The Perfect Balance of Blues and Bop | Charlie Parker - Blues for Alice Jazz Solo Transcription

Click here to download a FREE PDF of this transcription: This is one of Bird’s many great Blues heads, and his soloing on this track is one of the best examples of how Parker was able to flow effortlessly between a laid-back, soulful Kansas City Blues style and the more intricate and virtuosic Bebop style he pioneered. A few thoughts I’d like to share about this transcription: When Bird ends phrases going from his B to C in the staff, I suspect that he’s using the side C fingering to give those C’s a little different color. In measure 46, it’s unclear to me if that’s truly an eighth note on the & of beat 2 or if Bird’s intention was to do a double- or triple-tongue figure, but the effect got lost (maybe due to tempo/recording technology). It’s very difficult to cram three notes in there, but I wouldn’t put it past him. I included the Head Out in my transcription for two reasons. 1) I wanted to see if the articulations Bird u