For my first intense listening of Jazz, I listened to one of my favorites to play in middle school, Watermelon Man. The version I listened to was by Mongo Santamaria, but it was originally written by the great Herbie Hancock, the composer of other great songs like Cantaloupe Island and Chameleon. I chose this one because it was familiar, an easy way to get my foot in the door.
The instruments heard in Watermelon Man by Mongo were trumpet and sax leads, and a rhythm section in the background (including what sounded like congas and a guiro), and a piano. Upon some research, the piano was actually played by Herbie, who was filling in with the band. There is a little bit of vocals, but mainly just shouts during quieter parts of the peace, and the phrase "watermelon man" is introduced during the lulls in part A of the main lick after the solo. This is made for a jazz combo setting with solos in-between the main sections
The format of the song, made only to be under 3 min for radio, is as follows:
Intro for 4 bars
A for 8 bars
B for 8 bars
2 bars of vamp before solo
trumpet solo
2 bars of vamp with slight percussion lead in to...
A for 8 bars
B for 8 bars
My version then fades into nothingness, but that is surely an after production affect
The main lick is AB, which last 16bars, making it 16 bar blues
The feel of the rhythm section is "cha-cha"-esque with a with a jazzy, soul feeling. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this song is on an F blues scale, which really gives into that feel.
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