Learning to Valse

Treating my trumpet playing as a very casual hobby these days, I'll often play through The Real Book as my not-quite daily practice (that or Arban's, but that's an entirely different topic (Opera!?)).  For the most part, I can occupy myself with retread high school jazz band charts and well-known standards until my chops give out.  However, from time to time, a previously unknown tune will catch my eye, with an entertaining title or intriguing first few bars.

The tunes I don't reject almost immediately usually turn out to be worthwhile exercises.  For instance, a recent addition that has really been a pleasure to work on is Sonny Rollins' Valse Hot.  Something a little different, beyond the 3/4 time signature.  It's in a challenging range, and the melody moves around in a hard but fun way.

Now, without benefit of a recording or the backing of a rhythm section, I'm often left guessing the overall tempo and tone of these unfamiliar tunes.  With nothing to go on for Valse Hot aside from "Med Jazz Waltz," I formed a guess at the sound - moderately fast, with a somewhat dark, almost classical feel.  But eventually, it struck me that I had no reason to be playing straight eights.  So I looked it up, and it got better and better:

Clearly, this wasn't how I'd pictured (with my ears...) the piece to go.  Not just the swing, but the brightness of the chords changes the feel from a minor, expressive waltz to an upbeat, playful version of the dance.  Honestly, I like both versions, but the actual one just seems to make sense.  I'd struggled with the end of each phrase, with how long to hold the last note into the offbeat rests.  With the swing, cutting it short fits perfectly.

Of course it goes without saying that it's excellently played by Sonny and his ensemble, which featured one of my personal favorites on trumpet, Clifford Brown.