Solos you would have hated to follow...

[nmorin]

I was listening to My Funny Valentine / Four and More the other day and as Miles' shattering solo on My Funny Valentine was nearing its end I thought to myself that if I were in George Coleman's shoes that night I would have said "Uh, take it away, Herbie!" George played a nice solo, but good grief, that would have been a very tough one to follow.

Any other solos come to mind for which you would not have wanted to be the next guy to stand up to the microphone?

[Stefan Wood]

I'd hate to be Don Cherry after one of Sonny Rollins' mammoth lengthy solos.

Edited April 23, 2004 by Stefan Wood

[Joe G]

...or Wynton Kelly after one of Coltrane's!

[Rooster_Ties]

...or Wynton Kelly after one of Coltrane's!

Oh man, ain't that the truth.

[tonym]

'Trane's solo on Teo from Someday My Prince Will Come, or come to think of it Mobes on Old Folks from the same album.

Byrd does a pretty good job following 'Trane on Lush Life, but it was a big ask.

[Rooster_Ties]

Actually, I was thinking of Wynton Kelly having to follow Trane on all those various live recordings from that Miles tour of Europe in the spring of 1960. In particuluar, I was thinking of this one:

Edited April 23, 2004 by Rooster_Ties

[brownie]

Pianist Jimmy Bunn taking the solo spotlight after Charlie Parker on the Dial session's 'Lover Man'...

And he does this very well!

[wesbed]

...or Wynton Kelly after one of Coltrane's!

I'd have been proud to be Wynton Kelly. I always thought that Kelly, following Coltrane, was a very nice (and desired) change of pace.

I listen to Trane's blowing. Then Kelly, and, oohhh... this is nice.

[Free For All]

Regarding Wynton following Trane, it would seem to me that players of that calibre must be fairly self-assured and confident and could care less who they're following. I would think that they look forward to the opportunity to contribute their input to the piece, and while it might not be as spectacular as say, a Trane solo, Trane's solos might also not be as spectacular without the contrast created by more understated soloists like Wynton, or Miles for that matter.

I think "spectacular" refers to more than a soloist playing with technical prowess and high intensity; to me "spectacular" also refers to a soloist consistently playing their own thing (regardless of who preceeds them) and not always trying to "one-up" someone else. I don't think Wynton was intimidated for a minute.

But OK, I'll play. I wouldn't want to have been Dizzy following the tenor solos on Eternal Triangle. B)

[Big Wheel]

I've been listening to the Jazz at the Plaza session from the Miles/Trane box and while the Trane solos are very good, I sure as hell wouldn't have wanted to have to follow any of Cannonball's solos. He was ON that day.

[Free For All]

I've been listening to the Jazz at the Plaza session from the Miles/Trane box and while the Trane solos are very good, I sure as hell wouldn't have wanted to have to follow any of Cannonball's solos. He was ON that day.

I've always loved Jazz At The Plaza.

On Oleo, the transition from Miles' solo to Trane's (where Trane finishes Miles' scalar idea before taking off on his own thing) is one of my favorite musical moments.

And yes, Cannonball was ON!

[ghost of miles]

Charlie Parker's solo on "Embraceable You" from JATP 1949. I think Lester Young followed him, which is about as good as you could hope for.

[Joe G]

Rooster: yes, that's the stuff I was thinking of as well.

Free For All and Wesbed: I agree, and in fact was coming here to post pretty much the same thought. I remember Jim and I seeing Joey DeFrancesco a couple of years ago. Joey's a true "chops-zilla" if there ever was one, and his usual guitarist, Paul Bollenback, comes pretty close to matching him in that department. But that night he had a relative unknown with him by the name of Craig Ebner. The thing that was nice is that we never got the sense that Craig was intimidated by Joey's soloing but instead was comfortable just doing his thing, which was really tasty lines followed by one chorus of chord soloing. It was a great contrast, and always came as a bit of a relief. So that taught me a good lesson right there, but one that I sometimes forget. Hell, sometimes Jim Alfredson and Johnny Gist lay down some shit that I don't want to follow!

Edited April 23, 2004 by Joe G

[chris olivarez]

Following Paul Gonsalves after "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue". Duke Ellington was the only one who could have survived that one.