Review

Brian Scarborough
Best Next Thing: Michael Dease's Improvised Trombone Solos

KS, United States
Publisher: Brian Scarborough
Date of Publication: 2024
URL: http://www.brianscarboroughmusic.com

ebook. 38 pages

Primary Genre: Jazz Material - etude

I know of one pre-existing transcription book of Michael Dease solos, and a number of additional transcriptions exist on YouTube. Kansas City-based trombonist and composer Brian Scarborough has contributed an excellent addition to this quest via his self-published, downloadable PDF book (with physical copies also available via lulu.com). The book, with a foreword by Carol Jarvis, focuses on Dease’s ten improvised solos within his 2022 album Best Next Thing (Posi-Tone Records 8232). The compositions soloed upon here include swing and even-eighth feels, from ballad through uptempo.

Many artists’ solos might be less approachable for a musician attempting to learn their passages. Not so here: the pitch-range of all but a very few bars falls well within the ability of solid collegiate students. So that makes this book a very practical tool for those seeking to learn from such an accomplished artist as Dease (though mere mortals may to need to address some portions of his solos at less than the marked tempos).

That’s not to imply that what Michael does within that range is not of the highest artistry: the legendary J.J. Johnson, for example, also inspired and moved us while rarely venturing into a sea of ledger-lines. In J.J.’s footsteps, Dease has been recognized by critics and audiences as one of the most accomplished jazz trombonists of our time (as well as, to my delight and occasional consternation, a superb baritone saxophonist!)

Choose the PDF-download format if you seek the option of arranging multiple self-printed pages freely for your playing along with Dease’s recordings. If you instead choose to opt for the physical book (via lulu.com), it does arrive coil-bound so that the music can lie flat on your music stand. However, the transcriptions that span more than two pages may require you to interrupt your playing so as to turn the page.

Plusses of the book (besides the wealth of great solo material) include very clear music notation. Chord changes are shown above the solos. On rare occasion a tie clashes with an accidental—or a triplet-bracket sits so closely to an articulation as to obscure the latter; but these are not obstacles. At times Scarborough, who consulted with Dease on the book, notates Michael’s slide positions so as to reveal a viable avenue for performing a given passage.

The user might notice that transcriptions appear without any notated dynamics; and any listener to Dease (or other masterful soloists) knows that dynamics are a staple of soloistic expression. Articulations that are shown include falls, scoops, glisses, and “treetops” for short, accented notes. But only three passages in the entire book are notated under a slur. And perhaps the most valuable articulation of all (in my own view), the un-shortened accent, appears perhaps a half-dozen times throughout the book; so it’s common to see 25 or more (often rapid) notes in a row —or a great swing line based on cross-rhythms— with no emphasis as to where Dease’s accents had been placed. While we should all study transcriptions only after intently listening to and singing with the source recordings, I find that transcriptions including such details as these provide the maximum benefit.

Many musicians seeking this book will not find any of the above elements a concern. And everyone will find a wealth of musicality and inspiration as Scarborough provides his look at the artistry of the superb Michael Dease.

-Antonio J. García
https://www.garciamusic.com