Belly

Another treatment of a Ron Miles tune written for his Central Coast Jazz Festival appearance in 2003. This chart begins with an intensely chromatic contrapuntal layering effect that builds to a frenzy before breaking into a laid-back medium swing groove with Basie-style hits in the brass. The solo section (for trumpet) is wide open with no chord changes and non-pitched graphic notation of background figures, ultimately climaxing in a fevered free-for-all with everyone improvising together before closing with a delicate ballad statement based on the original melody.