Although Liebman's soprano sax and the piano are recorded on separate
channels and the accompaniment may be used to play along with one scale form or
another, the uniqueness of the album is that it captures an artist of Liebman's
stature and literally "picks his brain," hearing his vocabulary over
each distinct chord or scale sound instead of the fleeting moments that occur
during a normal recorded performance. The French guitarist Philippe Roche
undertook the grueling job of converting two record albums of Liebman's solos
into one hundred eleven pages of transcriptions, and he did an admirable job.
The book is in concert pitch; what a shame that a computer notation program
hadn't been used, allowing for easy transposition into E-flat and B-flat
versions!
One need only get as far as the first two solos to see the immense teaching
potential of this record and book. At first listening, it is difficult to
believe that Liebman's two solos over the major scale really only include the
notes of the B-flat major scale, but they do (except for one passing tone, but
who's counting)! In the first, more melodic solo, Liebman's phrasing gives us a
lesson in tone coloring, pitch shading and bending, and melodic direction; in
the second solo, mostly in double time, his post-Coltrane modernist influences
shine through as he uses the entire range of the horn to create a beautifully
balanced solo that provides us with a library of phrases to learn in all keys.
This format continues throughout thirty-two various scales, each a case of
"I wish I'd played that." It is when Liebman solos over chord
progressions such as a chromatically descending series of dominant seventh
chords, ascending series of major sevenths or minor sevenths that his creative
juices really start to flow and he starts to exercise his chops. Over the major
chords, some changes get a more lydian treatment while Liebman treats others in
a more bluesy manner. The dominant sevenths receive different degrees of
alteration, while minor chords can sound phrygian, bluesy, pure minor, or use
the melodic minor sound to imply a major seventh.
Thanks to Philippe Roche for accomplishing this marathon feat of
transcription. Perhaps the publication of this book will mean that more people
will discover the educational potential of Liebman's playing on this record.
Trans. By Philippe Roche (Jamey Aebersold, New Albany IN, $8.95) Recommended for
performers on any instrument who want unique insight into Liebman's powerful
modern vocabulary.
In the steadily growing list of Jamey Aebersold's play-along series, Volume 26,
The Scale Syllabus, is often overlooked. It is unique among Aebersold's sets,
and to my knowledge is unique among all jazz recordings. The album features
Liebman in a sax and piano duo with Aebersold, soloing over the dozens of
different chord qualities and scale types which make up Aebersold's "scale
syllabus," with each scale getting two separate tracks featuring a more
melodic solo treatment and a double-time version.
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