A list of new jazz melodies based on the chords of existing compositions
A contrafact is a musical composition built using the chord progression of a pre-existing song, but with a new melody and arrangement. Typically the original tune's progression and song form will be reused but occasionally just a section will be reused in the new composition. The term comes from classical music and was first applied to jazz by musicologists in the 1970s and 1980s.[citation needed]
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on a combination of harmonic structure, the use of scales and occasional references to the melody.
Charles Parker Jr., nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique, and advanced harmonies. He was a virtuoso and introduced revolutionary rhythmic and harmonic ideas into jazz, including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. Parker was primarily a player of the alto saxophone.
Minton's Playhouse is a jazz club and bar located on the first floor of the Cecil Hotel at 210 West 118th Street in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. It is a registered trademark of Housing and Services, Inc. a New York City nonprofit provider of supportive housing. The door to the actual club itself is at 206 West 118th Street where there is a small plaque. Minton's was founded by tenor saxophonist Henry Minton in 1938. Minton's is known for its role in the development of modern jazz, also known as bebop, where in its jam sessions in the early 1940s, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke, Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie pioneered the new music. Minton's thrived for three decades until its decline near the end of the 1960s, and its eventual closure in 1974. After being closed for more than 30 years, the newly remodeled club reopened on May 19, 2006, under the name Uptown Lounge at Minton's Playhouse, which operated until 2010, before re-opening as Minton's Playhouse in 2013.
"I Got Rhythm" is a piece composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and published in 1930, which became a jazz standard. Its chord progression, known as the "rhythm changes", is the foundation for many other popular jazz tunes such as Charlie Parker's and Dizzy Gillespie's bebop standard "Anthropology ".
Dillon "Curley" Russell was an American jazz musician, who played bass on many bebop recordings.
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.
Jazz at Massey Hall is a live album released in December 1953 by jazz combo The Quintet through Debut Records. It was recorded on 15 May 1953 at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada. Credited to "the Quintet", the jazz group was composed of five leading "modern" players of the day: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach. It was the only time that the five musicians recorded together as a unit, and it was the last recorded meeting of Parker and Gillespie.
A contrafact is a musical work based on a prior work. The term comes from classical music and has only since the 1940s been applied to jazz, where it is still not standard. In classical music, contrafacts have been used as early as the parody mass and In Nomine of the 16th century. More recently, Cheap Imitation (1969) by John Cage was produced by systematically changing notes from the melody line of Socrate by Erik Satie using chance procedures.
"Nice Work If You Can Get It" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
"Oleo" is a hard bop composition by Sonny Rollins, written in 1954. It has become a jazz standard, and has been performed by numerous jazz artists such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans.
Confirmation is a bebop standard composed by saxophonist Charlie Parker in 1945. It is known as a challenging number due to its long, complex head and rapid chord changes, which feature an extended cycle of fifths. Jazz educator Dariusz Terefenko has pointed out the speed and intricacy of "Confirmation's" "harmonic rhythm", which he notes is typical of the bebop era.
"Scrapple from the Apple" is a bebop composition by Charlie Parker written in 1947, commonly recognized today as a jazz standard, written in F major. The song borrows its chord progression from "Honeysuckle Rose", a common practice for Parker, as he based many of his successful tunes over already well-known chord changes.
"Yardbird Suite" is a bebop standard composed by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker in 1946. The title combines Parker's nickname "Yardbird" and a colloquial use of the classical music term "suite". The composition uses an 32-bar AABA form. The "graceful, hip melody, became something of an anthem for beboppers."
"Ko-Ko" is a 1945 bebop recording composed by Charlie Parker. The original recorded version lists Parker on alto saxophone with trumpeter Miles Davis, double bassist Curley Russell and drummer Max Roach. Due to the absence of Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie was enlisted to play piano, instead of his usual trumpet. Pianist Sadik Hakim, then known as Argonne Thornton, was also known to be present at the session. Rumors persist to this day about precisely who played trumpet and piano on this piece; some say it's young Miles Davis who plays trumpet and Gillespie comping at piano, on both takes; most say Gillespie plays trumpet and, or instead of, piano; some say Hakim is the pianist on all or part of one or both of the takes. However, Miles Davis confirms in his autobiography that he did not play trumpet on "Ko Ko":
"I remember Bird wanting me to play "Ko-Ko," a tune that was based on the changes of "Cherokee." Now Bird knew I was having trouble playing "Cherokee" back then. So when he said that that was the tune he wanted me to play, I just said no, I wasn't going to do it. That's why Dizzy's playing trumpet on "Ko-Ko," "Warmin' up a Riff," and "Meandering" on Charlie Parker’s Reboppers, because I wasn't going to get out there and embarrass myself. I didn't really think I was ready to play tunes at the tempo of "Cherokee" and I didn't make no bones about it."
"Groovin' High" is an influential 1945 song by jazz composer and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. The song was a bebop mainstay that became a jazz standard, one of Gillespie's best known hits, and according to Bebop: The Music and Its Players author Thomas Owens, "the first famous bebop recording". The song is a complex musical arrangement based on the chord structure of the 1920 standard originally recorded by Paul Whiteman, "Whispering", with lyrics by John Schonberger and Richard Coburn (né Frank Reginald DeLong; 1886–1952) and music by Vincent Rose. The biography Dizzy characterizes the song as "a pleasant medium-tempo tune" that "demonstrates...[Gillespie's] skill in fashioning interesting textures using only six instruments".
"Ah-Leu-Cha" is a bebop composition written in 1948 by American jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. It is a contrafact of "Honeysuckle Rose" in the "A" section and "I Got Rhythm" in the "B" section. "Ah-Leu-Cha" was originally recorded by Charlie Parker All-Stars on September 18, 1948, in New York City for Savoy Records.
"Constellation" is a bebop composition written in 1948 by American jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. It is a contrafact of "I Got Rhythm". "Constellation" was originally recorded by the Charlie Parker All-Stars on September 18, 1948 in New York City for Savoy Records.
City Nights: Live at the Jazz Standard is the first of three live albums by saxophonist Frank Morgan that were recorded at the Jazz Standard in 2003 and released on the HighNote label.
Bird on Money is a 1981 painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1981. It is a tribute to jazz musician Charlie Parker, who was nicknamed "Bird." The painting was acquired in 1981 and is housed in the Rubell Family Collection. In 2020, New York rock band the Strokes used the artwork as the cover for their studio album The New Abnormal.
↑ Williams, Martin (1 January 1992). "What Kind of Composer Was Thelonious Monk?". The Musical Quarterly. 76 (3). Oxford Journals: 433–441. doi:10.1093/mq/76.3.433.
1 2 Gitler, Ira (1985). Swing To Bop: an oral history of the transition in jazz in the 1940s. Oxford University Press (published 1987). pp.160, 122. ISBN0-19-505070-3.
↑ Maggin, Donald L. (2005). Dizzy: The Life and Times of John Birks Gillespie. Harper Collins. pp. 167. ISBN0-688-17088-9.
↑ Biamonte, Nicole (2012). "Variations on a Scheme: Bach's 'Crucifixus' and Chopin's and Scriabin's E-Minor Preludes". Intégral. 26: 73. JSTOR23629590.
Markewich, Maurice (Reese) (1974). The new expanded bibliography of jazz compositions based on the chord progressions of standard tunes. Markewich. ISBN0960016058.
Owens, Thomas (1982). Bebop: The Music and Its Players. Oxford. ISBN0-1951-0651-2.
Sher, Chuck (2005). The New Real Book, Volume 1. Sher Music. ISBN0-9614701-4-3.
Sher, Chuck (2005). The New Real Book, Volume 2. Sher Music. ISBN0-9614701-7-8.
Sher, Chuck (2005). The New Real Book, Volume 3. Sher Music. ISBN1-883217-03-2.
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