You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Footprints Solo Reaction

Episode Date: July 3, 2020

On this episode, Peter and Adam take a listen to the OG recording of "Footprints" by Wayne Shorter.Today's episode is sponsored by Anytune (featuring an Anytune remix fn the theme song!) Anytune is the perfect tool for anyone looking to improve their practice sessions. Learn, transcribe, and practice solos by slowing down the tempo, adjusting the pitch, and (for Pro+ users), isolating specific instruments in the mix. For more info, follow this link. And for access to the Android beta of Anytune, click this link.Links From This Episode:For a comprehensive collection of piano lessons, save money by purchasing the Piano Access Pass - every piano course past, present, and future from Open StudioToday's Open Studio Live Events (All times in EDT):1:00 PM - Adam's Daily Guided Practice Session (for Members Only)3:00 PM - Live Guided Practice Session w/ Adam Maness - Bebop Enclosures - YouTube8:00 PM - Peter Martin Shelter in Place Live #16 - Solo Piano Concert - YouTubeFor the rest of this week's calendar, follow this linkInterested in more music advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase. And be sure to check out our All Access Pass - every course from Open Studio on every instrument.Let us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Peter. Hey. I know you feel strongly about a few things, but what are some things that people often FF up that drive you crazy? Ooh, you're talking about fudging up stuff, right? I am, yeah. Yeah. Well, this one, I hear a lot of. Oh, yeah.

It's a height. But we're going to the source today. And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll Hear podcast. Music advice, listening advice, life advice, coming at you. Oh, I love it. That sounds like a new T-Rose. You know what I'm saying?

I love that a lot. TMM that. We are sponsored today by AnyTune. Go to Anytune.us. You'll hear it to check out one of the best tools for learning music. It's a great transcribing tool. I don't know about this.

Do you know you could set markers? So you could actually like set chapter markers in the transcription that you're trying to get. It makes it just so delightful to go between the sections. Like, have you ever done this, Peter, where you're trying to get something and then you're on your phone?

And then you're like, For me, I got fat thumbs and fat fingers And I'm trying to find like, you know, like a minute mark 15, 32 And it keeps going back two more. And I'm just like this. That's all over with anything. It's really like a quick key and you go back to exactly where you want to go back. It's amazing.

Because we often say, why can't we have nice things? In this case, we can have nice things with the AnyTune app. Someone needs to get this cat and this new headphones. You look ridiculous. Like you got the cord is too short. This is bad. Any tune good. This headphone bad.

No, but it's just like, you know, it's when you have the proper tool for the job, yeah. It's such a great, delightful thing, you know, and it's, we all know that, that feeling when we're practicing, and you're getting frustrated because you're trying to hear. I mean, this stuff is hard. You know, making progress is hard. You're failing. You know, the transcription process, the process of learning things by year is like 99 misses and then one hit or whatever. So it's inherently difficult as it is.

this beautiful app just makes it so much easier and takes all these little mundane things that actually have nothing to do with the process of developing your ears and removes those from you happen to even worry about them like setting the markers and just let you really clue in and tune in to those aspects of your practice that are going to be the most efficient way for you to develop your ears that's right so go to anytune.us slash you'll hear it to check it out. Yes. And you could use any tune on what we are going to be listening to today. We are going to listening to the classic footprints, Wayne Schorter. We have, we have underrepresented Wayne Shorter on this podcast, I feel like. This is an amazing record. This is one of my favorite albums of all

time, Adams Apple, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock. I wonder why. He must love the title. Oh, yeah. Reggie Workman and Joe Chambers. Oh, Joe Chambers. Killing it. Killing it on this whole thing, man. Herbert Hancock. Herbert von Hancock. No, it really is incredible. And of course, Footprints has become a standard. It's become a jazz standard. It's played by everybody.

He's played a jam sessions. It's somewhat of a misplayed by everybody. Miss played of a minor blues. Well, so you've done a very popular YouTube video on Stop Effing Up Footprints. Oh, go tell now. Link below. No, but even before we get into listening,

I want to listen to this track and Wayne Shorter's solo. But before we listen, why don't you explain the discrepancy that is amongst real book devotees, and what they're actually playing here on this track. Well, you know what? Actually, I don't even know, luckily, if I remember the way,

oh, no, I think I do remember the way it's misplayed from the real book. But the whole thing is like, first of all, the baseline stays on the C throughout, as opposed to... It does not do that. It does not do that. Correct, correct.

But then the main thing, I think the discrepancy you're going to hear a lot is the kind of bridge section, if you will. I mean, it's a minor blue... The turnaround section. Yeah, to turn around. You know, it's best my recollection, and we'll listen again to kind of confirm this,

but I think that's what Herbie's playing. He's definitely half to minutes with the ninth, F-sharp, and then F-7, F-13-11, E-7, sharp-9, flat-5, A-flat-7, flat-13. As opposed to, I just remember. Now, maybe they do that on the Miles version. Ooh, I should have checked that. Do they do that on the Miles?

They might. And, you know, the real book might have, that's where the real book has often failed. So the Ireal B pro now I'm checking on my phone. Has the changes that you're referencing, but I know these weren't the changes in the real book I had growing up. It was some weird thing that was not this. I think there was a B in there. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, who knows.

But it's always nice to kind of go back to the source and, you know, the kind of original recording, the reference recording. And at least, you know, if you're going to check out all the ones and check out how it might have morphed or whatever, to kind of know the OG version. So today we're just going to listen to Footprints, at least up to Wayne Shorter's solo. We might let's do a little more. There's some other good players on here, as we referenced earlier.

Yeah. But let's listen for that change. Let's listen to what Herbie's doing, especially. And then let's check out one of the great jazz musicians who ever lived, and we're still so lucky that he's making music even today. This is Wayne Shorter, Footprints. All right, before we even getting the solo,

what was that? Herbie was doing that crazy thing on the second time. time only so you know the first time it's that minor minor nine sometimes with the 11th in there two minor 11 and then second time diminished with the major 7 and the 9th and I mean such a cool thing architecturally to set that off that second time because this is a kind of a you know drawn-out melody and you're going second time just one so again instead of that C minor 7 that Dorian sound he does a there's an A in there there's a G flat I don't even know if they're there's an A. There's a B for sure. Oh yeah yeah yeah. There might be an A too. I didn't hear it but

yeah. That kind of thing. Yeah. Let's hear that again and we're gonna, we'll go on here. Yeah, maybe it's maybe the A is in there. Before you get too deep in here. One thing I want to note straight away that I hear a lot of players do is this kind of sound over this tune. That's not what Wayne's playing. He's going way more of a Dorian like of a C minor nine than a melodic minor sound. Absolutely. And you know, too, I think he's, it's such a, I mean, you can hear the Coltrane influence. For sure. Certainly more than just a couple of years.

That kind of stuff. Yeah. And like the construction of those, especially those first couple of lines in the soul, more so than later on when Wayne really, you know, grabbed his own voice. But you're also hearing the Wayne stuff. Do-de-bo-de-do-d-bid, like the stuff that, I mean, he still plays today. Yeah. So it's very much like, you know. you know, the influence and the influencer already, even though this is a very young wayne.

So again, real quick, I just wanted to know what Herbie just did there. He did one of those kind of things where he had a fourth voicing, right? So I think if we go back there and then went down chromatic. Went down chromatically. Let's just back it up just a little bit. Back that thing up. That's what he did. Right?

So he has top down B flat F, C, G, a little four-note voicing probably. Yeah. And just tick it up. C-G, E-flat, V, down chromatically, something like that. Ooh, that's so nice. Great stuff. Yeah, and also, man, just thinking about the cult train of influence too, because Joe Chambers, you've got, it's a huge amount of Elvin influence,

but you're already hearing, I mean, like, Joe Chambers is an incredible, voice. Like the way he plays the Tom's and stuff, it's certainly influenced like most drummers were during that time by Elvin but he's really got his own sound like you can hear that especially when he plays the Tom's, his symbol patterns, but it's got that rolling you know, that rolling

groove but sort of bubbling underneath that Elvinism. I mean it's just like it's a way to play and reference somebody in such an organic and natural way. I love it. I mean, I just love it. Yeah, he's a master. A lot of blues playing in Wayne. Yeah.

I forget about how much when the melody is all. More chromatic stuff from Herbie. Yeah. Well, and like right there, you know, Wayne really, like, he focused things and opened things up in a way. And Herbie was listening. He's like, da, but you dup. Yeah.

Like, he's like bringing it right. Like, he brings some assertion to, you know, the way he's playing. that as melodic lines like very much like in the groove at the top of that course right at the top of the course that really opened it up nicely and herbie kind of took the cue as like all right let me let me mix things up a little bit as opposed to oh i'm just going to play this along with you and for those you out there play comping instruments you know the art of comping and we can always learn a lot from herbie for sure but anybody who's comping well it's not about matching what's going on you know it's about playing what isn't there it's about complimenting it and herbie just naturally does that

Yeah, when Wayne does that emphatic statement, that's an invitation almost. That's a question to Herbie like, bo, do you. That's like someone, I'm saying something to you, what do you think of this? And then Herbie answers. And a lesser pianist would be like, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. You know, trying to mimic it and play right along with it. You don't. Let's hear that again.

Joe Chambers too. Really important note here, actually, and this is such an important part of the solo, that I think it's worth stopping again. but they all knew Joe Chambers, Herbie, Wayne and Reggie Workman knew that that was going to land somewhere probably around that four chord, right? That they were building up this phrase together. It's probably going to resolve itself on that forecourt. And you can hear them do that.

Yeah, let's check out. Yeah, let's check out because I think Reggie Workman doesn't go right at the expected time. Right. Which is great. It's part of the communication. Exactly. Right? And they put a button on it.

Yeah. Yeah, it's like a little delayed gratification. Yeah. And that worked really well too because they started that chorus, which is a little bit uncharacteristic on this track and this whole way of playing very much like, like, everybody played a C there and it was like on one. And so that was almost like you knew the next time it was going to be a little, it wasn't going to be going to shift.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and then notice what happens after they sort of land on that four chord and they delay it, they put a button on it, you have to like embrace that, okay, the rest of this chorus is not going it's not going to it's not going to build anywhere else right right so you can hear that into the mountain top yeah so let's explore the valleys

so you can hear after they get to that four chord that F minor 7 you can hear they just give it some space this is important you don't want to try to like do too much with that let base is the place check out again right they're building they're building now hear this turn around

they're not trying to build the energy they're letting it float there for a while the lick well and I think, you know, that last, not the very last phrase, but the second of the last phrase that Wayne plays, he's, like, that's where he's queuing. It's the end of the solo, you know, and then he kind of plays over into the next chorus, almost as like, like an overlap, like a real nice kind of just natural, organic overlap in terms of the flow of how his phrases are coming

out. Should we check out Herbie's solo while we're here? Well, why not? It's going to be probably be pretty good. Here's Herbert. Yeah. All right. Well, we don't have time. to break down the whole thing. No, no. You know what I love about the solo? I've always loved. It's almost an uncharacteristic Herbie Hancock solo in that, like, you don't hear him throughout

his career doing a lot of those like, like super long, flowy, just fast. I got a brand new hammer 88 here, man. It's a little stiff, sorry. But just doing all that, you know, and then change your course and then like going outside the course, big long, flowy stuff in that first chorus. And then to do that, like, this is very herbie actually. I loved what he and Joe got into on this like dot a quarter note figure, which that's what he was doing when he was doing that repeated figure. It works really well over a tune in three, right?

To go like, done, uh, da, um, um, yeah, it's almost like the most direct syncopation within the three. Yeah, you can turn the meter around within it, which is interesting. Turn the beat around. Right? Right. So it's like one, two, three, go, uh, get it, uh, do da, uh, do da, da, uh. do da uh now if joe chambers is just like tune just go doom katoon to that's one thing but herbie's going dunce da dunce dunn and joe chambers is going double time he's going with him kind of implying that

yeah that that uh that double time dotted quarter note meter in and of itself which was just super hip uh love it well and then yeah they sound very young they do they do yeah they do and and i think too you get the double time like if you double up the the uh dotted quarter what you get you get is like a four against three so you got one two three dun dun dun dun dun dun down down down basically right you're turning that dun dun dun down to into a quarter note yeah do yeah that's super hit man well this was fun we got two solos that's a bonus how bonus a bonus jonas little bonus jonas about that i even know why i'm saying that again we are sponsored today by anytoon go to anytune dot us slash you'll hear it to check out this amazing tool we're also sponsored by open studio hey uh you might

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I love it. Well, until next time, you'll hear it.