Impressions / Bu's Delight / Dirty Willie

[Hodge'sPodges]

"Dirty Willie", composition credited to Marty Sheller and recorded by Mongo Santamaria, seems to have an introductory piano vamp and then blowing changes both based on "Impressions ("So What" changes), but the head between the intro and blowing seems to be based on "Bu's Delight" (which is not based on "So What" changes). Has this been written about anywhere? I don't have the liner notes to the Santamaria albums on which "Dirty Willie" has been released. I'd welcome any comments people have about this track.  

 

 

[mikeweil]

Will dig out the LP later ...

[Hodge'sPodges]

On 6/24/2025 at 11:27 AM, mikeweil said:

Will dig out the LP later ...

Thanks, mikeweil.

[mikeweil]

Neither the original liner notes (which just say that the title was inspired by comedian Flip Wilson who was a follower of the band) nor those on the later twofer reissue discuss the changes of the tune, but composer Marty Sheller just might have heard or most probably kept track of the jazz scene of the time and picked up the inspiration - which is not that unusual. Dozens of jazz musicians picked up the changes from Morton Gould's Pavane as Coltrane did, and Jazz Messengers and other hard bop formulars were common language. Actually Marty Sheller's tunes on that LP are the jazziest. He was underrated as a trumpet player pigeonholed as a Latin player, even more after he had to give up the trumpet after a fighting incident that cost him some teeth. I can't see anything unusual in this combination of things - common jazz lingo. Unusual is the insertion of a passage with Afro-Cuban bembé rhythm for Mongo to solo on - this kind of rhythmic switch between gooves was first done by Cal Tjader and Dave Brubeck in their trio, then continued by Tjader and then probably picked up by Mongo while he was in Tjader's band. Very very few arrangements like this before 1960.

[Hodge'sPodges]

Thank you for those informative comments.