Harold Mabern
Piano Solo on
Afro Blue

About

Closing out the solo section, this piano improvisation spans three choruses of the 16-bar form at a brisk Latin feel at 279 BPM. Mabern closes the solo section with three choruses of piano soloing, his percussive touch well-suited to the Latin rhythmic context. Mabern's piano solo engages with the Latin feel through rhythmically varied phrasing and harmonic exploration. The brisk Latin feel generates considerable rhythmic momentum, energizing the improvisation and encouraging bold melodic choices. Coming after Eric Alexander's tenor sax solo, this is the final improvisation before the ensemble returns to the head.

Harold Mabern was 77 to 78 years old at the time.