Roy Hargrove improv is noted between him as he strays away musically from the sax player (Justin Robinson). Hargrove does a lot of high and unexpected "shouts" during his solo. The song builds very nicely, but never gets too loud. The pianist (Jonathan Batiste) is just consistent all the way through. The ending really appeals to me as it seems like the sax and trumpet are improvised individually but they match together quite nicely. I recently saw this group perform this piece at the... Continue reading...
Moanin' starts out with very fast and accurate tonguing among the whole group. What we really want to hear is Freddie Hubbard's solo. The piano falls down the keys to introduce Freddie. Freddie builds up the groove immediately. His half-valve technique is perfect. The falling arpeggios and sliding is extremely impressive. Notice how Freddie makes the solo interesting by including a variety of rhythms, articulations, and ranges. He leads perfectly for the backgrounds to jus...
