| C&A:
Charlie Christian is quite animated on this The Sheik of Araby
broadcast from The Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard.
It’s taken at the same tempo as the master studio take from the previous week but his
solo is more keyed up. The solo starts calmly enough but promptly heats up.
For the first ten bars CC stays on Bb over the
Bb and F7
harmony. At mm 8-9 he repeats a 4th/3rd (Eb/D) appoggiatura six times that further ignites the
proceedings. CC ends an F7 sequence with a 13th (D) at bar 14
followed by a 6th/b3rd
(G/Db)
double stop to start the Bb line. By the
end of the 16th bar Charles is really out there, with Hampton egging him on verbally
around mm 18-21. The alternating-string Bbs
that CC plays at mm 17-18 are much the same as he played on the first “fours” on
the out chorus of last week’s master take.
On the D7 phrase at bar 23, CC comes close to
losing it. Then on the next measure he swoops up seven frets for the beginning of
the G7 phrase. Bars 29 and 30 hold the same
double stops as on bar 14, again following a 13th.
The solo ends with a 6th drop as did the
Sheik solo on the alternate take a week before.
A transcription of the Intro is not provided here. It is the same as that of the
studio alternate take (qv). |
