Virtual Jam Session - "Footprints"

Ready for something a bit more challenging, or at lease more uncomfortable for many of us?  Here is Wayne Shorter's "Footprints".  It is basically a modal piece that stays on Cm7 for almost the entire tune.  That's a challenge to craft a solo that is interesting when the harmony is not changing.  Experiment with playing different scales over that Cm7.  The melody line mostly follows the Bb major scale, for example.

But then there is that bridge -- 4 bars of very complex chords in bars 17-20 of the head: F#m7b5, F7#11, E7b5#9, and A7b5#9.  That's crazy.  Thing about whole tone scales, diminished arpeggios, augmented arpeggios.  These 4 bars go by quickly.  Attitude is probably more important than the actual notes

Oh, and did I mention it is is 3/4, just to make sure your head explodes?

This is a case where you might find it helpful to scat sing solos for about 4 hours before trying to do something on the horn.

Jam to "Footprints"

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The bridge is especially difficult because it doesn't follow any of the more familiar patterns, such as circle of 4ths or ii-V-I.  Shorter specified rather complex chords, but rhythm sections will not necessarily play it literally as written.  Here is a slowed-down version of the bridge and the chords are played in a way that is easier to hear.  You will trade 8s with a tenor sax that provides some good examples.  The loop is 8 bars:

Cm7        | Cm7        | Cm7        | Cm7        |  
F#m7b5  | F7#11      | E7b5#9   | A7b5#9  |

"Footprints" bridge workout

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