[Harp-L] Re: Extended Solos



I don't know about extended harp solos - but a couple things come to mind in the jazz context.  

First, Miles Davis' famous question to John Coltrane "Man why did you play for so long?" to which
Coltrane replied "It just took that long to get it all out."   

And then a conversation I once had with Anita O'Day.  I asked her if she remembered playing with
Wardell Gray when they were both with the Basie Band in 1948.   Anita had recently had a stroke
and her memory wasn't too good at the time.  "Wardell Gray?  Wardell Gray?"  she frowned.  And
then she smiled "Oh yes! Wasn't he the fellow who could play 20 choruses and make you wonder where
each one came from?"

A great deal of Wardell's magic came from his ability to play extended solos as if he was a
bottomless well of ideas.  On many of his live recordings you can hear audience members shouting
"Go Wardell! Go!" as he casually spins off "20 choruses" with each one building upon the last. 
You really can't get the full effect of his style in just one or two choruses.




		
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