A fast-swinging trio take on Sonny Rollins's Oleo from Chad Lefkowitz-Brown's YouTube jazz standards series, recorded in 2020. Built on the chord changes of I Got Rhythm in B-flat, this rhythm changes contrafact is performed at a blazing 240 BPM. Lefkowitz-Brown stretches out over six choruses on tenor saxophone, navigating the familiar but demanding harmonic territory at speed. Charles Goold contributes a one-chorus drum solo that punctuates the performance. The AABA form and rhythm changes progression have been a proving ground for jazz improvisers since the bebop era, and performing them at this tempo requires both technical command and the ability to construct coherent melodic ideas under pressure. The trio setting without piano or guitar leaves the harmony implied rather than stated, a format Rollins himself famously explored on his landmark trio recordings. This version captures the competitive spirit and virtuosic demands that rhythm changes performances traditionally carry.
