Flip Phillips
Tenor Sax Solo on
Blue Moon

About

Flip Phillips's half-chorus tenor saxophone solo is the first of three solos on this charming reading of the Rodgers and Hart standard. Phillips takes half a chorus and will continue with the last A after Charlie Shavers takes the bridge. At 126 BPM over the 32-bar AABA form in A-flat, Phillips's characteristic warmth and rhythmic buoyancy establish an inviting atmosphere. This split-chorus arrangement, with Phillips framing Shavers's bridge solo, creates an interlocking structure that gives the brief instrumental section a sense of dialogue between the two horn voices.

Flip Phillips was 36 to 37 years old at the time.