Reginald Veal – Bass

Another cut from the 1993 masterpiece from the Wynton Marsalis Septet, ‘Citi Movement (Griot New York)’, this track always stood out to me but I hadn’t heard it for a while. As soon as I heard it again, I remembered the thrill of those first bass notes at the start of the piece which spoke of what was in store; just a deep swing groove from Reginald Veal. It’s perfectly playable (I can read/play it at the correct tempo) but there are a couple of solo sections from Veal that are hard to get onto paper (the notes are ambiguous and moving subtly) – you will see what I mean. Just pure joy.

To get the full effect of this track, you need to listen to it in the context of the previous track, ‘The Legend Of Buddy Bolden’. Then it will hit you.