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Another Way: Mike Moreno’s Improvisational Approach

Brandon Coleman MUS 539 - Studies in Jazz Final Project Spring 2013

Brandon Coleman

Another Way New York City guitarist Mike Moreno has been making waves on the jazz scene in recent years, known for his work with Kendrick Scott, Robert Glasper, Aaron Parks and vocalist Jill Scott. Moreno’s fluid musicality, unique tone and his individual harmonic language set him above the massive ranks of jazz guitarists on the scene today. One of his most personal characteristics is his ability to play melodic and singable solos over seemingly complex chord progressions. Moreno’s sound is characterized by a dark and warm tone stemming from his full-hollow body guitar, with a preference towards a touch of spring reverb and a long analog delay. Like many other modern guitarists Moreno uses the delay to increase the guitars sustain, which typically has a sharp attack followed by a quick decay. To further explore Moreno’s language, I transcribed two solos from his 2008 record on Criss-Cross, Third Wish. The first solo I chose to transcribe was from the original tune “Street Lights”, a fast-paced post-bop song with chords reminiscent of Herbie Hancock. For the second solo, I chose to transcribe Moreno’s interpretation of Wayne Shorter’s “Children of the Night”. I obtained the charts to “Street Lights” and the arrangement of “Children of the Night” from Moreno himself to assist me in my transcription and divulgence of his improvisations. “Street Lights1” is an interesting tune itself because the chord progression for improvisation differs from that of the melody. However, due to similar structures within both forms, the song stays glued together with strong thematic material. Deeply rooted in the vein of 70’s modal post bop a la Joe Henderson or Herbie Hancock, “Street Lights” poses the challenge

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Lead sheet attached. Handwritten chart, Mike Moreno. 2

Brandon Coleman

of fast-moving non-functional chords for improvisation. However, Moreno manages to improvise seamlessly over these changes by using simple thematic material, triad pairs and rhythmic displacement; he even manages to use the bebop scale in a modern context.2 Here we see the opening measures of Moreno’s first chorus. Over the final chord of the

tune, Moreno dovetails his solo in with an Fmin9 arpeggio over the Db6/9 chord. Moreno then uses a 3/4 motif to kick off the solo; something that comes back later in the solo, but it remains undeveloped for now. He implies G minor pentatonic over the F13sus chord, followed by an ascending D Mixolydian scale in a rhythmically displaced fashion. Subsequent bars, as in the excerpt below, show a post-bebop chromaticism in Moreno’s language, which is not often seen, in modern jazz guitarists.

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Full transcription attached. 3

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Moreno’s second chorus lays heavy on the motivic development. The excerpt below shows that he begins with an intervallic shape and expands upon it for the first four bars. For the F13sus, we get a taste of Moreno’s chromatic lines once again, followed by a nice example of triad pairs over the D9sus; C major and G major triads, with slight ornamentation.

It is important to note here that Moreno cites Herbie Hancock as a major influence on his writing and playing. The next excerpt shows Moreno developing a 3-over-4 hemiola pattern similar to Hancock’s playing with Miles in the 1960s. His 3rd chorus begins with an intervallic motive in 3/4, displaced by one eighth note. This figure propels the solo forward, meeting with another use of triad pairs on the D9sus chord (G and C Major triads).

The following measures feature another intervallic motive in 3/4, this time displaced by one quarter note, thusly bringing more rhythmic tension to the table. He finishes off the phrase

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with a descending Eb Dorian scale, moving seamlessly in to the Gmin9 at the end of the phrase. He uses a simple ornamented Gmin7 arpeggio to move into the next chord.

Moreno continues to expand his 3/4 rhythmic motives even further in the following measures, this time beginning on the downbeat with descending minor 7th arpeggios from the 5th. He then ventures into more of his chromatic bebop material on the E9sus and F7 chords, resembling a Charlie Parker line. Over the Bbmin11 he uses lower approach notes against a Bbmin11 chord to melodicise the harmony.

At the end of Moreno’s fourth chorus, we see a variation on the ideas presented in the measures above. He continues to use the 3/4 motive, this time in a descending scalar pattern. He

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biegins to use some of his bebop material again over the E9sus and F7 chords, returning to an intervallic pattern on the Bbmin11 chord.

From Moreno’s solo on “Street Lights”, we can clearly observe his penchant for a modern use of bebop language mixed with the triad pairs and intervallic patterns of the new generation. His rhythmic vitality is clearly stated, and the way in which he uses it is very sonatalike in that it is stated in similar places of the solo, yet developed in differing ways. On Moreno’s arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s “Children of the Night3”, he dons an acoustic guitar; he still retains his signautre touch and tone with an airy reverberation and light touch of delay. He moves Shorter’s original key over C minor to B minor, a key that resonates well with the guitar because of string tension and natural resonance of the instrument. In his solo4 on “Children of the Night”, we see less of the hemiola and bebop language that we saw in “Street Lights”, perhaps because of the more subdued mood and texture of this particular language. In this situation, we see more of Moreno’s linear approach to harmony.

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Lead sheet attached. Handwritten chart, Mike Moreno. Full transcription attached. 6

Brandon Coleman

The opening measures have Moreno beginning with a very simple melodic statement. Essentially rhythmizing the B Aeolian texture the opening chords provide, Moreno achieves a lot from a small amount of material. The length of his notes makes the fast tempo–which is already disguised by the arrangement–seem even slower.

The next phrase shifts key centers in a typical Wayne Shorter-esque style; however Moreno continues to play notes that are essentially linear patterns in B minor for the first four bars of the harmonically shifting phrase. This is perhaps a nod to Shorter’s style of improvisation. Moreno does use an instance of a remotely bebop line over the F#maj7 chord; he uses scale-above, chromatic below enclosures over a F# major triad.

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A number of measures later, Moreno begins to uses more of his linear language while introducing slightly more chromaticism to the lines. It should also be noted that his lines tend to have an up-and-down motion to them, and the descending patterns often are attached to an overriding rhythmic motive; this brings the solo unity as a whole.

The beginning of his second chorus starts with a quote of the melody, albeit in a rhythmically obtuse fashion. Moreno begins to form longer phrases and more complex rhythms, all the while remaining harmonically simple. This drives the solo even further, begging more from the rhythm section as well. His lines begin to seemingly abolish the barline, and several of his following phrases use anticipation and delay to further this effect.

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The final portions of the solo expand upon these ideas even further, which make evident Moreno’s ability to cull a great amount of solo ideas from a small amount of material. This is unique in the world of guitarists as many are flashy, or attempt to play as many impressive licks as possible. Moreno manages to be melodic, harmonically and rhythmically vital, and musically interesting, which are signs of a true master improvisor. I hope to learn more from Moreno’s solos in the future.

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