Go Home
Title: One Note Samba

A little bit of ephemera from an early sixties documentary, we join, in progress, a bit of a work session in Gerry Mulligan's apartment. Tom Jobim is playing his One Note Samba when Mulligan joins in on clarinet. They jam for a bit, but Gerry isn't happy with a note or two that he blows, so they stop, discuss, and swing the song out perfectly.

I'm no trained musician, and I'm still not quite sure what exactly they were discussing, but I love watching great artists in the process of working a piece through.

About Andy K
Andy K's picture
Andy K does not have leprosy and never has.
Share This Post

Link To This Post


38 Comments
Bluegal aka Fran's picture

not me....

Sorry for the mishap on the byline Andy!

Andy K's picture

I'm not the one with kids in school who's also working on at least two blogs! Someday I've got to learn to enter these things in myself without explodin' the tubes, if only to give you a few minutes of "bluegal time". :D

On edit: Long, tight hugs when we finally have a face-to-face. ; )

sharkcellar's picture

...it was the rhythmic phrasing that Jobim was trying to school him on. Those Brazilians and their crazy rhythms, I tell you.

Andy K's picture

Despite what it says, I wrote the post (I still haven't mastered the guts of C&L, so I send 'em in to bluegal, who made an honest little typo :D), and I was hoping someone could fill me in. Thanks, sharkcellar!

lewisclark's picture
yep

it's the rhythm that threw him. It's quite an unusual syncopation, and it's really amazing (to me anyway) that Gerry Mulligan nails it within just a couple of tries!

What a great clip!

MaryK's picture

...the things that ol' Tom (his friends, such as Frank Sinatra, called Jobim "Tom") could do with that note.

Here they are together. Tom's on guitar.


"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman

calgarylady's picture

Thanks, bluegal!

dnyknot's picture

there is a movie " the lost city " in one scene ( Andy Garcia leaving Cuba ) a duet breaks out between a piano and a sax , perhaps one of the most if not the best duet i have ever heard .

YSB post a link if you find it . Hi CL


every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .

calgarylady's picture

I'd so love to hear that musical numba!

Andy K's picture

Walking Shoes

w/Mulligan on baritone and Zoot Sims on tenor

calgarylady's picture
wow

Truly fine, Andy!

lafingas's picture

Bossa Nova Beats - FreeDrumLessons.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNyQEMlxSnY

Eydie Gorme - Blame It On The Bossa Nova
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIGwKUqbTGc
Stan Getz live in california bossa nova medley 1983
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo1SiVwVqic

fossilhippie's picture

I really enjoy it a bunch when different artists get together and they get do each other's music. A couple of days ago I listen to Stan Getz's version of this song and Girl From Ipanema with Astrud Gilberto.

Steve Winwood, Tito Puente and Arturo Sandoval - Latin Crossings:

http://www.divshare.com/playlist/632937-56f

darkblack's picture

...That Mulligan fellow's only playing one note. Crazy bebop kids!

;>)

calgarylady's picture

Thank you, darkblack!

miss_kitty's picture
...
MaryK's picture

Now that's Brazilian! Except, of course, for the non-traditional keyboard instruments...


"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman

calgarylady's picture

That is outstanding, miss_kitty!

calgarylady's picture

I love the title of the song, 'I'll Marimba You'.

Those guys were wild, crazy and talented!

miss_kitty's picture

Haiti - Caetano Veloso e Gilberto Gil

MaryK's picture

I've heard her voice before but... wow!


"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman

miss_kitty's picture

Jorge Benjor - Mais Que Nada

dnyknot's picture

good one


every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .

calgarylady's picture

Yummy, m_k!

Andy K's picture

Sympathy For The Devil

From the Jean Luc Godard film of the same name- all about the process, baby.

fastfeat's picture

.


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

dnyknot's picture

and its ( i love it ) snowing and cold , time for bed with your squeeze , candle lite and a little Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis .


every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .

calgarylady's picture

Speaking of day's end, it's bedtime for me. Goodnight to all.

Thanks for a wonderful LNMC this evening, Andy!

dnyknot's picture

Thanks Andy .


every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .

Concertguitar's picture

One minor point... bossa, samba and most Latin music does not 'swing' a la American jazz.

MaryK's picture

...are extremely specific on what's being played by whom. They are very close to traditional African rhythms, which are tightly blended, multi-percussion pieces, in which some very disparate cycles are played by different instruments which blend in amazing ways.

Swing, on the other hand, grew out of Dixieland, in which group improvisation was key.


"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman

...swing(verb). The latter is very difficult to define(Cootie Wiiliams on defining "swing": "Define it? I'd rather tackle Einstein's theory!"). The verb is akin to the modern day verb "rock" ("That rocks!")

Concertguitar: I beg to differ. The style in which a song is originally written doesn't preclude it from being remade in a jazz style. Amongst others, listen to Louis Armstrong's version of Stardust or Coltrane's My Favorite Things...or Stan Getz's collaborations with Jobim!

Samba/Bossa Nova is, at it's core, a time signature, and in this clip Jobim is laying down the time signature on piano while Mulligan is improv-ing over that rhythm. Mulligan isn't quite getting the feel for the song at first, but when he does, he really swings, if only for a brief moment, before the song ends.

bartfarb's picture
wow

that's the best. I am in love with that sound. Jobim is the absolute best.

Comments are closed on this entry