A 16-bar written solo over the open vamp, played twice through and built on just two ideas: a three-note motif that rises to a held note, and a long note tied across the barline. The first time stays in the middle of the horn with plenty of air. The second time takes the same motif up to a palm-key high D, holds it, falls off, then drives the motif to a bright palm-D finish with a doit.
Use this one as a warm-up. The other solos: Solo B, latin · Solo C, A meets B
Tap a bar to start playback from there. Turn off "Solo line" to hear just the band so you can play over it yourself. Turn off "Drums" to hear the changes on bass and piano alone.
Copacabana is a story about the Copa nightclub: Lola the showgirl, Tony the bartender, and Rico, the man with the diamonds. The solo tells it in three scenes, and keeps the ending bright for a fun night out.
The motif and its gentle answer a step lower are two voices flirting across the bar. Relaxed, mf, lots of space. Play it warm and easy.
The same motif comes back an octave higher with accents on every note, and the answer is harder now: Rico is here. The palm D held at ff is the fight. The fall off the high C in bar 12 is the shot, and the silence after it is the room going quiet.
After the silence the party starts again. The motif comes back at f, pushed across every barline, and climbs to palm D. One triplet tumbles down, then a bright palm-D button that bends up instead of falling, because the band and the room keep dancing.
Rest for two beats, then a short pickup rising to a held note: B–D–E over Em9, and the same shape a whole step lower (A–C–D) over Dm7. The chords move down a step, so the motif does too. Twice the pickup is played as quick 16ths (bars 7 and 10) to vary the rhythm. The whole solo is this one shape, moved around.
A note held across the barline into the next chord: G into Dm7 (bars 3–4), E into Dm7 (bars 7–8), palm-key D for a full bar and a half (bars 11–12), and in the ending, high B and palm D pushed across the barlines (bars 13–15). It gives the audience time to hear the line before the next one starts.
The motif, its answer a step down, then the motif again, extended up to G and held into Dm7, where it settles onto F♮. Half of these bars are rests, and that's on purpose.
The motif returns exactly, so the audience recognises it, with a scoop into the E. Bar 7 waits two and a half beats, then the motif comes late with a quick 16th-note pickup (B–C–D), and its E is held across into Dm7. Bar 8 ends the first time through with a full two beats of silence.
Same motif, an octave up and forte, now with accents on every note: G–B–palm D, answered by F–G–A–high C. In bar 11 the palm D is held for a bar and a half at ff with vibrato. Then fall off the high C, and leave the silence.
Straight back to f after the shot. The motif B–D–E kicks off a climb, and each bar pushes its last note across the barline: high B into bar 14, palm D into bar 15. From the top, one triplet (B–A–G) tumbles onto an accented E, a short breath, then D–F–A up to a bright palm-D button with a doit (a quick upward bend), two beats before the next section.
Every rest is written on purpose. Count them, keep the horn up, and don't fill them. The band and the audience fill them for you.
Copacabana sits on a disco-latin groove, so the eighths are straight and even. The pickup notes should sit right in the groove, not rushed toward the held note.
Held notes are where the audience listens. Start them straight, add a slow vibrato after about a beat, and keep the air going to the very end of the tie.
mf for the first time through, f at bar 9, ff on the palm D in bar 11, then straight back to f at bar 13 to drive the ending. Finish strong.
The dotted pickup note is short ("dit"). Slur the 16th pickups and tongue only the first note, so they sound like one quick gesture into the held note. Accents get a firm "dah" with full air.
Three even notes in beat 3, B–A–G, tumbling off the palm D onto the accented E. Keep them even against the straight groove and don't rush.
Scoop in bar 5: start the note slightly flat with a loose jaw and lip it up. Fall in bar 12: hit the note full, then keep the air going and let your fingers run down loosely. Doit in bar 16, the bright opposite: hit the palm D full, then lip the pitch quickly up as you release, with a burst of air.
Wait for the next Em9 bar and play the motif (rest two beats, then B–D–E). Each pair of bars starts the same way, so it's easy to find your place again.
If the leader wants more, keep using the same motif: play it in new rhythms and registers instead of adding new material. That's how this solo is meant to be developed.
| Note (written) | Where | Fingering |
|---|---|---|
| F♮ | Bars 4, 10, 16 | LH 1-2-3 + RH 1 (add the octave key for the upper F in bar 10). The key signature says F♯, so watch for the natural sign. |
| High C | Bars 10, 12, 14 | Octave + LH 2. Side C works too and makes the fall in bar 12 easier. |
| Palm D | Bars 9, 11–12, 14–16 | Octave + LH palm D key. For the long hold, keep the throat open and the air fast, and don't bite. Practise holding it for 8 beats in tune before the gig. |