Jazz Transcription
“Nardis” (Acapella)
Chris Potter, tenor saxophone · Humber College masterclass, 2012
About this performance
This recording comes from a bootleg of a Chris Potter residency at Humber College in 2012. Potter presented at least two masterclasses on consecutive days, and someone in the audience recorded and spliced the audio so that each track features a question from a Humber student and an answer from Chris Potter.
In his responses, Potter scat sings, plays piano and acapella saxophone, and even demonstrates with a live rhythm section. A few performances from this bootleg have been transcribed and posted online elsewhere, but I hadn't yet come across this one-chorus acapella version of “Nardis” — which happens to be one of my favorite clips from the bootleg.
Context
This performance was Potter's response to a question about phrasing melodies. The context reveals his thoughtful approach to interpretation:
This is actually a good thing to mention, too. I mean, a big thing, in a different area, is just choosing how to phrase the melody. You notice that I wasn't really playing it [the melody to “Nardis”] that directly that often, ’cause I've played this tune so many times, and it's kind of got a mysterious vibe anyway. So I was, ya know, on purpose, not just phrasing it directly. But it's useful to begin with, just to think of different ways of playing the melody… Chris Potter, Humber College masterclass, 2012
This encapsulates Potter's approach: after years of playing a tune, he finds fresh ways to interpret the melody while preserving its essential character — in this case, the “mysterious vibe” of Miles Davis's haunting composition.