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Urban Renewal Jazz notes

Virtual Jam Session - "Yardbird Suite"

5/22/2020

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Jam to "Yardbird Suite"

Yardbird Suite is an historically significant piece.  Written by Charlie Parker in 1946, it came in the first few years of the new Bebop era.  In contrast to "Donna Lee", a tune from the same period written by Miles Davis but mistakenly attributed to Parker, Yardbird Suite has a more accessible melody that isn't as technically demanding.  This is a good tune for players who want to get a taste of Bebop.
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Virtual Jam Session - "My Favorite Things"

5/20/2020

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Jam to "My Favorite Things"

This Rodger & Hammerstein classic is one of the most frequently called jam session tunes.  And it is probably among the most badly botched.  Technically the song is not all that difficult, but the song form is what makes it an adventure.  People do this song many different ways, so it is worthwhile to agree on the  song form before counting it off.

This arrangement follows the song form you will find in most fake books. There is a long intro -- 16 bars -- to get into the feel.  From there, the song form might be called AAB - interlude - C

The two A sections are identical -- 16 + 16 bars centered around E minor.

The B section is 16 bars, mostly in major -- starting in E Major.  But the melody is almost the same as the A section.  This is possible because the melody works the 2nd and 9th heavily, and those notes are the same whether we've doing Emi9 or EMaj9.

It is important to note that many musicians add a 4- or 8-bar vamp to some or all of those A and B sections before proceeding to the next section.  If musicians don't agree on that, it can be a train wreck.
After the B section, there is a short (8-bar) breakdown or interlude where the lyrics are "When the dog bites, When the bee stings ..."

Then we have a final 16 bars indicated here as the C section.  That C section includes a short vamp that is almost universally observed.  So the full song form in this case is 16+16+16+8+16 = 56 bars.
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Virtual Jam Session - "Meditation"

5/19/2020

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Jam to "Meditation"

Here is a lovely Jobim bossa with a gentle ballad melody.  The changes are rather straightforward, but this is a long song form, as is common in Jobim compositions.
This is AABA, but the A sections are 16 bars each.  The bridge section is 8 bars.  The first two A sections are identical.  The final A section is identical, except for the last 4 bars.
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Virtual Jam Session - "Beautiful Love"

5/18/2020

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Jam to "Beautiful Love"

There isn't much to say about this song.  It is a simple 32-bar ABAB song at medium tempo in D minor concert.  The changes are straightforward.  It is an ideal tune for people just getting started with improvisation.
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Virtual Jam Session - "Indiana"

5/17/2020

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Jam to "Indiana"

No, it isn't the official state song. But it is surely the most played song about Indiana, trouncing that little green apples mess.  In fact, it is probably the most played jazz tune about a with the name of a state in the title.  This is the month of May, but unfortunately nobody will be singing this song at the track this month. So it is up to us to represent.
Not much to say about a song everybody knows so well.  It is often played in Ab, but most fake books have it in F, which is what we are doing here.
One really minor piece of trivia.  Almost everybody plays the second note wrong.  As originally written, the second note is the 6th or D, but almost everybody plays it as an F.  Certainly this goes back as far as Louis Armstrong and maybe even before him.  So if you want to play the second note as an F, you are in good company.
In this arrangement I've borrowed some of the changes from Frank Mantooth and David Baker, which I think are a little more interesting than the normal fake sheet changes.
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Virtual Jam Session - "Summer Samba"

5/17/2020

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Jam to "Summer Samba"

This is probably the most popular bossa nova that was NOT written by Tom Jobim.  Written by Marcos Valle, "Summer Samba" is a gentle song with a lovely melody.
The song form is not very complicated.  It is a 32-bar song in ABAB form.  The A sections are identical.  The B sections are similar.  On the out-chorus, we tag the last 4 bars several times while fading.

Trivia: "bossa nova" literally translates to "new trend."  The style emerged in the mid-20th century, after the WWII swing era as a fusion of the samba and jazz.  The samba is usually a faster 2-beat, and considerably more frantic.  Most jazz music at the time was counted in 4.  The bossa became the dominant jazz style when playing straight eighths, as an alternative to the the swing, shuffle and boogie songs that dominated during the WWII and early post-war years.  The bossa is almost always counted in 4 beats and generally features a clave pattern that spans two measures -- either a 2-3 or a 3-2 pattern (i.e. 5 clave beats every two measures.) 
This arrangement uses a very strong 2-3 clave. And you hear the guitar playing that same pattern much of the time.
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Virtual Jam Session - "Road Song"

5/16/2020

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Jam to "Road Song"

Wes Montgomery's "Road Song" is normally played in a Latin rock style.  It is a straight-ahead AABA 32-bar form.  The out-chorus has a 2-bar tag.
Nothing too unusual on the A sections.  The bridge can suck you in though.  It is a ii-V-I in Bb followed by a ii-V-I in Ab.  But the tricky thing is the 4th bar of the bridge that sneaks in a ii-V in A.

The changes for the bridge are:
   ii            V           I
Cm7      | F7      | Bbmaj7    | Bmi7  E7  |
Bbm7    | Eb7    | Abmaj7   | D7(b9)      |
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Virtual Jam Session - "Mississippi Mud"

5/15/2020

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Jam to "Mississippi Mud"

Here is a Dixieland classic, "Mississippi Mud".  This is a frolicking, happy song that moves at a good clip.  The changes are not terribly dense, but the chord sequence isn't completely conventional either.
The song form is, roughly speaking, AABBAA.  The first A is 10 bars.  The second A is similar, but 12 bars.  The B section is a minor interlude of 8+8 bars.
Don't get too analytical.  It is just a fun song.  Learn the melody and everything else fall into place.

The lyrics are:
A:  When the sun goes down, the tide goes out, the people gather round and they all
begin to shout.
Hey, Hey Uncle Dud
It's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi Mud.
It's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi Mud.

A: What a dance do they do.
Lordy how I'm tellin' you.
They don't need no band.
They keep time by clapping their hands.
Just as happy as a cow chewin' on a cud.
It's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi Mud.

B: Lordy how they play it.
Goodness how they sway it.
Uncle Joe, uncle Jim!
How they pound that mire with vigor and vim.

B: Joy it nearly kills me.
Boy that music trills me.
What a show when they go.
Say they beat it up either fast or slow.

A:  When the sun goes down ... (as before)
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Virtual Jam Session - "Daahoud"

5/11/2020

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Jam to "Daahoud"

Imagine Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" double time, played in bebop style.  That's pretty much what we have with Clifford Brown's "Daahoud".
This is a difficult tune, probably the brown belt level of jazz playing if done well.  It is challenging harmonically.  It is challenging to swing at this tempo.  There are a whole lot of notes to remember.  And it has a peculiar song form. The solo choruses are a straightforward AABA in 32 bars.  Nothing unusual about that.  But the in-chorus has a difficult 4 bar tag before the solos start.  The out-chorus has that same 4-bar tag, plus a 3-bar drum fill and a final lick to end the tune.

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Virtual Jam Session - "Blue Train"

5/10/2020

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Jam to "Blue Train"

"Blue Train" is a straightforward 12-bar blues that can be a vehicle for adventurous "outside" playing.

In typical blues tunes, most of the chords are "dominant 7" chords, or perhaps "13" chords that are like a dominant 7 with the 6th added on top.  In this tune, most of the chords are "7 sharp 9" chords.  These chords are common in funk music, but mostly used in jazz rarely for special emphasis.  But here we have them running through the entire 12-bar pattern.
The key feature of the "7 sharp 9" chord is that it is ambiguous between major and minor.  It has the major third in the main octave and has the minor third (aka sharp 9) an octave above.  The difference between those two notes is a major 7th, which gives the chord extra tension.  So as an entry point to playing a little more outside, you can experiment with mixing some major and minor scales into your lines.
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  • Home
    • Join List
  • Mission
  • Meet the Bands
    • Urban Renewal Big Band >
      • 24-4-9
    • Urban Renewal Cool Jazz Octet
    • The Finnell Factor
    • Yvonne Allu & Friends
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