Á

IV chord in this progression, yet Bloom’s solo
leans on this sound at least as much as that of
the tonic. This creates a sort of ambiguity. For
instance, the F# simultaneously sounds like
a third (of the D) or a sixth (of the Am). Also,
since there is just a bass line with no instrument
stating the chords underneath Bloom, all this
emphasis on D major can make the progression
sound like D9/A rather than Am7–D7.
Bars 6–8 are a telling example of this ambiguity.
There’s a D major pentatonic lick that
Bloom plays four times, but it includes the C
natural, connecting it to the A minor pentatonic
and A dorian. The addition of the C makes
the lick sound a bit like D7, but since the D isn’t
played it also sounds like Am6/9. Even though
she’s using notes from the same A dorian scale,
by grouping them in different subsets, Bloom
creates the sense that there’s much more going
on than just a scale over a modal vamp.
Another noteworthy element of Bloom’s
improvisation is her phrasing. Her first line
climbs up and lands squarely on the downbeat,
a common means of creating a strong rhythmic
resolution. But after opening with such a
strong line, she never emphasizes the downbeat
in such a manner for the remainder of her solo.
Most of her phrases cross over the bar line.
One motif she explores is starting three 16ths
before the downbeat and playing through
into the next bar. Her second lick, starting
before measure 3, does this, where she continues
her 16th-note line into measure 3, where
it morphs into some 16th-note syncopation.
Curiously, before the next bar she plays two
16ths prior to the downbeat, and then continues
the 16th-note syncopation, and gives us
three 16ths again before measure 5. Here Bloom
holds the last 16th into the downbeat, and goes
with a 16th-note run up the scale in this bar (an
idea that terminates before the next downbeat,
obscuring the “one” again). So, each of these
phrases is in some ways the same but in some
ways different, creating simultaneous senses of
continuity and variation. We hear more variations
of this motif of playing some 16ths in the
final beat leading to the downbeat and then
continuing through the next bar in some fashion
going into measures 7, 8, 12 and 17.
That covers much of Bloom’s improvisation,
but the other phrases also run over the bar
line. A particularly demonstrative one is from
bars 9 through 11. After starting an ascending
line just after the downbeat, we hear a long,
dense string of mostly 16ths, going almost to the
end of measure 10. Rather than ending there,
she drops back into the syncopated 16ths she’d
been exploring and runs that straight through
into the middle of bar 11. This line crosses two
bar lines without emphasizing a downbeat. This
line is also the first time Bloom climbs to a high
C, the only other time being two measures later.
So she not only creates a rhythmic climax here,
but combines it with a climax in range, making
it doubly effective.
Her very last phrase, though more strongbeat
oriented, still uses this rhythmic concept:
After the repetitive blues lick, she lands
squarely on the “one” of measure 21, but rather
than making this a clean, strong ending on
the downbeat, Bloom proceeds to play two
more quarter notes so as to end in the middle
of the bar. All of this playing over the bar line
creates a nice effect against the strong pulse of
the rhythm section, making Bloom’s solo float
above the groove.
DB
Jimi Durso is a guitarist and bassist based in the New York area.
Visit him online at jimidurso.com.
FEBRUARY 2017 DOWNBEAT 97