Transcription Page:     Flying Home  —  24 December 1939

C&A:

Charlie Christian starts his solo with the by-now well-known, four-note figure often used on Flying Home – here repeated three times.  Indeed, the first four bars are quite similar to the “Homeward Bound” version before he veers off on an entirely diverse path.

A couple of E♭dim7 runs are inserted in the third four-bar section (mm 9-12).

At mm 15-16 we find a sequence Charles used on occasion but here it is with a exquisitely distinctive lead-in that gives it a very different flavor.  He employed it on Maj and dom7 tracts by traversing just two frets going from a semitone below up to the chord tone (chord tone being on the offbeat) – this sequence reminds me of going a few rungs quickly up a ladder then back down to the landing.

Excellent, exhilarating bridge.  Normally, Charles begins the bridge a beat or two early, here he delays the start by a half-beat then takes it in one virtually unbroken run.  It’s mostly variations on typical CC sequences but it is brilliantly executed.

The whole solo, and the riffing, is inspired.  This may well be the best of the dozen versions of Flying Home as regards the guitar interest.  It’s a beauty.  Final aside:  this is the only version where he foregoes the first chord leading into the next chorus and incorporates the second chord into the last upbeat of his solo chorus.