Anthony Jackson – Bass

This is just a head chart. We all know that AJ almost never solos (there are some interesting things on-line where he has succumbed to the temptation (and the offer of the space by certain Asian pianists) but he does like a unison line. This is a testy little head from the 2011 Steve Khan album, ‘Parting Shot’ and features AJ and Khan knocking out their arrangement of the Ornette Coleman tune ‘Blues Connotation’. The original tune had not changes but Khan has added his own for soloing (free playing is a lot more challenging than it sounds, for both the audience and the musicians. It is not possible to say whether the decision to add the changes was to make the thing more accessible or whether they just needed the security of a chord sequence but the head is a bit of a roast either way.

I did a trio gig once with U.K. saxophonist Tony Kofi and drummer Russ Morgan just playing Ornette Coleman tunes. That was an interesting experience!