C&A:

This was the second Solo Flight take recorded at this studio session but was not released until it turned up on LP in April 1955.  The story goes that this was the take originally selected for release but that Goodman liked his solo better on the first take and that was the one that came out on the 78-rpm record.  The band sounds a little tighter on this take and I like Charlie Christian’s solo a bit more, but that may be because it was the first version I ever heard (many, many times over—I had to buy another copy of the LP after totally wearing out both sides).

Charles is running changes here (superbly)—mostly one per measure, sometimes two per measure.  No other composition that he recorded changes chords that fast.  It’s all in the key of C except for one section in F (designated as “B” section).

The intro sounds like it was composed entirely by CC.  The two-bar guitar intro is a “written” part.  It’s pretty much the same on all four recorded versions of Solo Flight fitting in flawlessly with the band’s part of the intro.

Section I
Charles begins his solo much better than on the other studio take.  His opening goes all the way through bar 5.  The next phrase runs through four chords all the way into bar 10.  The octaves at mm 7-8 show up again at bar 13 in section V.  I’ve always loved that beautiful sequence at mm 10-12.  It connects his previous statements with the section-closing phrase perfectly.

Section II
This is the smoothest part of CC’s solo and may be my favorite section of all.  Sublime throughout.

Section III
Even though he uses a very common phrase, Charlie Christian’s entrance to this section still sounds stimulating—his swing phrasing is so perfect.  The beauty from the previous section carries over for about the next eight measures (not that there’s anything wrong with the rest of this section).

Section IV  (in F)
CC’s solos on the “B” section of the different versions of this tune don’t vary all that much.  The first eight measures are about the same as on the other studio take.  On the “bridge” (mm 9-12) he uses the same finger pattern as he did on the previous take, each measure with its own contour (different contours from the other take as well).  Then again the repeated Fs on alternating strings on mm 14-15.

Section V
CC usually uses the half-step figure found on mm 7-8 on major chords (as he does on his two-bar intro on this tune) but also occasionally on minor (as here and on mm 3 in the same section of the first take) and dominant chords.  The octaves he used twice in the first take and in section I of this take (mm 7-8) appear at bar 13.

Section VI  (in F)
Goodman takes his clarinet solo here—I don’t know how he determined that this solo was any worse than the one on the first take.  I skip this section when listening to this tune or, if re-recording it, I insert CC’s “B” section solo from the other take.

Section VII
The first eight measures are very nicely done (although not on par with the last section of the first take), lays out for four, then closes out as on the other take.

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