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KENDOR MUSIC PRESENTS TO THE DIRECTOR Groove Merchant Thanks for your interest in this great music. These rehearsal notes are meant as an adjunct to the most important work, fun really, of listening to the recordings or better style: medium shuffle FORstill, attending a live performance. We’ve tried in this small space to give the student duration 4:30 (that includes all of us) a few hints and awareness of opportunities to improve the performance. by Jerome Richardson First would be our primary objective, and that is to swing. This music is an outgrowth arranged by Thad Jones of music that was meant for dancing and when it’s right, it makes you feel like mov- ing. All the harmonic and rhythmic sophistication of Thad Jones and the other great INSTRUMENTATION writers, from Fletcher Henderson to Jim McNeely, occur in the framework of great PREVIEWtime. To this end, we need to be comfortable playing our parts so that we can con- Full Score centrate on connecting with the other parts of the ensemble. The suggested tempo Eb Solo Sheet markings represent the tempo that the composition was played at the time of Thad’s Bb Solo Sheet departure from the band in 1979 and generally are the upper end of the scale. The C Solo Sheet arrangement can definitely be played slower, and should be if that makes it easier to Soprano Sax swing. The VJO doesn’t always play these pieces at the same tempo, as it’s fun to Alto Sax experiment. Tenor Sax I Tenor Sax II ONLY Groove Merchant is a simple tune composed by Jerome Richardson, loosely based Baritone Sax on The Preacher by Horace Silver. The drummer has to be able to establish a good Trumpet I comfortable shuffle on this arrangement. There’s more than one way to do it of Trumpet II course and the choices you make in that regard are as personal as any other part of Trumpet III your playing. Listen to Mel Lewis certainly, but also to John Riley with largely the Trumpet IV same horn section. No study of the shuffle would be considered serious without Trombone I extensive time spent with Art Blakey. Shuffles are a required part of a drummers Trombone II repertoire even if it’s less common currently. Drummers, perhaps more than any Trombone III instrumentalist, need to see their instrument played, so watch videos as well as listen Trombone IV to recordings. Piano /Guitar (2 copies) Bass The centerpiece of this arrangement would be the sax soli at letter D. Study of this Drums soli is a great opportunity to improve your section by several degrees. This has to EXTRA SCORES & PARTS AVAILABLE start with each player bringing his or her game up in terms of sound and listening. REPRODUCTIONThis soli uses a large dynamic range, which is the thing most often lacking in student THAD JONES sections. Sectional work is an essential and joyful part of learning this music. Thad wrote his first jazz arrangement at age 13 when he was a trumpet player in his Thad has some work in store for the brass section as well, with an interesting chorus uncle's band in his native Pontiac, Michigan, along with brothers Hank (piano) and that follows the bass solo and sets up the out chorus. Two of the more difficult things Elvin (drums). In the 1940's he served in the army, led a band of his own, and played for a brass section are playing in unison, and intervals. Both are required here. One with other bands before joining the Count Basie band in 1954. Nine years later he left way to help this happen successfully, which is also good for the music, is to drop Basie and began arranging for singers, small groups, and the big Harry James Band. back on the volume. There’s a long time yet before the climax of the out chorus so PROHIBITEDdon’t pound on this and it will be better in all departments. Also, pay attention to the In 1965 Thad and drummer Mel Lewis formed their award-winning jazz orchestra. For dissonances that are thrown in. the next 13 years this amazing band became an American jazz institution. They played Monday nights at the Village Vanguard in NYC on an almost continuous basis, One more note before turning it over to David Demsey for some particulars. Most all won countless polls in "Down Beat," and recorded a series of albums that remain questions of balance, blend and dynamics can be answered by simply knowing as popular today, including "Consummation," "Central Park North," "Live At The Village much as possible about the music you are playing. What’s the form of the tune? Are Vanguard" and "Suite For Pops." you playing the melody, a counter melody, a background? Who are you playing with? What’s the chord and your position in it? You’ll find even more questions and In 1979 Thad moved to and settled in Copenhagen, where he conducted the Danish Vanguard Jazz Orchestra Series answers, and if you stay with it, you’ll know why we’re still, after decades of playing Radio Big Band and later formed his own Eclipse big band featuring an illustrious mix this music, engaged and dedicated to it. And remember, it’s supposed to be fun. of players from America and Europe. KendorMusic.com The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra HISTORICAL AND REHEARSAL NOTES the chromatic line into Letter D and start this section quietly; the rhythm section also comes down in volume. In general, “higher equals louder,” as the dynamics This is one of Thad Jones’ most well-known and widely played arrangements. It follow the contours of the line. There are numerous subtle phrasing moments in is a rare example of Thad’s arrangement of someone else’s music, in this case a this soli, all learned best from the recordings than from any written list. gospel-tinged tune by his then lead altoist, Jerome Richardson. The chord - Thad always thought of his big band as a “small group with sixteen members,” changes are closely related to Horace Silver’s classic, The Preacher (whichFOR in like an improvising unit with the flexibility of a jazz quartet. The example of that turn originated from the traditional Show Me the Way to Go Home). This new philosophy occurs at Letter G, which is played in performance with continuous edition of Thad’s work is taken directly from the original ink parts Thad handed “open” repeats between G and H. On the 1968 video, there is a one-chorus out to the band in 1968, and from Thad’s original pencil score now housed in the piano interlude followed by a lengthy (and sometimes very quiet!) Richard Davis Thad Jones Archive at William Paterson University, where Thad served as bass solo; on the VJO’s Thad Jones Legacy recording, there is a piano interlude Founding Director of Jazz Studies. followed by multiple repeats for trombone, then another piano interlude and mul- PREVIEWtiple bass choruses. This section is a chance to feature one or more of your The key to this arrangement is its rhythmic style - a hard-driving shuffle. In a strong improvisers over classic gospel-based chord changes that they should all shuffle, a constant snare pattern is in tandem with the ride cymbal, all with a very learn. Note that the VJO employs the brass lick in the measure before Letter G tight “skip beat” played close to each upcoming downbeat. The sax and brass as a background figure to punctuate the solos – Thad used this technique con- figures are tight, always playing their upbeats to lock in with the ride stantly, borrowing licks from his own charts to use as background figures during cymbal/snare skip beat. A great description of this time concept comes from the solos. legendary Basie alumnus Frank Wess, who once said, “That accent isONLY not on the - The ensemble chorus begins at Letter H with brass only, trumpets in unison upbeat of four, it’s just before one!” with trombone accompaniment. The saxes join in at Letter I, and the texture is rhythmic unison, classic shout style. During this entire section, again “higher is As with many Thad Jones arrangements, a number of key stylistic elements are louder” gives shape and energy to the lines. Once band members have learned not printed on the original chart. The rehearsal comments below are taken from to read these figures, they should internalize the section by ear, practicing using recorded performances of the original recording by the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis headphones with the volume up, to mimic playing this section with the band, imi- Orchestra, and from more recent Vanguard Jazz Orchestra recordings. This tating articulation, phrasing and nuance. arrangement can be performed at the deepest level when band members are - After the D.S., the figures in the first two bars of the coda should be played with hearing these great recordings in their minds as they play. the eighths noticeably quieter than the dotted quarters. The saxophone figure in Measure 143 is staccato straight eighths, usually joined by the drummer. - In performance, Thad made a nod to his nine-year membership in the Basie Orchestra by placing an open piano solo (on repeated choruses of the tune’s form) that precedes the first noteREPRODUCTION of the written arrangement. That tradition con- Significant recordings of Groove Merchant: tinues to this day in the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Think of the solo as an open repeat on the same chord sequence as Letter A to B, with an Eb7 (V7) in the - Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Central Park North (recorded 6/17-6/18/69) final two beats of the measure before B at the repeat.

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