Transcription Page:     Paging the Devil

C&A:

This is the second of two slow blues that the “Kansas City Six” played at the “From Spirituals to Swing” concert on Christmas eve 1939 at Carnegie Hall.  This one is even slower than the first (Good Morning Blues) but Charles’ solo is no less magnificent.

Prez takes the first three choruses on Paging the Devil with support provided by all five of the other participants, including both guitarists.

Charlie Christian’s solo starts with the same one-bar phrase he would again use more than a year later to begin both takes of his famous acoustic guitar solos on Profoundly Blue (also in Eb) —after that opening all three solos take different directions.  The two dom7 phrases at mm 4-5 are back-to-back related constructions with the second starting off with a different little twist.  Some other noteworthy phrases are the diminished descent at mm 8-9 in the first chorus and the beauty on the fourth bar of the second chorus.

Whereas on Good Morning Blues (recorded at this same concert) Charles plays out his solo as two separate 12-bar choruses, here he treats the solo more like it’s just one 24-bar chorus.  The pacing, phrasing, dynamics, and logic of Charles’ solo is perfect throughout.  Sublime blues solo.

And then, of course, Freddie Green is there on rhythm guitar.  Virtually a duet by the two greatest talents ever in their respective skills.

☊   LISTEN   Guitar Solo: