Soppin' The Biscuit – Roy Hargrove

A tribute to the funky side of hard bop, this song could be called a 16-measure blues. However, the last four measures are different in the two times through the head; this difference is also part of the solo changes, making it a 32-measure form.

The melody of this song is constructed almost entirely from the blues scale, making it a good educational tool especially for players who are less familiar with 6/4 meter. We use the term "6/4 groove" in the lead sheet; on the recording, the drum groove is syncopated like a 12/8 Latin groove but with swing eighth-notes. This song could also work with a straight-ahead 3/4 swing feel.

The "With The Tenors Of Our Time" album features Roy's quintet with several special guest tenor saxophonists. Besides Turrentine, Johnny Griffin, Joe Henderson, Branford Marsalis, and Joshua Redman sit in. Mental Phrasing is one of the tracks from this album featuring Redman.

On Soppin' The Biscuit it is fascinating to hear tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine at this later stage in his career sounding pretty much exactly the way he did in his heyday in the 1960s. Stanley was the younger brother of trumpeter/composer Tommy Turrentine. Several of Tommy's compositions are on jazzleadsheets.com, including the Brazilian-tinged João which was recorded by Stanley on his "Nightwings" album.