The title track of the 1976 album and I love everything about this tune - from the ‘picky’ bass sound of Anthony Jackson in the first bar, through the wonderfully soulful opening statement of Eric Gale’s guitar, to the gently funky grooves of Steve Gadd on drums and Ralph MacDonald on percussion. Add to that some fantastic Rhodes keyboard work from Dave Grusin. Soaring above it all is Grover Washington’s soprano sax with his usual sublime phrasing and perfect, in-the-pocket playing. Sit back, relax, and imagine that you are in a forest as in the picture on the album cover. It works for me 😎
But let’s talk about the bass. This recording was made before Jackson aquired his 6-string ‘contrabass’. Therefore he would have been using his hybrid Fender 4-string “Career Girl”; a Jazz body with a Precision neck. The tune is in E flat so naturally (being Anthony Jackson) he would have tuned the whole instrument down half a step to Eb Ab8 Db Gb. Thus it is played in the ‘E position’ but heard in the key of E flat.
As usual with Anthony Jackson, every note he plays seems to be carefully considered, even when he’s clearly improvising. Here he starts off with a pick, but then drops it for the keyboard solo in the middle section, only to bring it back for the final run of the main melody. It works a treat and highlights, I think, the thought he puts into his sound and his playing. His comping over the Rhodes keyboard solo is for me one of the most masterful pieces of bass playing I’ve ever heard. The level of creativity, the lack of repetition, and the depth of the groove is something to behold. Not to mention the amazing, almost psychic communication with the other musicians.
I‘ve admired this piece for decades and always intended to do a note-for-note transcription one day. Since I don’t read music this means committing everything to memory. As my musical memory improved over the years - like with any muscle you can train your musical memory - this task has appeared less daunting than it used to and now, after a total about 30 hours of work I finally completed it! I hope you enjoy my rendition.
The bass: Fender Jazz, 1977
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#GroverWashingtonJR #AnthonyJackson #CreedTaylor #EricGale #SteveGadd #RalphMacDonald #DaveGrusin