DB Hall of Fame

SOLO  FLIGHT

THE  CHARLIE  CHRISTIAN  LEGACY

DB Hall of Fame


 

 

SOFT WINDS
 
mx  WCO 26285 B
 
NOVEMBER  22,  1939     Wednesday COLUMBIA STUDIOS,  NYC
 

 
  16-BAR THEME   * Key of   A Quarter Note =   178 Time:   2:25
  12-BAR BLUES SOLOS  
 
 
    4  bars  –  CC Chords & ensemble (Intro)
 
  16  bars  –  CC & ensemble (Theme)
  16  bars  –  CC & ensemble (Theme)
 
    12  bars  –  clarinet (over vibes riffs)
    12  bars  –  clarinet (over vibes riffs)
 
  12  bars  –  vibes (over CC & ens boogie riffs)
  12  bars  –  vibes (over CC & ens boogie riffs)
 
  16  bars  –  CC & ensemble (Theme)
 
    8  bars  –  CC (Coda)   (over ens riffs)
 
 

 
Personnel:
 
  Benny Goodman Sextet
  CHARLIE CHRISTIAN Guitar
  BENNY GOODMAN clarinet
  LIONEL HAMPTON vibes
  FLETCHER HENDERSON piano
  ARTIE BERNSTEIN bass
  NICK FATOOL drums
 
 

Composed by: Charlie Christian - Fletcher Henderson
 
*   The 16-bar Theme is a modified 12-bar Blues sequence with the middle four bars doubled to eight bars.
 
©   VALDÉS   5/12/19


 

Soft Winds   –   22 November 1939   –   WCO 26285 B   (Master take)

Page One:     Intro & Theme

Page Two:     Riffs

Page Three:  Theme & Coda

 



C
&A:

This Christian - Henderson composition should probably be documented as:  composed by Charlie Christian / arranged by Fletcher Henderson.  Although Charles gets no solo space on this tune he still makes (to borrow quelques mots from Claude Carrière) an indispensable impact with verve and presence.

Soft Winds was later recorded by guitarists Bill Jennings (1955), Herb Ellis (1957), Wes Montgomery (1958), Kenny Burrell (1959), Kenny Burrell/Jimmy Smith (1963), Ed Bickert (1976), Charlie Byrd/Herb Ellis/Mundell Lowe (1996).

Recordings by non-guitarists included Lionel Hampton/Oscar Peterson (1953), Art Tatum (1954), Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (1955), trumpeter Chet Baker (1958), harpist Dorothy Ashby (1961), flautist Herbie Mann (1963), Oscar Peterson/Ray Brown/Milt Jackson (1998).

Lyrics were added by Fred Royal, the song was recorded by Dinah Washington, and it became an R&B hit in 1956.  By the late 1940s, Ellis had formed a trio named the “Soft Winds.”  Barney Kessel cited that it was Charlie Christian’s playing on Soft Winds that “completely turned me around.”

There are five extant recordings of Charlie Christian on Soft Winds:

Oct 21, 1939 “Camel Caravan” broadcast from Radio City Studios, NYC
   
Nov 22, 1939 WCO 26285 A – alternate take – Columbia Studios, NYC
   
Nov 22, 1939 WCO 26285 B – master take – Columbia Studios, NYC
   
April 5, 1940 “The Cocoanut Grove” at the Ambassador Hotel, L.A.
   
April 13, 1940 “The Cocoanut Grove” at the Ambassador Hotel, L.A.
   

 
Issued Recordings:
 
  [ 78 ] Columbia 35320 (b/w Memories of You)
 
  [ EP ] Columbia RLS 799 (SEGC.9) (side B, track 1)
 
  [ LP ] Avan-Guard VSLP 213 (side A, track 2)
    Blu-Disc T-1011 (side A, track 1)
    CBS 52538 (side A, track 2)
    CBS / Sony 56AP 674~6 (side A, track 6)
    CBS / Sony SOPZ4~6 (side A, track 6)
    Columbia CL 1036 (side A, track 4)
 
  [ CD ] Acrobat ACTRCD 9103 (disc 2, track 18)
    Black Bird Black Bird (track 11)
    Catfish KATCD196 (track 18)
    CBS 465679 2 (track 4)
    Classics 1064 (track 17)
    Columbia/Legacy AC4K 65564 (disc 1, track 5)
    Columbia/Legacy C4K 65564 (disc 1, track 5)
    Columbia CK 45144 (track 4)
    Definitive DRCD11176 (disc 1, track 19)
    Documents / Membran 223505 (disc 8, track 11)
    Edel 0193692ERE (track 5)
    Editions Atlas WIS CD 688 (track 7)
    Giants of Jazz 53049 (track 14)
    Going for a Song GFS561 (track 6)
    History 20.1960-HI [see Album Index]
    History 20.1969-HI [see Album Index]
    Japan Jazz Club EGR 2001 (track 5)
    Jazz Forever 67041 (track 17)
    Jazz Portraits 14545 (track 17)
    Jazz Roots 56059 (track 17)
    Le Jazz / Charly CD 11 (track 6)
    Masters of Jazz MJCD 29 (track 5)
    Masters of Jazz MJCD 9004 (disc 2, track 5)
    Membran 222777 [see Album Index]
    Membran 222800 [see Album Index]
    Membran 232094 [see Album Index]
    Membran 232658 [see Album Index]
    Membran 233423 [see Album Index]
    Past Perfect 205798-203 (track 4)
    Sony/Legacy 93035 (disc 1, track 5)
    Sony Music Media SMM 517115 2 (track 2)
    Universe UV 129/2 (disc 1, track 5)
 

 



Home ] Up ]

 

 


This Web site is designed and managed by

LEOVALDES

soloflight.cc

 

Copyright © LeoValdes 1998

All text and images in this site protected by copyright laws.
No text or images (including transcriptions) may be copied, reused, or altered without written permission from the owner of this site.