the tune, the #assist, drummer and I a#ruptly stop playing,
leaing the sax player all alone. $e didn=t plan this, #ut it !elt right. In 4a66, players
tend to a#hor a acuum, and when one player leaes some musical space another
instinctiely .lls it. The sax player, reali6ing he is playing alone, doesn=t hae much
choice #ut to let out let out a 5urry o! notes, arpeggios and scales, propelling the
#and into his solo section. The rest o! us come #ack in on the .rst #eat o! the .rst
chorus o! the tune. The #ass player is now walking"!ull on swing !eel.
,a66 solos usually span seeral choruses. < 4a66 solo tells a story"a story that has
not #een told #e!ore. It eoles during the telling, and we usually aren=t sure how
long it will last. >ach chorus is like an act"a smaller story unto itsel!. ?o player
wants to indicate to another soloist when his solo should end"the soloist makes
that decision, and the rest o! the #and !ollows.
The sax solo tells a good story, and enliens the audience. <s I accompany #y
playing chords and .lling in musical spaces, I take note o! the soloist=s ideas, which I
will try to incorporate into my solo. <!ter three choruses his solo slows, and I sense
an ending approaching. I am ready to #egin the piano solo. The sax player glances
at me"that=s my cue.
I hae not planned my solo. In this case, I 4ust pick up where I le!t o- on the piano
intro, playing the .rst !ew notes o! the tune, repeating them a step higher, and then
again a step higher. Then I pause. The drummer immediately .lls the space with
some syncopated drumming. I repeat my preious line, #ut with the repeated moti!
descending rather than ascending".rst we went up, now we come down. It=s so
o#ious it=s a little humorous"and sure enough, the drummer is smiling at me.
Pause, drum .lls.
The original melody o! the tune is constantly playing in my imagination. I play
around with the same note pattern, arying the rhythm, playing percussiely. +y le!t
hand is supporting the right hand with percussie chord !ragments. For me, the
#ridge o! the tune always excites me, and as I reach the #ridge, re5ect that #y
playing !aster and higher on the key#oard. <s my .rst chorus ends I let my playing
settle, and gie the drummer some more space to .ll.
;uring my second chorus I try to start #uilding something, increasing the energy
and moing toward a new musical space. <lthough I remain rooted in the tune, with
the melody in my head, I will start to moe away !rom the chord structure o! the
tune, leaing the #ass player to either attempt to !ollow me or play whateer he
chooses #ehind me. <s energy increases, I #egin to play notes outside the key, and
su#stitute di-erent chords !rom di-erent keys. This is called playing 'outside(. I like
to moe outside, and moe #ack inside, exploring the interplay o! consonance and
dissonance, repetition and ariety, tension and release"properties o! all types o!
music. <s I moe outside, I come up with rhythms that de!y the original tune, and
the drummer is right with me. <s I get into the #ridge, the audience likely has lost
the tune. I glance out, and they are listening intently"audiences usually respond
well to increased musical energy. <s a .nish the second act o! my solo, I am pretty
!reely playing chords and melodic patterns #oth inside and outside the tune,
inenting a new tune in the process. The whole group=s energy is ery high, pushing
me.
Suddenly, at the start o! the third chorus, the #ass player and drummer #oth start
playing twice as !ast. The #ass player is now running, rather than walking, with his
#ass line. The drummer is playing so %uickly his hands are a #lur. @ike the sax
player earlier, I am suddenly !orced to come up with something unexpected. I can=t
really play this !ast"I at .rst try to keep doing what I was doing. It doesn=t work,
and I know I should ad4ust my solo to .t the new tempo. So I start playing patterns:
pentatonic scales, arpeggios, chromatic passages, that my .ngers can play !ast
enough to keep up with the new tempo. Settling in, my hands 5ying, I start to moe
the arpeggios up and down #y steps and hal! steps, to architect a new oerall
melody. <s I get into the #ridge, and the key changes, I gie up playing inside the
changes and 4ust play 5urries o! notes, #anging on keys. The rest o! the group loes
it and eggs me on. 7y the end o! the third chorus I am exhausted. I shi!t #ack to the
original tempo, loudly playing the e%uialent o! the original piano intro, to !orce the
#and #ack. They come in at the original tempo !or the !ourth chorus.
<t this point eerything is di-erent. It is slower, yes, #ut the energy is still there,
and I attempt to play a solo in octaes and chords, pounding the keys to punctuate
the tune. I am starting to !eel like I really hae met +iss ,onesA The audience is right
with me, as are the rest o! the #and. I .sh !or a suita#le ending as the solo winds
down, and .nally ends, a!ter !our choruses.
The #ass player takes a solo, 5uid and exciting, keeping the energy going despite
the lowered olume leel. I play only a minimal supporting role, adding some chords
here and there. <s the #ass solo is ending, someone in the group 8I am not sure
who9 says 'FoursA( and that is our clue to #egin an interactie solo section with the
drummer. >ach player in turn plays !our #ars, and then the drummer responds to
what they played. $e go around, trading o- this way. It is ery open, you can play
anything you want, #ut each player tries to incorporate something o! what the
preious player played. This goes on until the sax player points to his head.
Pointing to your head means that the #and should play the 'head( o! the tune,
going #ack to the original melody and chords, to .nish the piece. $e play it similarly
to how we started, coming !ull circle, #ut with a new understanding o! the
possi#ilities o! the tune. $e hear it di-erently now, and our playing o! it re5ects
what we went through. <s the tune ends, no#ody has planned an ending, and we
glance at each other. The sax player skips #ack !our #ars and repeats a section o!
the tune, and we all !ollow. )e repeats it again. Then the #ass, drums and I all at
once stop playing, leaing the sax again #lowing alone.
The sax plays a 5urry o! notes, a long caden6a, and when he seems spent, the
drummer, #ass player and I make eye contact. I nod my head and we crash down on
the .nal chord, adding eery possi#le alteration"a harmonic cacophony. The sound
swells with all mem#ers getting their last notes in. I nod again, and on cue, silence.