This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he breaks down a bass solo he played over “Days of Wine and Roses,” focusing on the trickiest transition in the tune.
I played a bass improv solo over the chord progression of “Days of Wine and Roses” (with notation, and a performance video included).
Breaking down the whole chart would make this way too long, so this time I’m covering two things: roughly what mindset I played the whole solo with, and a closer look at the trickiest transition in the tune — bar 1 into bar 2, F△7 into E♭7.
Contents
A Bass Solo Over “Days of Wine and Roses”
Keeping “Space” in Mind Throughout
The main thing I focused on was leaving room — space over phrasing. The idea is that even a fairly plain phrase can sound great as long as there’s real space around it.
I was especially deliberate about not filling every moment with notes, particularly at the start of the solo.
Breaking Down the F△7 → E♭7 Transition
Chorus 1, Pass 1 — around 0:23
I’m barely playing anything here — this is exactly the “space” idea from above in action. That said, I’m still keeping the E♭ chord tones in mind the whole time. Since the F△7 diatonic color is so dominant overall, I wanted to make the non-diatonic E♭7 color stand out clearly by contrast.
Chorus 1, Pass 2 — around 0:31
Here I’m using the 3rd of F△7, the note A, as the motif. Approaching A from a half step below — G♯ — was meant to add a touch of bittersweet sweetness to the line.
Chorus 2, Pass 1 — around 1:01
This one’s inspired by the opening of Paul Chambers’ solo on “Straight, No Chaser.” It’s not a direct copy though — bar 2 leans into the E♭ chord color instead.
For reference, check out this recording around the 8:03 mark.
Chorus 2, Pass 2 — around 1:50
This is almost entirely an E♭7 chord-tone approach. Beyond just the E♭ itself, the 6th of the chord, D♭, really brings out this chord’s distinct character too.
Hopefully this is useful for your own daily practice.
Hearing a tricky transition broken down on paper is one thing — actually getting it to land convincingly in real time is exactly where a teacher’s ear speeds things up.
Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?
This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.
At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.
Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.