I'm going over some jazz heads for a gig I have tomorrow night. AFRO-BLUE lays out well in 4th position, but I've never actually performed the tune live before.
Have any of you taken a different approach to this tune? How do you play it?
I always seem to be advocating for 5th position, and here I'm doing it again for "Afro Blue". There are some draw bends that need to be precisely made, but the head lays out quite well in that position.
Edit: And you don't have to draw-bend the tonic.
Last Edited by Dr.Hoy on Aug 05, 2015 1:11 PM
Wich is the B-section? Listening quick now I hear Jason playing it pretty close to Coltranes version. Which differs from Mongo santamaria's, true.
I haven't tried it myself but seems like your preference of third or fourth. Here's is a small selections of versions. The Coltrane version seem to been taken down in that link. https://jazzfeast.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/rework-the-standard-afro-blue/
I like the ones with vocals. Good luck hvyj ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
Thanks for the ideas. Very helpful. You've reinforced my initial decision to use 4th. I've always used 4th to play EQUINOX which is a kinda/sorta similar natural minor blues by Coltrane, so I have a certain comfort level with 4th for this type of minor material. No bending required at all! So, no intonation challenges.
In general 5th is my usual position of choice for natural minors: Don't ordinarily use 3d for natural minors because you have to bend for the minor 6th and that note is only available in the lower register. The guy in the vid had inconsistent intonation on that note. The musicians I'm playing with will adapt to the limitations of my instrument without complaining, but would lose patience really quickly with bad execution/intonation on my part. I am expected to know certain heads and play them right in order to hold up my end. Playing this tune in 4th has the least potential for error, and I like the breath pattern. No need to deal with the full step 3 draw bend for the tonic in the lower register because I don't have to venture down that far for the notes I need, I also like the phrasing in 4th for this tune.
Thanks for sharing your perspectives. Very helpful.
Last Edited by hvyj on Aug 05, 2015 5:35 PM
In 4th I start on 6 draw. No bends or OBs required. My intonation is not as consistent as I would like. The phrasing in 4th is very smooth. Not so in 5th IMHO. In 4th I don't have to worry about inltonating bends so I am more confident about fitting in with what the other musicians are playing. I think it will be easier under live performance conditions to play this tune in 4th.
Very nice, Al. I just tried it out in third and fourth and I guess both are as good. I'm much more at home in third so that felt best for me. Ridge - I like both your intonation and tone. Thanks for tabbing...
And Jason's version is still my favourite harmonica centered track ever...
Still caught up by the lyrics. So... Naive... It makes this beautiful song sad, sad and haunting. Deedee Bridgewaters version where the tempo gets really frantic at places just grabs my heart. The words are like a mantra or prayer recited when the world is foul. Like a desperate try to conjure up your happy place...
The gig went great. Didn't play Afro-Blue this time around though. Because of the stature of the guitar player I was using there were quite a few professional musicians in the audience. At the end of the first set an older guy I'd never met before who plays sax, clarinet, flute and keys professionally came up and was asking the my keyboard player what kind of instrument he was using. He was told it was an older Kersweil. Then he asked the keyboard player how he got "that sound" because he has an older Kersweil himself and wouldn't know how to get "that sound". After a few minutes of trying to figure out what sound he was talking about, my keyboard player said, "oh, that wasn't me" and pointed to my pedalboard. That made me feel pretty good,
Last Edited by hvyj on Aug 07, 2015 12:58 PM
This is cool. I'm not much of a Jazz cat, and not really into Coltrane, so I was not overly familiar with this tune. It sounds great on harp, though, and it's neat to see everyone's different approach to it.
The third-position approach shown by Dan, above, really spoke to me, and I gave it a shot just now using an A harp in "Easy-Third" tuning, which eliminates the need for any bends in third position:
Intonation on bends in melodies is something I still struggle with, even after almost 12 years of playing, so I totally sympathize with the idea of trying to find an approach that minimizes (or eliminates) the need to bend. That's one of the main reasons I love alternate tunings so much!
Isaac - doesn't the easy third mess it up for you as the three hole draw is tuned down a whole step? You can't get that note that a half step bend on draw three can get you without OB? ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
@pistolcat. Holy crap! You are correct. I guess I got confused between easy third and natural minor tunings. That video above if definitely using an easy third harp, so that note is being played a half step flat. I should have went to a natural minor harp, and that note would be correct. Sorry! :) ----------
Ok, so I just tried this on a Natural Minor. The only adjustment to the tab is that you have to hit the -5b in place of the +5 in the second phrase:
-4 -6 -5 +6 | -5 +6 -4 -4 -6 -5 +6 | -5 +6 -4
+4 +4 -5b +4 | -3 +4 -4 +4 +4 -5b +4 | -3 -5 -4
You can defintely hear the differnce between using the -5b to get that note on a Natural Minor, and hitting that note as +5 natural on Richter/Easy Third. BUT, I still think that's a better-sounding compromise than trying to hit the -3b right on pitch.
Ok, it's apparent that I've become obsessed with this tune. Had an epiphany this morning: Dorian tuning! Dorian tuning has the draw reeds tuned as they are on a Natural Minor harp (3 and 7 down a half-tone), but leaves the blow plate the way it is on a standard Richter. The upshot: you can play this tune (correctly!) with no bends at all. Here's what it sounds like (I only have a B harp tuned to this layout):
That makes sense, Isaac. I'm guessing the 'dorian' name come from the second position mode you get instead of mixolydian. That'll give you natural minor 'aolian' in third. The tuning essentially gives you each mode one step ahead of its usual place in the circle of fifths. ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
@Pistolcat: I believe you are right about why it's called Dorian -- not for 3rd position, but for 2nd. I learned about it some years ago from Steve Baker's "Harp Handbook". A quick google shows that there's not much info out there about it, aside from a few Harp-L posts, and this mention from Pat Missin, who calls it "Dorian Cross" tuning. That name would seem to substantiate that this is named for it's 2nd position possibilities. I use this tuning for playing "Jazzy" sounding Blues, mostly in 2nd position. This is the first time I've really tried to play something deliberately in 3rd position on it, and I find that I really like the feel of it! I'm going to have to make up some more of these harps, for sure! ----------
