I'm Coming Virginia

Here's a transcription of another brief but brilliant performance of Fats accompanying the opening trumpet solo in Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra in 1927 on the wonderful old standard, I'm Coming Virginia. According to various CD liner notes, there were 3 trumpet soloists in Henderson's orchestra at the time - Joe Smith, Russell Smith, and Tommy Ladnier - so if anyone can identify the soloist here, I'd be most grateful!

Despite its brevity, I've included it as the playing is so exceptional and there are relatively few recordings of Fats' in these earlier years. Fats made a complete piano-roll performance of the song in the same month and there are similarities in the interpretation.

In order to hear Fats' playing in context, I've created a "hybrid" performance merging my digital transcription with the original recording. In the interest of presenting a resolved and satisfying performance, I added my own ending just before the full orchestra takes the tune.

Always refer to the original recording as the ultimate source of performance interpretation which you can listen to here:

https://youtu.be/AEOCWX8ONwU

Youtube.com noteman