In measure 6, he plays E natural (#2/b3) as a kind of ornament on the
Eb, as is also the case in measure 10. The effect is very different due
to the chords involved. In meas. 6, the harmony is moving from Ebm7 Ab7
to DbM7, and it seems to give the phrase, which does move very far
pitch-wise, a bit of momentum. The phrase itself actually only moves
from a Db up to Ab in the course of 2 measures, and really only stays
around the first 3 notes of the scale.
In meas. 10, the e natural sets of the Gbm7 chord, since it is the b7 of
Gbm7. But just playing this on the guitar, one feels all the notes of
the the whole first section of the solo play comfortably in a Db Major
Pentatonic (or Bb Minor if you prefer) "box" and the e natural is a well
known blue note or color tone in that fingering. So in these two places
I think it is more straightforward to see here not a playing over
changes but a playing in the key, and then moving out to ornament or
emphasize a line, or to match the harmony. The same e natural that
underscored the the GbM7 to Gbm7 in meas. 10 is used as a passing tone
in measure 11 over the DbM7 chord. The phrase repeats a figure (Bb Db Bb
Db Eb) used in meas. 9 over the GbM7 chord, but here over the DbM7.
Moving from Eb to F, Chet plays the E natural as a passing tone. Oddly,
it doesn't sound bluesy to my ears at that point.
In Meas. 28, the line, played against Bbm7, can be analyzed as a Db maj
scale starting on the 6 and playing diatonically up with the 3rd as the
target, but the 3rd (f) is embellished by a triplet with e naturals on
both sides. The Eb also embellishes the F in meas. 29 after an A
diminished arpeggio (which accounts for one occurrence of the A
natural/#5 in the solo).
Another thing I noticed, seeing the whole thing in the context of Db
Major, is how seldom Baker uses the 5th (10 times) as opposed to the 6th
(27 times).
I also realized that if, in fact, the whole solo is basically Db Major,
it accounts for my own impression that while the solo is tasty and
intriguing, it isn't particularly exciting. played without the chordal
backing, it has a very static feeling to me, whereas when I play
"Confirmation" or "That's Earl Brother" with no accompaniment, there is
a powerful sense of movement. I guess I need to analyze those tunes to
see if they are more directly changes oriented.
Somehow this process seemed helpful to me. It feels a lot like what we
do in graduate school when we analyze ancient historical or literary
texts. But those of you who've been at this longer, is this a path that
has helped or not?
-- //////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Lawson G. Stone—Asbury Theological Seminary—Wilmore, KY 40390 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////// "You know, a long time ago, being crazy meant something. Nowadays, everybody's crazy." Charles Manson