Transcription: Cherry Point

Tune: Cherry Point
Composer: Neal Hefti
Transcription starts at 0'23"; ends at 1'15"
From the album: Count Basie featuring Eddie Cleanhead Vinson: Paris Jazz Concert
Leader of the session: Count Basie
Recording date: April 17, 1972
CD: Malco Jazz Records MJD 1203
Tempo: 120 beats per minute

Cherry Point is a twelve bar blues based on dominant 7th chords. In this transcribed excerpt, Freddie Grenn primarily employs a tritone voicing played on the 4th and 3rd strings. The tritone provides the 3rd and 7th of each dominant seventh chord.

To truly appreciate this transcription, it is essential to hear the recording. Freddie subtlely alters the length of different beats and often glides into a voicing from a fret or two below.

The chord diagrams illustrate probable voicing forms used by Freddie Green based on extensive research conducted by the primary contributors to this web site. As there is no video record of this recording session, Freddie's exact fingerings will never be known. Note that Freddie often used his left thumb to mute or partially depress the 6th string.

An "x" indicates that a finger is placed on the string, but the string is not fully pushed down to make contact with the fret.
A "black dot" or "white dot" indicates that a finger is placed on the string, and the string is pushed down to make contact with the fret. A white dot also indicates that the note is added to the voicing played on the previous beat. Adding an upper note on beat 2 or 4 is a typical Freddie Green technique.
If there is no "x", "black dot", or "white dot", the string is fully damped by a finger of the left hand.

For instruction on how to play one note and two note voicings, see or technique section.

Transcribed by Michael Pettersen
May 2005