Quasimodo & Serpent’s Tooth
At our session yesterday we had a new drummer Eric Puente, and Mathew Mayers on saxophone along with the rest. We played Charlie Parker’s Quasimodo playing the head many times to really try to get a handle on it. Of course we continued to dissect the changes, and there was lots of discussion of the different possibilities you can use re: scales, chord outlines, modes, and of course my road tested drills, that have helped so many young players improve their linear improvisations. We spent most of the two hours performing this tune, soloing on it for 2 or 3 choruses each, and stopping and starting a lot to discuss things. For the last half hour we played Serpent’s Tooth supposedly written by Miles Davis, but truly written by Jimmie Heath. The combo has the next few weeks to review these two tunes, and work on the improv skills, and drills for those that understand them clearly. And we will continue next session.
