If there’s a grand statement being made, it’s one of minimal gesture and insouciance, perfectly reflected in the tune’s title. It features that laconic, behind-the-beat phrasing of his skinny-tie period, unfolding in call-and-response patterns faintly echoing the opening theme, without calling attention to itself. Miles’ “So What” solo is brief-two unhurried choruses long-and goes by in no time at all. What it is not is a “look-at-me” leap of technical prowess. It is recognized as a paradigm of soloing over minimal harmony-and prized as a harbinger of modal jazz, a perfect balance of sound and space. It is the first improvisation on the best-selling classic jazz album of all time. Again, and with one exception-Miles on “So What,” which “won” the poll by a country mile-this isn’t a countdown but simply an alphabetized list of great solos any student of this music needs to hear, fleshed out with commentary from artists and writers. Some jazz-school staples made the cut, but just as many are missing, in favor of solos from recordings you might need to dust off. “I’m looking for the choruses that you have worn out on vinyl and cassette and painstakingly transcribed, the lines you’ve been humming for years.” (Musicians were also asked to refrain from voting for any recording they appear on.) The tallied results, from over 100 ballots, are fascinatingly diverse. “And note that I said your favorites,” I wrote in my pitch email. I asked JT contributors and top musicians to give me a list of between five and 10 improvised jazz solos they consider to be their favorites. That’s pretty much what this undertaking is about, as opposed to a countdown or a compendium of jazz’s received wisdom. It isn’t a canonical solo, by any means, but it’s on my short list of recommendations. And during those impeccable choruses, Robinson plays along the dividing line between roots music and bebop to thrilling effect: He’s got the comfort-food phrasing plus the deeper sense of harmony that allows him to unspool a narrative, with a cool, dry hollowbody tone that makes his showier licks stand out in sharper relief than if he were plugged into an overdriven Marshall. As you might deduce from the album’s title, the music is an exercise in smartening up simple forms and grooves. I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to Freddy Robinson’s perfectly designed guitar solo on “Good Time Boogie,” off John Mayall’s 1972 LP Jazz Blues Fusion, but it feels like a million.
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