Footprints (composition)

Last updated

"Footprints" is a jazz standard composed by saxophonist Wayne Shorter and first recorded for his album Adam's Apple in 1966. [1] The first commercial release of the song was a different recording on the Miles Davis album Miles Smiles recorded later in 1966, but released earlier. [2] It has become a jazz standard. [3] [4]

Contents

Rhythm

Wayne Shorter in 2006 Wayne Shorter.jpg
Wayne Shorter in 2006

Although often written in 3
4
or 6
8
, it is not a jazz waltz because the feel alternates between simple meter and compound meter. On Miles Smiles , the band playfully explores the correlation between African-based 12
8
(or 6
8
) and 4
4
. Drummer Tony Williams freely moves from swing, to the three-over-two cross rhythm—and to its 4
4
correlative. [5]

The ground of four main beats is maintained throughout the piece. The bass switches to 4
4
at 2:20. Ron Carter’s 4
4
figure is known as tresillo in Afro-Cuban music and is the duple-pulse correlative of the 12
8
figure. [6] This may have been the first overt expression of systemic, African-based cross-rhythm used by a straight ahead jazz group. During Davis’s first trumpet solo, Williams shifts to a 4
4
jazz ride pattern while Carter continues the 12
8
bass line.

The following example shows the 12
8
and 4
4
forms of the bass line. The slashed noteheads indicate the main beats (not bass notes), where one ordinarily taps their foot to "keep time."

Footprints (composition)

Harmony

Harmonically, "Footprints" takes the form of a 12-bar C minor blues, but this is masked not only by its triple time signature but by its avant garde turnaround. In the key of C minor, a normal turnaround would be Dm7(5), G7, Cm7. But Shorter doubles the harmonic rhythm of the turnaround, and the progression reads: Fm9(5), F7(11), E9(5), A7(9), Cm7. In jazz jam sessions and for educational purposes, players often choose D7(11) D7(11) Cm7 as turnaround, which also fits with the original melody. [7]

Notable covers

Related Research Articles

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, marches, vaudeville song, and dance music. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation.

In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice era of Classical music to the 21st century. Chord progressions are the foundation of popular music styles, traditional music, as well as genres such as blues and jazz. In these genres, chord progressions are the defining feature on which melody and rhythm are built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chord (music)</span> Harmonic set of two or more notes

In music, a chord is a group of three or more notes played simultaneously, typically consisting of a root note, a third, and a fifth. Chords are the building blocks of harmony and form the harmonic foundation of a piece of music. They can be major, minor, diminished, augmented, or extended, depending on the intervals between the notes and their arrangement. Chords provide the harmonic support and coloration that accompany melodies and contribute to the overall sound and mood of a musical composition. For many practical and theoretical purposes, arpeggios and other types of broken chords may also be considered as chords in the right musical context.

Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which includes samba and bossa nova.

In jazz, comping is the chords, rhythms, and countermelodies that keyboard players, guitar players, or drummers use to support a musician's improvised solo or melody lines. It is also the action of accompanying, and the left-hand part of a solo pianist.

In music, a minor seventh chord is a seventh chord composed of a root note, a minor third, a perfect fifth, and a minor seventh. In other words, one could think of it as a minor triad with a minor seventh attached to it.

Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban music has deep roots in African ritual and rhythm. The genre emerged in the early 1940s with the Cuban musicians Mario Bauzá and Frank Grillo "Machito" in the band Machito and his Afro-Cubans in New York City. In 1947, the collaborations of bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and percussionist Chano Pozo brought Afro-Cuban rhythms and instruments, such as the tumbadora and the bongo, into the East Coast jazz scene. Early combinations of jazz with Cuban music, such as "Manteca" and "Mangó Mangüé", were commonly referred to as "Cubop" for Cuban bebop.

<i>E.S.P.</i> (Miles Davis album) 1965 studio album by Miles Davis

E.S.P. is an album by Miles Davis, recorded on January 20–22, 1965 and released on August 16 of that year by Columbia Records. It is the first release from what is known as Davis's second great quintet: Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. The album was named after a tune by Shorter, and was inspired by the fact that, "since Wayne Shorter's arrival, the five members of the quintet seemed to communicate by mental telepathy."

<i>Miles Smiles</i> 1967 studio album by Miles Davis

Miles Smiles is an album by the jazz musician Miles Davis. It was released on February 16, 1967 through Columbia Records. It was recorded by Davis and his second quintet at Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City on October 24 and October 25, 1966. It is the second of six albums recorded by Davis' second great quintet, which featured tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhythm changes</span> Common 32-bar chord progression in jazz

Rhythm changes is a common 32-bar jazz chord progression derived from George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm". The progression is in AABA form, with each A section based on repetitions of the ubiquitous I–vi–ii–V sequence (or variants such as iii–vi–ii–V), and the B section using a circle of fifths sequence based on III7–VI7–II7–V7, a progression which is sometimes given passing chords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominant seventh sharp ninth chord</span> A chord in music

In music, the dominant 79 chord is a chord built by combining a dominant seventh, which includes a major third above the root, with an augmented second, which is the same pitch, albeit given a different note name, as the minor third degree above the root. This chord is used in many forms of contemporary popular music, including jazz, funk, R&B, rock and pop. As a dominant chord in diatonic harmony, it most commonly functions as a turnaround chord, returning to the tonic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turnaround (music)</span>

In jazz, a turnaround is a passage at the end of a section which leads to the next section. This next section is most often the repetition of the previous section or the entire piece or song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro Blue</span> 1959 single by Mongo Santamaría

"Afro Blue" is a jazz standard composed by Mongo Santamaría.

"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.

In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads".

In music, a cross-beat or cross-rhythm is a specific form of polyrhythm. The term cross rhythm was introduced in 1934 by the musicologist Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980). It refers to a situation where the rhythmic conflict found in polyrhythms is the basis of an entire musical piece.

Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different contexts to represent musical chords. In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and its corresponding symbol typically indicate one or more of the following:

Tresillo is a rhythmic pattern used in Latin American music. It is a more basic form of the rhythmic figure known as the habanera.

"Lady Bird" is a sixteen-bar jazz standard by Tadd Dameron. This "celebrated" composition, "one of the most performed in modern jazz", was written around 1939, and released in 1948. Featuring, "a suave, mellow theme," it is the origin of the Tadd Dameron turnaround (in C: CM7 E7 AM7 D7 CM7).

"Woody 'n' You" is a 1942 jazz standard written by Dizzy Gillespie as an homage to Woody Herman. It was one of three arrangements Gillespie made for Herman's big band, although it was not used at the time; the other two were "Swing Shift" and "Down Under". It was introduced on record in 1944 by Coleman Hawkins initiated by Budd Johnson, Hawkins' musical director of his 12-man orchestra that included the bebop pioneers Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach and Gillespie. It is also called "Algo Bueno".

References

  1. Waters, Keith (11 March 2011). The Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68. Oxford University Press. p. 7. ISBN   978-0-19-983016-9 . Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  2. "Stories of Standards: "Footprints" by Wayne Shorter". KUVO. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  3. Gioia, Ted (2021). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. Oxford University Press. p. 135. ISBN   978-0-19-008717-3 . Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  4. Cheyne, Peter; Hamilton, Andy; Paddison, Max (2019). The Philosophy of Rhythm: Aesthetics, Music, Poetics. Oxford University Press. p. 107. ISBN   978-0-19-934777-3 . Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  5. "Footprints" Miles Smiles (Miles Davis). Columbia CD (1967).
  6. Peñalosa, David (2010: 43). The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins. Redway, CA: Bembe Inc. ISBN   1-886502-80-3.
  7. Boras, Tom (2005). Jazz Composition and Arranging. Thomson/Schirmer. p. 280. ISBN   978-0-534-25261-8 . Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  8. Jurek, Thom. Kenny Barron – Images: Review at AllMusic . Retrieved January 24, 2017.