Blues part 3 – Meade Lux Lewis

Part 3 is the slowest in this series of five blues solos. It's more free-flowing than some of the others, with some faster runs that the slower tempo allows. It has no intro, but the first four measures are an introductory figure with harmonies focused in a narrow range; the 2-feel left hand bass starts in the fifth measure. The second chorus begins with four measures of repeated staccato triplets in the right hand, with sustained quarter notes in the left hand in closed position voicings. Again the 2-feel bass line comes back in the fifth measure, and continues through the next two choruses which are very inventive, with few repeating themes besides a couple of fast runs at the start of the fourth chorus. The fifth chorus actually uses a similar melodic theme to the second, but an octave higher with short quarter notes in the left hand in open position voicings. These quarter notes continue almost all the way through the chorus, returning to the 2-feel bass line at the end and through most of the last chorus. In this final chorus the right hand starts with tremolo chords as in the last chorus of part 2; here, however, one accented chord is played on the downbeat followed by a tremolo starting on the "and" of beat 1. Some left-hand voicings are introduced in the eighth measure leading to a swinging, chordal ending.

This solo has a lot of dynamic contrast throughout, especially in the third chorus. Note also the dynamics in the fifth chorus: the first two triplets in each measure are relatively soft and contrast with the accented, repeated triplets in the rest of the measure.

The harmonies in the second chorus are very similar to those in the second chorus of part 2, with the diminished passing chord; the left hand voicings are an octave lower. The fifth chorus has the same open position voicings in the left hand as in the sixth chorus of part 1; all these solos except part 5 have at least some of these left hand voicings in the second to last chorus. The descending chordal sequence common to most of these solos appears here in the ninth measure of both the fourth and fifth choruses.

Check out Lewis's other compositions on jazzleadsheets.com: Melancholy and Solitude.

"The First Day."

This series of five blues solos were transcribed by Shaye Cohn, who is the daughter of guitarist Joe Cohn and the granddaughter of saxophonist Al Cohn. We have made these transcriptions highly detailed, with a special focus on the dynamics. Often the two hands are at different dynamic levels, and we feel it is very important to note where the left hand accompaniment is truly in the background behind the right hand melody.

These solos are played with a rolling swing feel, and we have notated swing eighth notes in triplets in many places where the rhythmic feel is dominated by triplets.