Stolen Moments

Composed and arranged by Oliver Nelson, transcribed by Greg Hopkins

Stolen Moments, Oliver Nelson (1961)

Our copy of Stolen Moments is pretty much a straight transcription by the great Greg Hopkins, of Oliver Nelson's famous 1961 version, as it appeared on his landmark album, Blues and the Abstract Truth.

Personnel: Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Eric Dolphy (alto sax, flute), Oliver Nelson (tenor sax, arranger), George Barrow (baritone saxophone), Bill Evans (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Roy Haynes (drums).

Soloists: Hubbard, Dolphy, Nelson, Evans.

Along with Miles Davis' album Kind Of Blue, Blues and the Abstract Truth (and Stolen Moments in particular) is one of the most commonly cited examples of the "modal jazz" movement in the early sixties. Also, Nelson's solo on this version contains possibly the most famous use of the augmented scale in jazz.

Interestingly, while the piece is best known from Blues and the Abstract Truth, it actually first appeared as The Stolen Moment on the 1960 album Trane Whistle by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, which was largely written and co-arranged by Oliver Nelson.

The Stolen Moment, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Big Band (1960)

Okavongo

Composed and arranged by Greg Hopkins

http://youtu.be/tYPNtpZhuzA

Okavongo is a beautiful piece written and arranged by the great Greg Hopkins, from his Greg Hopkins 16 Piece Jazz Orchestra 2001 album of the same title.

Greg Hopkins, Jeff Stout, George Zance, Don Gorder, Paul Fontaine, Scott Deogburn, John Daly (t, fh); Rick Stepton, Tony Lada, Tim Kelly, Jeff Galindo, Jerry Ash (tb); Mark Pinto, Bruce Nifong, Larry Monroe (as, f); Bill Pierce (ts, ss); John Griener (ts, ss, f); Mark Phaneuf, Tommy Ferrante (bar, bcl); James Williams, Tim Ray, Chris Neville (p); Bruce Gertz, Paul del Nero (b); Mick Goodrick (g); Joe Hunt (d)

Speaking of titles, it is mistitled in the IHBB book as "Okalvongo"—there's no "l" in the title, which, given the feel of the piece, is likely a reference to the river or region in Africa.

Cobb Webb

Composed and arranged by Greg Hopkins

http://youtu.be/WCVBd-lFwWo?t=6s

Here's an Indian Hill Big Band performance of Greg Hopkins' Cobb Webb at Townsend Memorial Hall back on March 28, 2009. Cobb Webb is a drum feature that pays homage to jazz drumming legends Jimmy Cobb and Chick Webb. To learn more about Greg Hopkins, visit his Webb site (bada bing!)

And below is a video of a young Greg Hopkins when he was with the Buddy Rich band, playing Greg's arrangement of Here's That Rainy Day. Buddy gives him a hard time in the intro, but Greg takes it all in stride and plays beautifully.

http://youtu.be/bcEnpmz6ynE?t=24s