“China Boy”

About this transcription

I'll never forget the first time I heard this solo. I was sitting in front of an open window in my air-conditioner-less apartment on a hot afternoon in Los Angeles. I can't remember what led me to the original video, but my jaw dropped once Ken started to solo. I watched it at least a dozen times that afternoon, and I knew from that first solo chorus that I had no choice but to begin my maiden voyage into the dark world of clarinet transcriptions.

I later performed this transcription on my Master of Music recital. A couple of years after that, Bob Mintzer and I dug into some of Ken's language in this solo during one of my lessons with him as a DMA student.

Featured on a doctoral recital

In 2017, Steven Christ emailed me and asked if he could play this transcription on his Doctoral Candidacy recital at the University of South Carolina. Of course I said yes — and he did a great job.

More transcriptions

• Chris Potter — “Four”
• Chris Potter — “Nardis” (acapella)
• Joshua Redman — “Waiting on a Friend”
• Tony Lakatos — “One-Note-Solo”