Bluesette is probably the most famous Toots Thielemans song and certainly a jazz standard. Such a great take on a 3/4 Parker Blues with a few extra twists!
This is a great progression! A Belgian version of the Parker Blues and also in 3/4. I guess that is the Belgian part of it?
This song has a very nice way of travelling through a lot of keys and still end up home in a turnaround. Certainly one of my favourite waltzes, probably no 2 on the list 😀
Stella By Starlight is probably one of the more complicated jazz standards. At the same time it is a very beautiful melody and the harmony is, even if a bit complicated, also very rich!
If you want to check out my solo on it you can do so here:
If you want to check out my analysis of the song you can do so here:
Yesterdays is a great song with some minor turnarounds and a long dominant chain! The 16 bar form is split in two where the first half is in Dm with some turnarounds and a line cliché. The second half is a dominant chain starting with an A7(b13) with the b13 in the melody.
The song is also a great vehicle for odd meters like 5/4 and 7/4. Scofield has a 7/4 song called last week on these changes.
I play the song in G major, which is probably the most common key for the tune. This Medium up tempo is also quite common and fits well with the bebop theme written on this
This classic American songbook tune How High the Moon is a ABAC or 16-16 form song. The main point of interest is the use of switching from major to minor to modulate a whole step down.
How High The Moon is also the chord progression used for Ornithology though some chords in the Parker tune are changed into dominants. Coltrane also made a Giant Steps version of this called Satellite.
The form of this song is AB so two times 16 bars. What is a bit unusual is that it does not have the standard V of V to II V ending half way, which is normal for this type of standard.
The beginning detour to Eb is really nice about this song. The first three bars are in fact Giant steps.
