"The Lick"

[MarkRhodes]

Nifty video collection of all sorts of musicians playing the same lick in various contexts.

[Rhoderick]

Hello.
Thank you. I bought your book earlier.
I like your style. Thanks again.

Music is the key that can open strange rooms in the house of memory.

Llewelyn Wyn Griffith

[MarkRhodes]

Hello.
Thank you. I bought your book earlier.
I like your style. Thanks again.

Hey, Rhoderick. You bought my book? Thank you! Naturally, I think you are brilliant and everything you say is true! ;o)

Seriously, thanks. I'm glad you enjoy it.

As for this thread, I think this video is nifty because it shows how many different ways a lick can work, and in how wide a variety of contexts it can fit. I was especially surprised at how it fit into some pop tunes and how, at least in one case, I had heard the lick in that pop tune without noticing that I'd heard it in so many sax solos!

[kris]

Attachment 9731

Thanks for lick and link...;-)
Best
Kris

[newsense]

I have never noticed this lick's ubiquitousness (is that a word ?) before. Is it some sort of in-joke used only by the secret jazz illuminati ?

So who started it ? Are most of these instances deliberate quotes of previous work?

Obviously the Stravinsky quote (the Firebird ?) is the earliest, although it seems to be one note short of the others and its resemblance may be purely coincidental.

[mr. beaumont]

I honestly think that might have been one of the first licks I ever copped from a record.

Now I'm gonna have to think who I stole it from...

[targuit]

Licks are for ice cream.

[jckoto3]

Licks are for ice cream.

...and tootsie-roll tootsie-pops, but only three and no more. Or so sayeth the owl.

I remember when this video made the rounds a few years ago and ever since I've been a bit self-conscious about accidentally playing the lick, which kind of sucks 'cause it's a nice sound.

[fritz jones]

I wonder if this lick has a name or origin.

Like the lines taken from "honeysuckle rose" lick or "cry me a river" lick. Those licks are some of the jazz lines you hear all the time on Joe Pass recordings and other guitar players.

[MarkRhodes]

I wonder if this lick has a name or origin.

Like the lines taken from "honeysuckle rose" lick or "cry me a river" lick. Those licks are some of the jazz lines you hear all the time on Joe Pass recordings and other guitar players.

Those are great licks---"Topsy" is another much-used one---but I'm not sure the origins of this one can be traced. It's not the main riff of a tune. Licks have a way not only of getting passed around but of being hit on by players who didn't learn them from a book or record but hit upon them while playing and thought, 'hmmm, that sounds cool.'

[edh]

@Mark where can I find the "Topsy" lick?

Interesting find. I don't think that this is a random thing as so many people have played it. It would be great to know the origin of the lick, or if it has a name. As newsense said, maybe it is an inside joke.

[MarkRhodes]

Topsy lick is probably 4 bars of a head...I think.

Yeah, Kris, it's that first phrase. The lick pops up in lots of Swing-era solos. I first read about it as a lick with a name in one of Wolf Marshall's books. I played it realized I'd heard the lick before but at the time, I'd never heard "Topsy" before.

Another lick that's been used a lot is from Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time" solo. (The opening phrase.) Actually, in "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" (as recorded by the Virtues), you can hear it. (That always sticks out in my mind because The Virtues weren't a jazz band.)

(The visuals here are pretty stupid but you can hear the Charlie Parker lick in the first solo.)

[MarkRhodes]

Here's a YouTube clip of a Benny Goodman performance of "Topsy."

[rwmol]

Chris. I also heard it done like this:

[kris]

Chris. I also heard it done like this:

Looks like a variation nr...
Thanks

[Dirk]

This thread inspired me for a blog post:

http://www.jazzguitar.be/blog/the-lick/

[jckoto3]

Hey Dirk, the forum software won't let me "like" your post for some reason, so consider this to be a "hey, that was a cool idea with the lick" and a "hey the forum is wonky" post.

[MarkRhodes]

This thread inspired me for a blog post:

http://www.jazzguitar.be/blog/the-lick/

Great idea, Dirk! Good job too---good examples, embedded video, and a place for comments. It will be interesting to see how many examples people find.