Repertoire and Standards – Matt Mrozinski

Transcription: Sonny Rollins’ Solo on “Oleo”

Having just celebrated his 94th birthday on September 7th, 2024, Sonny Rollins is a living legend. Sonny’s contributions as a composer are considerably important to the history of Black American Music. You can’t go to a jam session and not hear one of his many great tunes called. His compositions, such as “Oleo”, “Doxy”, “St.ContinueContinue reading “Transcription: Sonny Rollins’ Solo on “Oleo””

Transcription: John Coltrane’s Solo On Four

Miles Davis’ band settled on the lineup known as the “First Great Quintet” in 1955, when a 29-year old John Coltrane replaced Sonny Rollins in September of 1955. This famed band launched many superstar careers, but this particular lineup would craft a series of recordings that would define an era of music. After expanding toContinueContinue reading “Transcription: John Coltrane’s Solo On Four”

Contrafacts

A contrafact is a type of standard that uses the underlying harmony (i.e. chord changes, with or without some substitutions) from a well-known song in a new, original composition. One of the most well-known contrafacts in the BAM tradition is Donna Lee, a tune composed by Charlie Parker (but often mis-attributed to Miles Davis) basedContinueContinue reading “Contrafacts”