“Slight Bright” is a reference to tempo. Bright means fast so therefore this tune is fast but not too fast. The language of the melody is Bebop. As a jazz improviser I owe most of my abilities and understanding of improvising to the Bebop era. While the tune has an implied tonality, there are no written chord changes for the melody. It’s meant to be played tutti —with the entire ensemble playing the melody in unison. Written for RedShift we played this one quite a bit. I did write chord changes for the solos for structure. For the solos, I did write chord changes to provide structure and direction. My personal concept for this piece was to interact closely with the drummer. I would often extend my solo into a duet with the drums, something I learned from Pat Martino and John Abercrombie.
