First Page:          Chord Accompaniment behind Vibes solo

Second Page:    Guitar Solo

C&A:

Dinah is from a December 16 “Camel Caravan” broadcast and the only version of the tune recorded by Charlie Christian.  There’s some notable stride piano here and, especially on the opening chorus, CC’s unique “1-1-1-1” rhythm-guitar style is prominently recorded.

Not only is Charles’ solo “a pure delight!”—as stated in the Masters of Jazz CD liner notes—but his amplified chord accompaniment on the vibes solo is so extraordinary that it becomes the main attraction of the chorus with the vibes playing the supporting role.

On the following chorus CC sustains the essence of the melody during parts of his exhilarating solo—particularly on the first three bars and on mm 8-10 where he plays a variation of the first three.  There’s also a good example of how he played similar phrases (bars 2-3 and 30-31) on different places on the neck—one reason his licks don’t sound repetitive or stale.  On mm 4-6 he plays one of his favorite phrases then unexpectedly inserts (at bar 6) an uncommon D-natural instead of the usual b7 (Db) of the chord.   Measure 16:  Charles often anticipates the bridge by a beat or two, here he does so by a full three beats.  At bar 27 he pre-bends up half-a-step (to Gb) before releasing to the normal F on the sixth fret rather than sliding down as he did at bar 14 or the regular bend at bar 31.

An unusual aspect of this solo is that there’s as much interesting stuff going on in the three “A” sections as there is on the bridge—usually he takes it up a notch or two on the bridge.  Also, it’s a particularly lyrical solo for such a fast tempo—and with relatively few rests.

The fidelity of the recording is not the best for transcribing, but it’s very listenable.  We’re fortunate indeed that at least this aircheck version of “Dinah” was captured, thanks to Jerry Newhouse.

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