The Last 8 - "Night and Day" - JoHen Style
Zeroing in on a particular section of a tune (say, 4 to eight bars), is a great way to isolate and iron out any potential problems that one might be having with it.
In that vein, this months post takes a look at the final 8 bars of the two A-Sections of Cole Porter's classic, "Night and Day", featuring Joe Henderson's reharmonization, which was the subject of an earlier post.
While Henderson's tenor solo, from his classic Blue Note "Inner Urge" session, is in the uncommon key of D Major, the set of eight mini etudes found here in the free pdf download (below - in Bb, Eb and C versions) is in the usual key of Eb.
In that vein, this months post takes a look at the final 8 bars of the two A-Sections of Cole Porter's classic, "Night and Day", featuring Joe Henderson's reharmonization, which was the subject of an earlier post.
While Henderson's tenor solo, from his classic Blue Note "Inner Urge" session, is in the uncommon key of D Major, the set of eight mini etudes found here in the free pdf download (below - in Bb, Eb and C versions) is in the usual key of Eb.
This group of 8 eight-bar sequences is not from Joe's solo. They were created using various improvisational devices demonstrated in numerous forms throughout this website, as well as in the contents and subject matter of the many available Shortbooks™.
The example below is the first of these 8 eight-bar sequences. Harmonically, the root movement of the first 4 measures (#9 - 12) descends chromatically, exactly as in the Cole Porter original.
It's interesting to note that in bar #3 (G-7, the iii chord in Eb Major), the notes E & A natural both belong to the G Dorian mode (from the ii chord in F Major) rather than G Phrygian (from the iii). This is a common device often employed while vamping over a iii-VI-ii-I cadence, for example. It briefly and subtly expands the aural perception with a momentary shift in tonality, from Eb to F Maj, in this case.
The enigmatic biii descending diminished 7th chord makes its appearance in bar #4. This type of descending diminished 7th chord is found between the iii7 and ii7, and needs to be handled differently than its ascending version.
Rather than functioning as a secondary dominant (which would be D7b9 to G-7 ascending), the biii descending diminished 7th relies instead on chromatic root movement, rather than the expected tritone resolution. Creative use of the Whole Step/ Half Step Diminished Scale and its permutations, based on the root of the chord, works well here.
"Body and Soul", "Like Someone in Love" and "All the Things You Are" are several other common standard tunes that come to mind, in which the descending biii diminished 7th makes its presence felt.
Ex. 1 - The last eight bars of Joe Henderson's reharm of "Night and Day" (A-Sections. Not from his tenor solo).
The example below is the first of these 8 eight-bar sequences. Harmonically, the root movement of the first 4 measures (#9 - 12) descends chromatically, exactly as in the Cole Porter original.
It's interesting to note that in bar #3 (G-7, the iii chord in Eb Major), the notes E & A natural both belong to the G Dorian mode (from the ii chord in F Major) rather than G Phrygian (from the iii). This is a common device often employed while vamping over a iii-VI-ii-I cadence, for example. It briefly and subtly expands the aural perception with a momentary shift in tonality, from Eb to F Maj, in this case.
The enigmatic biii descending diminished 7th chord makes its appearance in bar #4. This type of descending diminished 7th chord is found between the iii7 and ii7, and needs to be handled differently than its ascending version.
Rather than functioning as a secondary dominant (which would be D7b9 to G-7 ascending), the biii descending diminished 7th relies instead on chromatic root movement, rather than the expected tritone resolution. Creative use of the Whole Step/ Half Step Diminished Scale and its permutations, based on the root of the chord, works well here.
"Body and Soul", "Like Someone in Love" and "All the Things You Are" are several other common standard tunes that come to mind, in which the descending biii diminished 7th makes its presence felt.
Ex. 1 - The last eight bars of Joe Henderson's reharm of "Night and Day" (A-Sections. Not from his tenor solo).
The fun continues as we slide into the ii-V7 of Eb in measure #5, only to detour via a ii-V7-I in B Maj in bar #6, a Major 3rd below (i.e. Coltrane Changes).
We glide back on up a Major 3rd via Bb7, the V7 of Eb in the second half of bar #7 (Retrosteps), only to slide back down via F#7 (V7) during the last 2 beats of bar #8, to B Maj again - at the top of the tune.
To sum it up: These last four measures cleverly alternate between the tonalities of Eb and B Major - a relationship of a Major 3rd.
Note - At the second ending, leading to the bridge, bar #8 stays on Eb for the full measure, going to Gb alternating back and forth with Eb for eight bars of the bridge - as in the original. The final eight bars of the bridge (B-Section) are slightly different from the two "A" sections, so as not to be included in this analysis.
There are 7 more of these. Download 'em and check 'em out.
Then make up a few of your own!
B. Stern
Then make up a few of your own!
B. Stern
For an even more in-depth look, the following Shortbooks™ are available for immediate download.
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