Vintage Guitar - February 2017 - Open - 64
COLUMN Fretprints ing at the Kool Jazz, Newport, and Concord festivals, and she taught at Cal State Bakersfield. In 1977, she was asked by friend/pianist Marian McPartland to record a live album for Halcyon, released as Now's the Time. This was followed by an appearance at the first Women's Jazz Festival in '78, with McPartland and Mary Lou Williams. When Williams passed in '81, Osborne performed a Carnegie Hall tribute with Dizzy Gillespie and Clark Terry. In 1990, she appeared at the Hollywood Bowl with Lionel Hampton at the Playboy Jazz Festival, then at the Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festival. Her final performances were during a week-long stint at New York's famed Village Vanguard in 1991, where she was accompanied by Dennis Irwin (bass) and Charlie Persip (drums), received enthusiastic reviews, and on one set played with her sons, Peter and Ralph, Jr., on bass and drums. On March 4, 1992, Osborne succumbed to liver disease related to leukemia. Her legacy and importance are underscored by the fact that her gender was a nearirrelevancy. She crossed boundaries with an elegance shared by few, providing inspiration for future jazz guitarists like Emily Remler and current artists Sheryl Bailey and Mimi Fox. Her work, however, eclipses gender, and she will be remembered as a great jazz musician, period. INFLUENCES Osborne's earliest heroes included Eddie Lang, Dick McDonough, and Django Reinhardt. Charlie Christian had the deepest and longestlasting effect on her playing. "Blues in Mary's Flat" was a swinging, blues-infused signature song from Osborne's early days. This example is based on her improvisations in the bridge and final A section of the A-A-B-A form. The piece is taken at a brisk tempo, and notice the cycle-of-fourths dominant-seventh changes: E7-A7-D7-G7 (similar to "I Got Rhythm") in measures 1-8 and the contrasting riff-oriented vamps in C major in the A section. She begins with playful slurs and phrasing reminiscent of Django Reinhardt or Les Paul in measures 1-2. Naturally, Charlie Christian allusions abound, particularly in the driving swing feel, horn-like melodic conception, and rhythmic devices like syncopation, purposeful rests, and repeated motifs in shifted rhythms. Consider the pattern in measure 4 that is recalled and varied in 11-12 and 16. She tags a similar phrase ending onto her closing line in 6. The D9 arpeggio in 5-6 is a horn-conscious gesture as are the decorated major-sixth arpeggios in 3 and 15. Mary's bluesy side appears in the string bends of 5-6, the long slow bend in 8-10, and the ubiquitous major-minor polarity in her use of D# and E notes in the melodies. Typical double-stops and partial chords are found in 7-8, which superimposes a blues-oriented F7 sound over the G7 chord. STYLE Her style blended vital elements of swing jazz, bebop, and modern jazz, and was a microcosm of the evolving musical language of the period at its most innovative time. Her earliest recorded efforts found her playing very much in the vein of Christian, as did most guitarists of the era. VINTAGE GUITAR 64 February 2017 However, though influenced heavily by his hornlike approach, Oklahoma blues ethic, solid swing feel, and commanding technique, she projected