Bob Cranshaw
Acoustic Bass Solo on
The Bridge

About

Bob Cranshaw's acoustic bass solo is the third of four solos on this recording, following Jim Hall on electric guitar. Spanning two choruses of the 32-bar AABA form in B♭ at a blazing 338 BPM with a swing feel, jim Hall matches the intensity with three choruses of fleet, harmonically inventive guitar, while Bob Cranshaw and Ben Riley each take two choruses, the bassist walking with unfailing swing and the drummer maintaining the form with crisp precision even at this extreme tempo. "The Bridge" is a contrafact built on the chord changes of "I Got Rhythm," requiring the soloist to navigate a familiar harmonic framework with a different melodic identity.

Bob Cranshaw was 29 to 30 years old at the time.