Description

Composer: Rod Blumenau
Format: Score and Parts
Instrumentation: Jazz Ensemble
Level: 2
It’s ok to be off! 1/3 Off is based upon the most common form of American jazz, the 12-bar blues. The chart’s harmonic structure uses only the last 8 bars of a 12-bar blues, hence the title–1/3 Off. The first 4 bars of a typical blues are missing! A perfect teaching tool in learning how to play in the same groove the great Count Basie bands of the 1950s and 1960s achieved. Your rhythm section will lay down a metronomically steady beat while the horns play their rhythmic phrases in a more relaxed manner. With an infectious melody and two shout choruses, students can improvise a solo using the notes of the concert C Blues scale. For soloists who wish not to improvise, there is a suggested solo provided in all the parts.