Libra – Roland Alexander

A medium-up swinger with an iconic hard-bop sound, this song is propelled by stop-time and other rhythm section figures. Four measures of stop-time begin the A section, with stepwise chord motion, followed by four measures with a 4-feel (though the first A section ends with a break).

The melody here is simple, mostly pentatonic in a bluesy vein. The bridge has an unusual descending harmonic structure with mostly m7♭5 chords; the melody also descends, and several piano hits complement the melody. The end of the bridge skips upward from Bm7♭5 to Dm7♭5 to return to the tonic C minor. The fifth measure of the C section differs subtly from that of the A section: while retaining the same melody note and root, the quality is D7(♯9) rather than Dm7♭5 in the A section. The melody note F thus becomes a ♯ ninth instead of a minor third. This is reflected in the two-horn voicing (see below) and also kept in the solo changes.

Taru Alexander sets up the tempo with a one-measure figure before the melody pickup; this is shown on all lead sheets and parts. The coda tags the last four measures two more times.

The lead sheet is the first part in the quintet arrangement. Second parts are available. The horns are harmonized for much of the melody except the stop-time breaks, with the second part often outlining the changes while the melody is more static. Rhythm section parts available.

"Kojo Time" was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.

Libra is Roland Alexander's example of a sort of tradition among jazz composers of that generation, that of naming a song for their astrological sign. Better-known examples of this include Wayne Shorter's Virgo and Freddie Hubbard's Aries. Don Patterson's Aries is another lesser-known example.

Libra is one of only two Roland Alexander pieces on "Kojo Time" with a conventional form. The form is 32 bars of AABA, like Sweet Talk. It is a bluesy melody with two motives. For the A sections, the rhythm section plays only the hits indicated in the parts without setups and without time. The bridge (letter B) goes into a 4-feel where the bass is "walking" and the drums are playing swing time on the ride cymbal while accounting for the section's melodic figures. The bridge ends with a break where the rhythm section drops out to being the hits A section one last time. The full recording starts with a one-bar drum set up which we have removed for the Minus Drum track (and added a spoken count off). Not only will you be able to comp for highly skilled trumpet and alto soloists on this Minus Drum track, you will get to trade eights and improvise on your own!

Exclusive Minus You audio tracks Taru's two-measure drum intro is included as a count off in all tracks except for Minus Drums, where it is replaced by a spoken count off.
CLIP The form of the full track is:
-- melody
-- trumpet solo 2 choruses
-- alto sax solo 2 choruses
-- horns trading 8s with drums 3 choruses
-- out melody
-- coda

mp3  minus melody -- drum figure sets up the melody
-- play the melody
      practice edition: solo 4 choruses
      performance edition: solo 2 choruses
-- trade eights with drums 3 choruses
-- play the out melody and coda
performance edition: solo 2 choruses, trade 8s with drums 2 choruses

mp3  minus Piano
-- drum figure sets up the melody
-- play figures and comp for the melody
-- comp for the trumpet and alto sax solos (2 choruses each)
-- comp for horns trading eights with drums 3 choruses
-- play figures and comp for the out melody and coda

mp3  minus Bass
-- drum figure sets up the melody
-- play figures and walk for the melody
-- walk for the trumpet and alto sax solos (2 choruses each)
-- walk for horns trading eights with drums 3 choruses
-- play figures and walk for the out melody and coda

mp3  minus Drums
-- count off sets up the melody
-- play figures and comp for the melody
-- comp for the trumpet and alto sax solos (2 choruses each)
-- trade eights with horns 3 choruses (snaps added on beat 3 of each measure) clip
-- play figures and comp for the out melody and coda

mp3 Bass & Drums only - to feature piano, guitar, vibes, or any melodic instrument that likes to play without harmonic accompaniment.
-- melody
-- solo 4 choruses
-- trade 8s with drums 3 choruses
-- out melody
-- coda