Helmut Hillegeists Bunk-Johnson
-Transkriptionen, 1960/1961
In 1960/61 a Viennese jazz musician, Helmut Hillegeist, transcribed most of Bunk Johnson's trumpet parts in a notation system of his own from the available records. His notation is based on the recognition of "elementary pulses" as primary units in the musician´s system of timing. In contrast to staff notation this is not a "durational" system but uses symbols characteristic of what has come to be called impact notation. Hillegeist's transcriptions of early jazz have remained unpublished for many years. Two extracts, "Panama" and "New Iberia Blues", are published in this article for the first time.