“In-depth explanations & great handouts!”

“Fantastic masterclass! Super-great teacher!”

“Takeaway: How to mine ideas from Bird heads & solos.”

“Rudresh was very inspiring. Great teacher, nice manner. I look forward to his return!”

“Loved Rudresh’s playing of the Parker phrases to demonstrate what he was talking about.”

“The entire program had a great “vibe” and Rudresh’s delivery of his knowledge plus his excellent advance preparation in sharing the material was really fabulous!”

“Enjoyed really fleshing out the concept of taking new material, and re-contextualizing to integrate with ever-expanding knowledge.
I think this was Rudresh’s means to fulfill his main purpose which largely was to express reverence to Charlie Parker in this masterclass format.”

“Hearing about the artist’s compositional approach was great.
How Rudresh incorporated studying improvisation and his development into his own written works generously gave us a lot of insight into his unique approach to music. All this to say, artists sharing more about their own writing is always of interest to me.”

[00:00:00]: Introduction
[00:01:07]: Intro Performance: Hero Trio plays “Red Cross”
[00:07:26]: Bird: “Noon” – Rudresh: “12:02” ;)
[00:07:57]: Analyzing the “Donna Lee” Melody
[00:09:54]: The Flat 13 Mixolydian Sound (D7 & G7)
[00:11:00]: Applying the Flat 13 to a B-flat Blues
[00:11:40]: A “Guided Discovery” Approach to Parker
[00:12:24]: Bebop Enclosures: Surrounding Target Notes
[00:16:51]: The Flat 9 Sharp 9 Sound on G7
[00:18:55]: Parker’s Phrasing Sounds Like Speech
[00:21:47]: Analyzing “Anthropology”
[00:24:17]: Phrases That Talk to Each Other
[00:25:21]: Favorite Substitutions & Augmented Sounds
[00:27:33]: The Bridge: B7 as A Minor 7 Flat 5
[00:28:49]: Side-Slipping & Rhythmic Variety
[00:30:12]: Parker Quotes “Tenderly” & Bends Rhythm
[00:33:30]: Why Parker’s Solos Hang Together
[00:35:22]: Analyzing “Confirmation”
[00:38:24]: The Bridge & Rewriting Notes to His Rhythm
[00:39:21]: “The Best 2-5 in the World”
[00:40:19]: Minor Triad off the Major 7th (D Major)
[00:42:27]: Strong Lines That Ignore the Changes
[00:44:01]: Parker Gives Us Blues When We Need It
[00:46:55]: “Dewey Square”: Augmented & Whole-Tone
[00:48:52]: Recontextualizing: Melody in 4 over 7
[00:49:28]: “Mohawk”: Rhythm & Chromatic Approaches
[00:52:51]: A Wild “Ornithology” Phrase
[00:55:12]: Breaking Down “Red Cross”
[00:58:00]: The Major 7th Sound & Talking Phrases
[00:59:31]: Voice-Leading & Side-Slipping Lines
[01:00:59]: [Q&A] Integrating Parker into Your Playing
[01:03:09]: [Q&A] How Parker Worked on Rhythm & Articulation
[01:05:06]: Bird’s Tonguing: Never Stopping the Sound
[01:06:18]: His “Bird Calls” Tunes: “On the DL” (Donna Lee)
[01:08:23]: “Chillin'” from “Relaxin’ at Camarillo”
[01:12:27]: Cueing the Form: Pedals & Section Changes
[01:13:25]: “Both Hands” Based on “Dexterity”
[01:16:44]: Reworking Parker’s “Now’s the Time” Solo
[01:19:31]: New Notes over the Same Rhythm
[01:21:40]: Rudresh’s Band Couldn’t Spot the Source Tune
[01:22:54]: “Sure Why Not?”: “Confirmation” as a Ballad
[01:26:34]: “Gopuram” Based on “Steeplechase”
[01:29:01]: “Talin Is Thinking” from “Parker’s Mood”
[01:33:02]: [Q&A] Parker & the Idea of 4-Note Cells
[01:33:57]: [Q&A] Melody vs. Rhythmic Hipness Today
[01:35:43]: [Q&A] Bird’s Embouchure & Double-Lip
[01:36:19]: [Q&A] Rudresh’s Custom Saxophone Harness
[01:38:39]: [Q&A] Blues as Harmonic Superimposition
[01:40:12]: [Q&A] Exercises for Rhythmic Development
[01:42:00]: Feeling Time as a Wave: Accelerating Pulse
[01:45:10]: [Q&A] Bird’s Sound: Always Recognizable
[01:46:02]: [Q&A] Bass Ostinatos & Odd Time Signatures
[01:47:52]: [Q&A] Recommended South-Indian Records
[01:48:42]: [Q&A] Half-Time, Double-Time & the Pulse
[01:49:50]: [Q&A] What Bird Took from Lester Young
[01:50:13]: [Q&A] Miles & the “Donna Lee” Authorship
[01:50:47]: [Q&A] Rhythm Book Tips: Bob Moses & Dafnis Prieto
[01:51:51]: Closing Remarks & Thanks
[01:52:17]: Band Performance: “On the DL”