The Gingi is available in a piano trio edition, based on the recording by New Stories. There's a lot of open space in this song for piano fills, and our edition includes simplified versions of the fills Marc Seales plays.
A funky song with a reggae groove, The Gingi is built around a catchy bass figure which runs throughout the head and solos. The melody starts with triplet pickup measures leading to long notes in each four-measure phrase; these phrases really define the form. There is an eight-measure intro which sets up the groove. The A section is 12 measures long, with the bass figure on D minor. The B section modulates the figure up to F minor, then up to C♯ minor and A minor, a total of 16 measures. Then there's a 12-measure C section, with the bass figure on A♭; the piano solos here, with no melody until the last four measures which conclude in a rising series of chords.
The bass line is written for the solo chorus. The solo form as played on this recording is equivalent to ABABCC, with each C section extended to 16 measures; an interlude the same as the last four measures of C is played at the end of the solo chorus. This leads to the intro again; the out head is just A and B, ending at the last chord of B. The interlude could also go to another solo; on the recording the solo form is played once through with the repeats.
A noted pianist, composer and leading figure in the Northwest jazz scene, Marc Seales has shared stages with many of the great players of the last two decades. He has played with nearly every visiting jazz celebrity from Joe Henderson and Art Pepper to Benny Carter, Mark Murphy, and Bobby Hutcherson. With the late Don Lanphere he performed in such places as London, England; Kobe, Japan; The Hague in the Netherlands; and the North Sea Jazz Festival. Read more...
