Vietnamese Theme and Improvisation

Vietnamese Theme and Improvisation (I got to know the theme of this piece from a recording by the German jazz trombonist Albert Mangelsdorf. His album, Now Jazz Ramwong, was a collection of pieces which he and his group had assembled on a tour to the far East in the mid 1960s. Amongst some highly developed ensemble items was placed this simple theme which Mangelsdorf had heard being sung while in Vietnam, for trombone alone. The theme, a haunting love-song, is here firstly played solo, and then varied, first of all by the trombone alone, with comments from the piano and then in dialogue with the piano. Performance notes: The trombone part should be expressive and carefully phrased but without any sense of strict rhythm. It should feel free and even in the first statement of the theme, improvisatory. The 2nd chorus can be improvised around the notes of the theme or played as written. The piano should provide a misty background with the repeated bass notes and a more pointed, bell-like commentary between the phrases. The third chorus offers the opportunity for the pianist and trombonist to indulge in a dialogue around the phrases of the theme; the piano bass remains as in chorus 2.)