Blues For Ilean – Eric Dixon

This song was first recorded by Count Basie's big band in the '60s, and it's a great example of the classic later Basie sound. It's a snappy riff blues head, full of slick triplet figures but quite catchy and singable. Our lead sheets come from Eric Dixon's sextet recording, which includes a two-chorus "shout" section before the out head. These two choruses begin quietly, with a gradual crescendo in the second chorus. There's open space for the rhythm section, with piano fills, in the last four measures of the first of these choruses and the last two measures of the second. The head is played twice in and once out, with rhythm section hits in the last measure for an abrupt ending.

Our audio excerpt starts with the melody, then skips to the shout chorus.

About the arrangement: Second and third parts and a condensed score are available for the sextet arrangement from Eric Dixon's recording. The lead sheet is the first part; guitarists playing the C treble clef lead sheet as a first part should read up an octave. The horns are in octaves on the head—trumpet above, tenor sax and trombone unison below—and are voiced for almost all of the two "shout" choruses. On the recording the trombone has the second part and the tenor the third part. The "shout" chorus melody focuses on the roots of the chords, which are voiced with the 7th a step below and the 3rd below that. This voicing is "side-slipped" up and down, including a smooth chromatic transition between the I and IV chords.

Eric Dixon named Blues For Ilean for his wife. On the original Count Basie recording, the title is misspelled as Blues For Ilene.

The first recording of this song was by the Count Basie band in 1966. This live recording comes from the same Las Vegas shows as the classic collaboration with Frank Sinatra issued as "Sinatra At The Sands"; it was released in 1998 on "Count Basie Live At The Sands (Before Frank)." Dixon is featured on flute in his own big band arrangement of this song.

"Eric's Edge" was Eric Dixon's only album as a leader. Trumpeter Sonny Cohn and trombonist Frank Hooks played with Dixon in the Basie band. Dixon first recorded with pianist Lloyd Mayers and drummer Bill English on "Walking Down," a Prestige album by trombonist Bennie Green. For another recording of Bill English check out Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue.