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Artistic components of the doctoral degree of Visa-Pekka Mertanen

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1st doctoral concert: Visa Oscar Plays the Electric Fusion Jazz of Chick Corea, 2013

Helsinki Music Center, Black Box, March 22, 2013

Line-up

Visa Oscar, keyboards, Joonatan Rautio, saxophones, Saku Mattila, guitar, Juho Kivivuori, bass, Jussi Lehtonen, drums

Set list

All compositions by Chick Corea

Got A Match?

  • Chick Corea Elektric Band, Chick Corea Elektric Band, GRP Records, 1986
  • Sheet music published by Not Bernie’s Publishing Co
  • Additional transcriptions by the author containing drum set during the theme
  • Soundalike backing track by the author

Sea Journey

  • Chick Corea, Piano Improvisations Vol. 1, ECM, 1971. Originally entitled “A Song for Sally”
  • New arrangement for band based on published sheet music for solo piano.

Beyond the Seventh Galaxy

  • Return to Forever, Where Have I Known You Before, Polydor, 1974.
  • Transcribed score

Nite Sprite

  • Chick Corea, The Leprechaun, Polydor, 1976
  • Transcribed score

Children’s Songs No. 3

  • Chick Corea, Children’s Songs, ECM, 1984
  • Sheet music published by B. Schott’s Söhne. Mainz
  • Performed on Rhodes Mark V electric piano instead of an acoustic piano

Children’s Songs No. 20

  • Chick Corea, Children’s Songs, ECM, 1984
  • Sheet music published by B. Schott’s Söhne. Mainz
  • Performed on Rhodes Mark V electric piano instead of an acoustic piano

King Cockroach

  • Chick Corea Elektric Band, Chick Corea Elektric Band, GRP Records, 1986
  • Sheet music published by Not Bernie’s Publishing Co
  • Additional transcriptions by author containing bass lines and drum set during the theme
  • Soundalike rehearsal backing track by the author

Hopscotch

  • Warner Bros instructional VHS video entitled Chick Corea – Electric Workshop (Warner Bros, 1988)
  • Transcribed lead sheet. The included booklet contains a published lead sheet for Hopscotch, but it was not at my disposal.

T.B.C. (Terminal Baggage Claim)

  • Chick Corea Akoustic Band, Chick Corea Akoustic Band, GRP Records, 1989
  • Lead sheet from New Real Book II
  • Additional arranging considering the form and the soprano sax part by the author
  • Backing track for practicing

Final Frontier

  • Chick Corea Elektric Band II, Paint the World, GRP Records, 1993
  • Transcribed lead sheet

Space

  • Chick Corea Elektric Band II, Paint the World, GRP Records, 1993
  • Transcribed score

Tone Poem

  • Chick Corea Elektric Band II, Paint the World, GRP Records, 1993
  • Transcribed score

Appendix Video 1 Oscar, Visa et al. “Children’s Songs No. 20 & Nite Sprite”

2nd Doctoral Concert: Unleashing the Innovations Behind Michael Brecker’s EWI, 2014

Helsinki Music Center, Black Box, May 6, 2014

Line-Up

Visa Oscar, keyboards, Joonatan Rautio, saxophones, Saku Mattila, guitar, Vesa Ojaniemi, bass, Jussi Lehtonen, drums

Set list

Song for Barry (Michael Brecker)

  • The Brecker Brothers, Return of The Brecker Brothers, GRP, 1992
  • Transcribed score

Oops (Mike Mainieri)

  • Steps Ahead, Live in Tokyo 1986, NYC Records, 1994
  • Transcribed score

Ode to the Doo Da Day (Jim Beard)

  • Michael Brecker, Now You See It… (Now You Don’t), GRP, 1990
  • Lead sheet and parts published in New Real Book II

Talking to Myself (Don Grolnick)

  • Michael Brecker, Don’t Try This at Home, Impulse, 1988
  • Transcribed score

Suspone (Mike Stern)

  • Michael Brecker, Don’t Try This At Home, Impulse, 1988
  • Transcribed lead sheet

Original Ray’s (Michael Brecker)

  • Michael Brecker, Michael Brecker, Impulse, 1987
  • Transcribed score

Some Skunk Funk (Randy Brecker)

  • The Brecker Brothers, The Brecker Bros., Arista, 1975
  • Transcribed score

Note: our version is mostly from a DVD -version:

RETURN OF THE BRECKER BROTHERS – LIVE IN BARCELONA, GRP, 1992

Song for Bilbao (Pat Metheny)

  • Michael Brecker, Tales From The Hudson, Impulse, 1996
  • Transcribed lead sheet

Appendix Video 2 Oscar, Visa et al. “Original Ray’s”

3rd Doctoral Concert: Joe Zawinul’s Improvisational Concept and Its Legacy, 2015

Helsinki Music Center, Black Box, May 28, 2015

Line-Up

Visa Oscar, keyboards, vocoder, Joonatan Rautio, saxophones, Vesa Ojaniemi, bass, Ricardo Padilla, percussion, vocals, Jussi Lehtonen, drums

Visitors: Janne Halonen, guitar, vocals, Noël Saïzonou, percussion, vocals

Set list

Introduction To a Mighty Theme (Joe Zawinul)

  • Joe Zawinul, My People, ESC Records, 1996
  • Transcribed lead sheet
  • Synthesizer solo performance

Corner Pocket (Joe Zawinul)

  • Weather Report, Sportin’ Life, Columbia, 1985
  • Transcribed score

Palladium (Wayne Shorter)

  • Weather Report, Heavy Weather, Columbia, 1977
  • Lead sheet and bass part published in The World’s Greatest Fake Book
  • Supporting keyboard part transcriptions

Camieff (Jim Beard)

  • Jim Beard, Song Of The Sun, CTI Records, 1991
  • Score and parts from the author

Waraya (Salif Keita)

  • Joe Zawinul, My People, ESC Records, 1996
  • Transcribed lead sheet
  • My arrangement combines some melodic motives and solo form from Chick Corea’s “Space” that shares the same bass riff in a different key.
  • With visitors

Dream Clock (Joe Zawinul)

  • Weather Report, Night Passage, ARC Columbia, 1980
  • Transcribed lead sheet

Young and Fine (Joe Zawinul)

  • Weather Report, Mr. Gone, ARC Columbia, 1978
  • Lead sheet published in published in The World’s Greatest Fake Book
  • Supporting keyboard part transcriptions

Directions/Dr. Honoris Causa (Joe Zawinul)

  • Weather Report, Live & Unreleased, Columbia–Legacy, 2002
  • Transcribed score

Black Market (Joe Zawinul)

  • Weather Report, 8:30, ARC Columbia, 1979
  • Transcribed score

Patriots (Joe Zawinul)

  • Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate, World Tour, ESC Records, 1998
  • Transcribed score
  • With visitors

Appendix VIDEO 3 Oscar, Visa et al. “Directions/Dr. Honoris Causa”

4th Doctoral Concert: The Role of Synthesizer in a Jazz Fusion Ensemble, 2016

Helsinki Music Center, Black Box, April 21, 2016

Line-Up

Visa Oscar, keyboards, Joonatan Rautio, saxophones, Saku Mattila, guitar, Vesa Ojaniemi, bass, Jussi Lehtonen, drums

Set list

Miles Beyond (John McLaughlin)

  • Mahavishnu Orchestra, Birds Of Fire, Columbia, 1973
  • Score published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. & Chinmoy Music Inc.,1973 & 1976
  • It’s a great opening track. It starts with an open tanpura (tambura) -drone and leads the audience and the band into the world of Mahavishnu and his guru Sri Chinmoy.

Cobra (George Duke)

  • Miles Davis, Amandla, Warner Bros, 1989
  • Transcribed score
  • Harmonically a bit different tune that most of Duke’s originals. It has a sense of bitonality since the bass riff is clearly outlining E-minor, but the keyboard riff suggests D-minor. Mostly all soloists land on D-minor on their solos. I decided to feature the original drum programming as a sample loop in our version. As we play with a sequenced bass line the bass player can double the melody lines.

Coming Back Home (Jan Hammer)

  • Tony Williams, The Joy of Flying, Columbia, 1979
  • Transcribed sax, piano & bass parts
  • Slightly different song form and melodic-harmonic content than in most Hammer’s originals.
  • I wanted to maintain most of the original simplicity, but I wanted to do a slight reharmonization when the theme repeats. Since the song is in 3/4, I also wanted to embed a flamenco rhythm in 12 called buleriás into the solo vamp backgrounds. The original solo vamp harmonies suggest scales that are typical for buleriás.

Festival (George Duke)

  • George Duke, Follow the Rainbow, Epic, 1979
  • Lead sheet published in The World’s Greatest Fake Book
  • New arrangement score & parts by the author
  • Trademark sound of Duke from 70’s to 80’s -a funky samba. After trying to play the song as is, I decided to rearrange the song to fit our lineup and repertoire a bit better. I ended up with a more jazz fusion than Latin version that utilizes mostly original harmonies. The B-part was changed the most as I took the original vocal melody ideas and arranged them into new chord hits and bass line. We also included the original unison hits into the sax solo vamp. That idea came from my drummer Jussi Lehtonen in the band rehearsals.

You Know, You Know (John McLaughlin)

  • Mahavishnu Orchestra and John McLaughlin, Inner Mounting Flame, Columbia, 1971
  • Transcribed lead sheet / Score published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. & Chinmoy Music Inc.,1973 & 1976
  • This song has such a great meditative mood that it serves as a great oasis of peace in the middle of energetic jazz fusion. The challenge of this song is in how the phrases are related to the meter. For the concert, I wrote my own lead sheet because I felt strongly against the logic of the published sheet music version at the time. Looking back I realize that the published version was probably more right than I was. Anyway, this detail really challenged the band to listen and pay attention.

Love Reborn (George Duke)

  • George Duke, Brazilian Love Affair, Epic, 1979
  • Lead sheet published in The World’s Greatest Fake Book
  • In the heart of the soulful “singing” synth playing style of George Duke. A smooth 16-beat version of a track that was first released on a Flora Purim -record as a Latin -style song. Most guys don’t dare to do this, but George Duke is all in.

Brazilian Sugar (George Duke)

  • George Duke, Brazilian Love Affair, Epic, 1979
  • Transcribed score
  • Originally a more samba/teleco-teco -song that I wanted to slow down and turn into a more sensitive Bossanova to give more time for the pretty chord changes and the melody.

Celestial Terrestrial Commuters

  • Mahavishnu Orchestra, Birds of Fire, Columbia, 1973
  • Score published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. & Chinmoy Music Inc.,1973 & 1976 / Transcribed score
  • A stellar performance from the whole group. A rare time signature is woven together by a cleaver riff and a melody that is from the blues/rock -domain. The published score deviates from the recording at times and therefore I ended up transcribing the score from the recording. Jan Hammer masters the odd time signature fluently in his solo. This synth solo is the one of the corner stones of the guitar-like synth soloing language.

Vital Transformation

  • Mahavishnu Orchestra and John McLaughlin, Inner Mounting Flame, Columbia, 1971
  • Score published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. & Chinmoy Music Inc.,1973 & 1976
  • Another McLaughlin trademark: A driving rock riff in an uncommon time signature leads into B-section that is dominated by symmetric harmony relations and melody sequences. A trademark that was truly unique in the early 1970’s jazz rock-scene. I did a small arrangement for the last riff and the synth solo that introduces Weather Report’s “Black Market” riff in 9/8.

Red Baron (Billy Cobham)

  • Billy Cobham, Spectrum, Atlantic, 1973
  • Transcribed score
  • Original recording features Jan Hammer’s trademark “rhodes through a ring modulator” -solo.

Appendix VIDEO 4 Oscar, Visa et al. “Celestial Terrestrial Commuters”

5th artistic component of the degree: Visa Oscar ”Looking Back, Reaching Forward”

CD & Digital Distribution (Sibis Jazz/Oscar Music Production Ltd Oy/Sony Music Entertainment Finland, 2022)

  • EAN: 6430060552210
  • Catalog Number: FIVOM02
  • Release Date: 2022
  • Recording Year 2020 & 2021, Finland, United States of America, Brazil
  • Artist: Visa Oscar
  • Album: Looking Back, Reaching Forward
  • Formats: CD
  • Genre: jazz fusion
  • Record Label: Oscar Music Production Ltd Oy
  • Publication series: Sibis Jazz Doc
  • CD Manufacturer: Data-Mate Oy
  • Recorded by: Miikka Huttunen, Jere Harjunniemi and Tinji Vuori @ Finnvox Studios, Helsinki
  • Recorded by: Visa Oscar @ OMP Studios, Helsinki
  • #01      Drums recorded by Dave Weckl, Bass recorded by Carlitos Del Puerto
  • #02      Saxophone recorded by Ville Vannemaa, Bass recorded by Antti Ahoniemi, Additional keys        recorded by Jukka Backlund
  • #03      Drums recorded by Rafael Barata, Bass recorded by Andre Vasconcellos, Vocals recorded by Eeppi Ursin
  • #04      Bass recorded by Antti Ahoniemi
  • #05      Percussions recorded by Ricardo Padilla
  • #07      Percussions recorded by Ricardo Padilla, Saxophone recorded by Joonatan Rautio
  • Mixed & Mastered by: Tommi Vainikainen @ Master Fader Labs
  • Produced by: Visa Oscar/Oscar Music Production Ltd Oy
  • Copyright: Oscar Music Production Ltd Oy
  • All Rights Reserved 2022

Endorsements:

  • Visa Oscar plays TEControl breath & bite controller 2
  • Carlitos Del Puerto plays Fodera basses and strings and Gallien-Krueger amplifiers
  • Dave Weckl plays Yamaha drums, Sabian cymbals, Remo drumheads and Vic Firth drumsticks
  • Rafael Barata plays Tama drums, Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, Vic Firth drumsticks and LP percussion

Thank You!

  • All the musicians and technical personnel.
  • Uniarts Helsinki’s Sibelius-Academy MuTri Doctoral School and faculty of jazz music.
  • Supervisors professor Jukkis Uotila, James Arthur “Jim” Beard, Saijaleena Rantanen, and Kaarina Kilpiö.
  • Faculty of jazz music doctoral seminar and my fellow postgraduate students:
  • Jaska Lukkarinen, Tuure Koski, Varre Vartiainen, Risto Toppola, Tuomas J. Turunen, Elena Mindru, Jussi Fredriksson and Timo Hirvonen.
  • Doctors of music Jarno Kukkonen, Sami Linna and Mikko Helevä.
  • My trusted ears Jukka Backlund and Matias Taivainen.
  • Flame Jazz Cruise, Koko Jazz Club.
  • Finnish Cultural Foundation, Irma and Weli Paloheimo Fund.
  • Finally, my dearest family Dejana and Lara, Heli & Otto Mertanen.