"There Will Never Be Another You" - Why does F7 resolve to Eb major?

In older lead sheets for some jazz standards, you will sometimes see II dominant chords (that is, V of V) progressing directly to the tonic. In the key of C, that would be D7 moving to C major. This sequence is found in "There Will Never Be Another You," "It Might As Well Be Spring," "Memories of You," and "Time After Time," among others.

In newer charts for these songs, this progression is often replaced with some sort of reharmonization "workaround" that better fits current preconceptions of how harmony should function.

D7 resolving to C might seem to somehow transgress the rules of harmony, but if a composer wrote this chord change, there was probably a good reason. In the original sheet music for these songs, the piano arrangements will usually show the II dominant going to a tonic chord that has its fifth in the bass. In the key of C, that would be D7 going to C/G (C major with G in the bass) 

This is a classical device, the "cadential six-four chord." In classical terminology, a triad with its fifth in the bass (2nd inversion) is called a "six-four" chord. Although C/G might appear to be a tonic chord, it is actually functioning as a V with two suspended notes. In jazz terms, C/G could be regarded as a sort of Gsus4 chord. Generally, it will then go on to a typical V  I final cadence. If you look at it that way, the D7 to C/G progression is not so odd after all.

In the original sheet music for songs using this harmonic device, the piano arrangement may include a fifth in the bass of the tonic chord, while the chord symbols may fail to mention it. If a lead sheet is created from these chord symbols, players will just see D7 going to C, and may feel that it is flawed writing, that should be fixed - hence the reharmonizations in many modern lead sheets.

Of course, a reharmonization may have been made because it just sounds better to the arranger, or because it offers better opportunities for improvisation. The composer's original harmony may not be what is best for you. Still, it's interesting to see why these songs differ in various printed sources, and what replacements musicians have come up in an effort to avoid the V of V to tonic six-four device.

There Will Never Be Another You

Harry Warren's "There Will Never Be Another You" provides a great illustration of how this device has been avoided and rewritten in contemporary fakebooks. Here's the last page of the original sheet music. Click to enlarge.

"There Will Never Be Another You" is in Eb. The V of V to tonic six-four (F7 to Eb/Bb) occurs in the first two measures of the last line (mm 28-29 of the song, not counting the introductory "verse"). 

Although the chord symbols show Ebdim over the word "If" on beat 4, IMO this chord (it's actually a 4-note Ebdim7, as there's a C in the melody) is functionally insignificant. The Ebdim chord symbol is only shown to make a guitarist's comping fit with the F# note in the piano part; that F# is just there to provide a passing harmony with the C melody note on beat 4. 

The F7 (V of V) provides a strong push towards a V (Bb7), but instead of a V, the next measure has a cadential six-four (Eb/Bb, though the chord symbol shows only Eb). This is a textbook usage of the cadential tonic six-four. It makes me think that perhaps Harry Warren (Salvatore Antonio Guaragna) had some classical training.

Although the chord symbols show F7 for beat 3 of bar 28, there is no F note in the piano part. Nevertheless, I agree that the functional chord is actually F7; the bass line moving from Bb to A is typical of a II V (Cm7 to F7). 

Apparently many jazz players have found the indicated F7 to Eb sequence to be unsatisfactory, as it has been reharmonized in a number of different ways. 

Here are the last 8 bars of the tune as shown in various fake books:

Old ("Classic") Real Book:

Although this is the first version I learned, the Gm7  C7 never sounded right to me.

Hal Leonard "6th Edition Real Book":

The Am7 D7 here sounds better than the Gm7 C7 in the old RB version. Comparing this version to the original piano part, you might convince yourself that the D7 corresponds to the original F7 Ebdim7, in the sense that D7b9 is kind of equivalent to Ebdim7, and Ebdim7 is kind of equivalent to F7b9. However, IMO, this has nothing to do with Warren's original intended progression.

"New Real Book" (Sher Music): 

This is the same as the "6th Edition" version above, but with b5 added to the Am7. To their credit, the editors showed F13 as an alternate chord change, though without showing the following Eb/Bb.

Hal Leonard Real Jazz Standards Fake Book: (This useful book shows slightly edited sheet music chord symbols above, with a more modern reharmonization below):

In the "revised" changes, F#dim7 occurs on beat 3 rather than on the original sheet music's beat 4 (except for the root, F#dim7 and Ebdim7 are the same set of notes). I see the function of the F#dim7 here as being different from the Ebdim7 in the original sheet - in this chart, it's there not so much to accompany a piano arrangement that has an F# note below the melody note C, but rather is there to put passing tones between the F7 and the Ebmaj7 so that the change does not seem so abrupt. 

"Colorado Cookbook":

Here we see the same Am7 D7 as in the "6th Edition Real Book," but resolving to Gm7 rather than Eb. Perhaps this seemed like a good solution because D7 is V of Gm7, and Gm7 is a reasonable substitute for Eb major.

"The Book":

Here we see Cm7  Ebdim7 going to Eb. It's like the chord symbols in the original sheet music, but leaving out the F7 that should be the main functional element here. This doesn't make much sense. It misses the original intent, and results in a weak bass line.

Hal Leonard "Ultimate Jazz Fake Book":

(Click to enlarge.) This version fills bar 28 entirely with an F#dim7 chord. This chord does not follow logically from the Cm7 that precedes it, and does not make for a good bass line. The only logic here is that (1.) diminished chords can pretty much pivot from anywhere to anywhere, and (2.) F#dim7 is sort of like the F7 in the original sheet music, though of course the original V of V to six-four intent is lost.

All in all, it seems that jazz musicians have gone to considerable effort to avoid and rewrite the V of V to cadential six-four device in Warren's tune. 

Below is a list of some more tunes that use the V of V to cadential six-four, with some sources where you can see the progression (thanks to Tom Simpson for this list). I only had the original sheet music for a few of these. 

Embraceable You (mm 12-13, 28-29) (see Sher "Standards Real Book") 

I Remember You (mm 28-29) ("Real Jazz Standards Fake Book")

I've Got A Crush On You (mm 14-15) (Old "Classic Real Book vol. 3")

It Might As Well Be Spring (mm 36-37, not counting intro "verse") ("Real Jazz Standards Fake Book")

Lover Come Back To Me (mm 4-5) ("Real Jazz Standards Fake Book")

Memories Of You (mm 28-29) (Old "Classic Real Book vol. 2")

Nice Work If You Can Get It (mm 4-5, 28-29) (Sher "Standards Real Book")

I Surrender Dear (mm 4-5) (Django Fake Book)

Time After Time (mm 28-29) (Sher "Standards Real Book")

My Romance (mm 28-29) ("Real Jazz Standards Fake Book")

It's interesting to note how many of these instances occur in measures 28-29, as part of the final cadence.

If you can think of any more tunes that use this device, please leave a comment!

"My Romance" - What are the right changes?

Rodgers and Hart's song "My Romance" first appeared in the musical "Jumbo" (1935), produced by impresario Billy Rose. From Wikipedia:

The musical opened on Broadway at the Hippodrome Theatre on November 16, 1935 and closed on April 18, 1936 after 233 performances. Directed by John Murray Anderson and George Abbott, it starred Jimmy Durante, Donald Novis, Gloria Grafton, and a number of circus specialty acts. Jumbo tells the story of a financially strapped circus. At the end of each performance, Durante lay down on the stage and permitted a live elephant to place its foot upon his head.

The large 5,000-seat theatre was turned into a circus tent where the various specialty acts (including acrobats and animal acts) performed during the show. The music was played by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra.

Other notable songs that first appeared in this musical were "Little Girl Blue," and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World."

Incidentally, this was not the first show at the Hippodrome that had featured a live elephant. The song "Poor Butterfly" (1916) was written in an elephant pen in the basement of the Hippodrome; Harry Houdini performed a "disappearing elephant" trick there too.

Here's a newsreel from 1935, covering the opening of "Jumbo," including some rehearsal footage:

In a recent interview, bassist Steve Swallow mentions that the chords to "My Romance," as shown in the old bootleg Real Book, are the "Bill Evans changes." This, of course, sparked my curiosity about what the original changes were. 

I was able to locate a copy of the original sheet music. In looking at "Golden Age" standards, original sheet music is generally a pretty good indicator of the composer's intention, as it is likely that the composer approved it for publication. Besides that source, I have a version of the song from the "Tune-Dex" fakebook, a popular bootleg from (I think) the early 1950s, which shows bare-bones chord changes for hundreds of standards, probably copied from the sheet music, with a high degree of inaccuracy. 

We can also refer to this 1936 recording by Donald Novis and Gloria Grafton, the stars of "Jumbo." There is a good chance that this arrangement is at least somewhat close to the way the song was presented in the show:

There are two modern fakebooks that show some version of the original sheet music changes, side-by-side with a modern reharmonization - The Best Chord Changes for the Most Requested Standardsby Frank Mantooth, and the Real Jazz Standards Fake Book, both published by Hal Leonard.

The sheet music puts the tune in the key of C, as does the Tune-Dex book, but for some reason the 1974 bootleg Real Book shows it in Bb (the Hal Leonard "6th Edition" Real Book, copying the old RB, also has it in Bb). The 1936 recording is in Eb, probably to accommodate the singers. Bill Evans played it in C. To make comparisons easier, the charts in this post are all in the key of C.

The sheet music includes a "verse" (introductory lead-in) that no one really uses any more; I won't discuss it here. It's included in the "Real Jazz Standards" version.  

In deference to copyright, I won't post the complete sheet music, but I think it's within "fair use" to show this clip:

As is usual in old sheet music, the chord symbols do not really represent the piano arrangement. Below is a chart with the chord symbols as shown on the sheet music:

However, the actual piano notes indicate a harmony closer to this:

Some features in the piano arrangement: 

1) stepwise bass lines in mm1-2, 5-6, 17-18, 21-22. The chord symbols miss this. Modern charts suggest different bass lines here (see "Evans" chart, below).

2) triads with added 9 - a sweet, bright sound.

3) a lot of IV chords - sweet and simple, in keeping with the theme of the lyrics.

4) F#m7 rather than F#m7b5 in m13. Modern charts all use F#m7b5, presumably because it seems like the right way to do a minor-key II V. That's not what Rodgers wrote, though.

5) D9 in m28 resolves to C/G in m29. In classical terminology, C/G is a cadential tonic six-four chord. This device (II dominant to I with fifth in the bass, followed by a final cadence) is common in classical music. It occurs in the original harmonic setting of several jazz standards, e.g. "After You've Gone," m16; "I Remember You," m32; "There Will Never Be Another You," m28. The fifth in the bass sets up a brief dominant pedal for the cadence.

The II dominant to tonic six-four device has fallen out of favor in jazz. It seems like just about every modern chart of the tunes listed above replaces the IIdom approach with something else. Some modern charts of "My Romance" preserve the G in the bass under the tonic C chord, keeping the dominant pedal effect, while replacing the D7.

Here's an image of the beginning of the Tune-Dex chart:

This chart really cuts to the essence of the tune. The Tune-Dex fakebook was probably the most complete bootleg collection of tunes available to popular music performers in the late 1940s and early 1950s. I got my copy from the father of one of my students; his father ("Doctor K.") had been an aspiring musician in New York in the early 1950s. The notations in the margin are Doctor K.'s; he was studying the Schillinger system. The Schillinger symbol ΣIV indicates a #4 melody note; it occurs in m3. The note in the margin says, "going to ΣIV more surprising more intense."

For comparison, here is a chord chart with the bare-bones Tune-dex changes. Try playing the melody with this harmony - I think it preserves the simple, sweet quality of the tune pretty well: 

As Steve Swallow relates in his interview, the old bootleg Real Book was created in 1974 by two Berklee students. Many of their charts originated with some of their instructors, or friends of their instructors. Swallow describes the "My Romance" chart as using "Bill Evans" changes. Here are the chords as shown in the old RB, but transposed to C, rather than the RB key of Bb:

Some features of this version:

1) The bass line in mm1-2 and 17-18 is changed to a familiar I  II III bIIIdim progression. The bass line in mm 5-6 and 21-22 is replaced with a familiar "My Funny Valentine"-type voice-leading line over a static minor chord - the line here is A to G# to G, over the A minor chord.

2) The measure-long IV chords are gone.

3) In mm9 and 11 a bVIIdom chord (Bb7) is added to transition from IV to I - again, a standard device. 

4) In m14 Eb7 is added, a tritone sub approach to the Dm7 that follows.

5) mm27-28 are reworked, replacing a short chain of dominants with a minor II V and a II bIIdom. It's a fancier way to get there, but the Ab7 still sets up a tonic six-four chord.

I think you will find that virtually all modern charts derive from the old RB "Bill Evans" changes, with a few alterations here and there. If you want to learn the tune today, you should probably learn this version. Personally, I favor the key of C rather than Bb. The New Real Book vol. 1 (Sher Music Co.) has the tune in C, with Evans-like changes.

I don't know exactly where the old RB compilers got their chart, but it's pretty close to the way Bill Evans plays "My Romance" in the 1961 Village Vanguard recording:

Here's a link to a transcription by Jorn Swart of Bill's first chorus.

Bill Evans played "My Romance" through his entire career. He recorded it a number of times, including on his first album, "New Jazz Conceptions" (1956) and his last, "The Last Waltz" (1980). Of course, the lead sheet does not even begin to show what he did with the tune; his approach evolved continuously. Here's his last recording of "My Romance":

Cole Porter's "Love For Sale" - What are the right changes?

You'll find quite a bit of variation among different charts, and different recorded versions, in the chords to Cole Porter's "Love for Sale." I've often wondered which changes are actually "correct." Recently, I acquired a copy of the 1930 sheet music, showing Porter's original piano arrangement, along with chord symbols for guitar.

In sheet music of this period, it's usually better to look to the piano arrangement, rather than the chord symbols, as a guide to the composer's intentions. In this case, the chord symbols shown in the sheet music show harmony that is pretty close to the piano part, although the symbols do miss some bass lines and voice leading.

Below are the chord symbols shown in the original sheet music. I've omitted the introductory "verse," and made a couple of other small adjustments, such as leaving out a few bass notes indicated in the chord symbols (e.g., "Db/F"). Click to enlarge.

The form is verse A A1 B A2. The introductory "verse," not shown above, consists of two 10-bar phrases; each A and B section is 16 bars. The verse is a good one, and an integral part of the tune, but is often omitted, both in recordings and in published charts. The tune ends with an 8-bar tag, included above, but this is also often omitted both in recordings and in charts. Here's an Ella Fitzgerald version that sticks close to Porter's harmony. Ella includes the introductory verse, as well as a tag with vocal melisma (the tag is different from Porter's, in both melody and harmony):

Although the sheet music almost certainly represents Cole Porter's original intentions, it is not entirely improv-friendly. Jazz musicians want to conceive of harmonies in terms that are more formulaic. A good modern chart would need some alterations. The best modern fake book lead sheet I could find is in the Standards Real Book(Sher Publishing Co.). More about this chart later.

The most glaring harmonic disparities between different versions, both recorded and printed, come at the beginning of the three A sections.

Here's what Porter's original sheet music shows for the first 8 bars of each 16-bar A section (each box is a measure):

The tune is in Bb major overall, but frequently shifts to Bb minor. Eb is a IV chord, Bb or Bbm is tonic. It's pretty clear to me that Porter's shift from major to minor is "word painting" - using the music to reinforce or color the lyrics. Porter employed this sort of coloration in many of his songs. Just one example from "Love for Sale": Right at the beginning of the first A section, Porter harmonizes the first word, "Love," with a major IV chord (bright, happy), but when the lyrics continue "for sale," the resolution is to a tonic minor chord (dark, not so happy). At the end of the first A section the word "sale" is not only harmonized with a minor chord, but finishes on a low Bb, the lowest note of the song.

For an excellent analysis of the interplay of words/harmony/melody in "Love for Sale," check out this article by Michael Buchler. (Incidentally, a footnote in this article quotes another Porter scholar, Matthew Shaftel: "Porter was personally involved in nearly all levels of his sheet music publication including the correction of proofs...so that the printed versions differed only superficially from his own manuscripts.")

Although Porter's placement of tonic major and tonic minor chords was exact and intentional, recording artists have treated the first 8 measures of each 16-bar A section in a number of very different ways. Several different interpretations are listed below (I am looking here just at the basic tonalities of the Bb and Eb chords, and am not discussing any added 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, or 13ths):

Sidney Bechet (1947), George Shearing/Wes Montgomery (1961) - These recordings "bluesify" the tune by playing every tonic chord as Bb or Bb7, every IV chord as Eb or Eb7. Bechet's was the first recorded version to use this interpretation:

Oscar Peterson (1951) - Follows Porter's scheme for two choruses, but in the third chorus all the IV - I cadences except one go to Bb major.

Billie Holiday/Oscar Peterson (1952), Oscar Peterson (1953): Follows Porter except for the last A, which goes to Bbm both times:

Art Tatum (1953, 1955, 1956) - In all 3 recordings, Tatum uses Bbm in the first A section of the first chorus, but generally not after that, going with the Bechet scheme of all Bb major. In the 1956 recording he plays a fourth chorus that uses Bbm in the first A section, and in the last cadence of the last A.

Charlie Parker (1954), Ahmad Jamal (1955), Shirley Horn (1962), Dexter Gordon (1962) - These recordings resolve to Bbm every time. In Parker's recording, he resolves to a concert D note just once in his solo, for the fun of it, while the piano sticks with Bbm. Guitarist Billy Bauer does the same in his solo, with a "Jingle Bells" quote (the tune was recorded in December). In Dexter's recording, pianist Sonny Clark uses Bb or Bb7 through much of his solo. Here's the scheme:

Ella Fitzgerald (1956) - A Youtube clip is above. The arrangement follows Porter's version.

Miles Davis (1958) - A Youtube clip is below. This arrangement alternates minor-then-major tonic chords in every A section. In his solo, Miles insistently hits the major third of each Bb major chord.

Cannonball Adderley/Miles Davis (1958) - Seems to basically use all tonic minor chords on the head, going to all tonic majors for the solo. Soloist and rhythm section occasionally diverge from this pattern.

About commercial fake book charts: Different fake books show different harmonic interpretaions. You can play "Love for Sale" any way that you like, but don't expect different published charts to be compatible. Personally, I like the "Standards Real Book" chart. It sticks close to Porter's original harmony, adding sevenths to reflect modern preferences. Here is how Sher shows the first A section; compare it to the first 16 bars in the Porter chart at the beginning of this post:

The bridge from the Sher chart is shown below. Compare mm 45-48 to the sheet music chart above. The chords in the original chart may seem a bit irrational from the viewpoint of today's jazz players. The Sher chart shows a more modern, functional solution. Sher's version of these measures harmonizes the melody nicely, retains most of Porter's harmonic intent, and makes sense to improvisers.

To its credit, the Standards Real Book shows the introductory "verse" section for "Love for Sale." Unfortunately, it fails to show Porter's 8-bar tag at the end of the song. Most other modern charts skip both the verse and the tag, as do many recordings. The tag can be found in Dick Hyman's Professional Chord Changes and Substitutions for 100 Tunes Every Musician Should Know. Unfortunately, Hyman leaves out the verse!

For the historical background of "Love for Sale," check out this page on JazzStandards.com.

It's hard to say which version I like best. Here's the Miles version, recorded at the "Kind of Blue" session in 1958. Wonderful playing by everyone, particularly Bill Evans:

"It Don't Mean a Thing" - The chord changes

I've often wondered about the correct changes to Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing." One of the players in my Saturday adult combo class called the tune a couple of weeks ago (thanks, Mike!), which reminded me that various fake books conflict on the chords, and I really didn't know which were right, if any. So I finally got around to checking into it.

I have a book with reproductions of the original sheet musicfor many of Duke's tunes. Often the original sheet music will reflect the composer's intentions, so this seemed like a good place to start. Below is a clip from the sheet music for measures 1-10 of the main theme (click to enlarge):

As is often the case, the guitar symbols do not accurately represent the harmony in the piano arrangement. For example, the Gm7 symbol in measure 2 is there only for the piano's bass note F; bar 5 could have been C7/G; bar 6 might have been better expressed as Gb7b5.

However, the way Duke actually played "It Don't Mean a Thing" follows neither the sheet music chord symbols nor the piano notes. In a number of Youtube clips, he plays mm 1-8 more like this:

| Gm | Gm | Gm | Gm G7 | C7 | F7 | Bb | Bb D7#5 |

Note (among other differences) that the sheet music resolves to Bb in bar 8, while the sequence above resolves in bar 7.

Here is a terrific live version of Ella Fitzgerald with the Ellington band:

Some fake book charts show the first 4 bars as:

| Gm | Gm#7 | Gm7 | Gm6 |  (Sher New Real Book Vol. 2)

or

| Gm  Gm/F# | Gm/F  Gm/E | Eb7 D7 | Gm |  (Hal Leonard "6th Ed." Real Book, old Real Book, Hal Leonard "Real Jazz Book")

Although these alternatives both sound good, I don't hear Duke doing either one. I don't think there's a specific required bass line or moving "My-Funny-Valentine" upper line for the string of Gm chords in bars 1-4.

The most nearly-correct printed chart I found is in the Sher New Real Book, Vol. 2. A clip of mm 1-8 is below. Aside from the moving upper voice in bars 1-4, the rest of the chart seems OK, simple and uncluttered. You might add a G7 in the last 2 beats of m4.

The Sher chart also shows two sets of alternate changes (interesting, but not "vanilla"), for mm 1-8 and for mm 5-8:

mm 1-8:

| Gm  Gm/F# | Gm/F  Gm/E | Eb7  D7 | G7#5 |
| Em7b5  Ebm6 | Bb6/D | C7  F7 | Bb6  (D7#5) |

mm 5-8:

| C7  C#dim7 | Bb6/D  G7#5#9 | Cm7  Bmaj7 | Bb6  (D7#5) |

The bridge, by the way, is the often-used "Montgomery Ward" bridge, tweaked a little in the last 2 bars. Most charts agree on this:

| Fm7 | Bb7 | Ebmaj7 | Ebmaj7 |
| Gm7 | C7 | F7 | D7 |

Unfortunately, most charts leave off the lead-in introductory "verse," nicely performed here by Louis Armstrong:

Anyway, the bottom line is that if you are choosing a fake book chart for this song, I'd suggest the one in New Real Book Vol. 2 - pretty close to correct, and easy to work with.

"Autumn In New York" - Comparing Charts

Vernon Duke's "Autumn In New York," a beautiful ballad that is an essential part of jazz repertoire, was first introduced as the closing number in a 1934 Broadway show, "Thumbs Up." For a nice writeup on the tune and the composer, check this article on jazzstandards.com.

Charts for "Autumn In New York" can differ considerably regarding the chord changes. A couple of weeks ago I finally decided to look into what was what, and ordered a copy of the original 1934 sheet music. The sheet music really helped clarify what Vernon Duke had in mind.

Sheet music for tunes in this era consisted of the melody, printed above a complete piano arrangement. Chord symbols were generally an afterthought, added above the piano staves in case someone wanted to play along on guitar (or ukelele or banjo). The chord symbols would produce a rough approximation of the more carefully-composed piano part.

Modern charts consist of just melody and chord symbols. A lot of subtleties in the piano part may be lost, while the chord pattern may be adjusted to be more improvisation-friendly. I looked at nine relatively modern charts, comparing them to the sheet music and to each other. In this post I'll make some observations about these nine charts. I'm only looking at these printed versions - analyzing the ways that various performing artists and arrangers have harmonized the tune would be another question entirely.

The original arrangement includes a lead-in "verse" that shows up in only one of these modern charts; it's left out in most classic recordings of the tune. That's a shame, as it's quite well-written. In Vernon Duke's piano arrangement, the verse begins like this (click to enlarge):

Note the parallel motion of five maj7 chords in the first and second measures, with the first three moving by whole step - an impressionistic, Debussy-like device (Duke had studied with Gliere, and besides writing popular music, also had a career as a modern classical composer). This opening reminds me very much of the introduction to Tadd Dameron's "On a Misty Night" (1956), which uses the same parallel-harmony device. I don't think this is a coincidence.

In the excerpt above, note also the bass line in bar 5, reflecting the first notes of the familiar melody of the "chorus" (main body of the tune).

Perhaps the verse is often omitted because it's tough to sing. Here's a recording by Mel Torme that includes the verse:

The song was written with two sets of lyrics, involving a repeat of the "chorus" section. This makes for a song that was perhaps too long to be performed in its entirety on pre-LP records; I couldn't find any early recordings with both the verse and all the lyrics.

About the charts: We are considering only the familiar chorus section of the tune. In consideration of copyright, I am not showing the melody - you can find that in any fake book, and it will be almost exactly the same as the sheet music.

The charts I looked at are from these sources:

• The original sheet music, both chord symbols and actual piano notes
• Dick Hyman's Professional Chord Changes and Substitutions for 100 Tunes Every Musician Should Know
• Hal Leonard Real Jazz Standards Fake Book (the only source with the introductory verse)
• Hal Leonard, The Real Book: Sixth Edition
• Original ("classic") bootleg Real Book
• Hal Leonard, The Ultimate Fake Book
• Jamey Aebersold playalong vol. 40
• Jamey Aebersold playalong vol. 93
• iReal Pro

There are at least ten spots in the tune where you will find disagreements between these charts:

measures 2 (and 18), 3-4 (and 19-20), 7-8, 12, 14, 16, 20, 23-24, 26, 28.

Below are the chords as shown in four of the charts - the original sheet music (chord symbols only), Old Real Book, Hal Leonard Real Book "6th Edition," and Dick Hyman (only half of the Hyman version is shown, because IMO its copyright value is largely as a harmonic arrangement). My comments follow.

Here are the problem spots (measure numbers are for the chorus only):

Measures 2 and 18: Some charts (including the chord symbols in the original sheet music, as well as HL 6th ed., above) show Gm7, but the piano notes actually show Bb6. The Bb bass note makes for a nice ascending bass line that is important to the song. Here is a clip from the sheet music:

mm 3-4 and 19-20: As you can see in the clip above, the original harmony is static - just Fmaj7 (or F6, or F6/9 if you like). The Dm7 symbol is incorrect. The piano part fills this space with a moving line and an embellishment. In modern charts, this space is sometimes filled in with an ascending chord sequence, mirroring the ascending movement in mm 1-2 (see Old RB and HL 6th ed., above). I like Hyman's solution, with a voice-leading line (not the same as in the sheet music) specified, and Am7 D7b9 in bar 4. However, specifying voice-leading lines like this might be more detail than is necessary for a jazz chart.

mm 7-8: Originally, two II V sequences, as in the first chart above, with a voice-leading line and melodic decoration. In pretty much all modern charts, this is changed to one "long" II V, one bar per chord.

m12: In the original symbols, Cm is not really correct, I think. To me, the first two beats of m12 comes across as a continuation of the Ab chord that precedes it. The Ddim symbol is not quite right; it's actually Dm7b5 in the piano part. Old RB and Hyman get this right, but many other charts replace the Dm7b5 with G7b9. To me this sounds weak; it's an apparent effort to make everything conform to clichéd dominant-tonic harmony. Dm7b5 sounds better; it's what Vernon Duke wrote. Dm7b5 is II of the Cm that follows. What's wrong with that?

In mm 11-12, the "6th ed." chart takes some real liberties with the harmony, crowding this space with a sequence that doesn't work for me, and that I've seen in no other chart.

m14: For the first two beats, Duke wrote a problematic D7 to harmonize a G in the melody (see clip above). The F# in the chord clashes. Maybe he wanted a little moment of dissonance to illustrate his mixed feelings in the lyrics, "making me feel I'm home." Or maybe it was just an oversight. Many charts eliminate this clash by changing the D7 to Dm7; I agree. Hyman suggests some voice leading in showing G13 to G7+ in the last 2 beats of this measure (the original is a bit different, showing G7+ to G7 in the piano part).

m16: The last chord in the first half of the tune sets up the second half (see clip above). Duke uses C7+ on beat 4, which moves into Gm7 (actually Gm9, melody on the 9) by way of chromatic motion of the top two voices. Hyman changes beat 4 to F#m7, providing a completely chromatic approach. I like it, though it's a departure from the original score. Hyman's charts generally do tend to be more like "arrangements," and not so much "vanilla" charts. Some other charts (HL 6th ed., HL Real Jazz Standards, Aebersold vol. 40 and 93) set up the return with a conventional Am7 D7 (or D7b9, D7b5, or D7#9). To me this sounds a lot less interesting.

m20: In the original score, mm 19-20 are exactly like mm 3-4. However, some modern charts (Old RB,  HL 6th ed., iReal) fill the space as in the two middle charts above - an OK solution, but not what Duke wrote. Aebersold vol. 93 uses Dm7 on beat 3, Dbm7 on beat 4, which sounds odd to me.

mm 23-24: This is an important spot. The original piano part, and many classic recordings, have this as  | Bbm    | Bbm#5  Bbm6 | (the chord symbols in the sheet music are misleading). This line harmonizes the word "pain" in the lyrics, "Autumn in New York is often mingled with pain." Hyman keeps this progression. Aebersold vol. 93 has a sightly different line in the same spirit: | Bbm7  Bbm7#5 | Bbm6 C7#5 |. Old RB, HL 6th ed., and iReal have | Bbm6 Abm7 | Gb7   |, which doesn't work for me.

m26: The original score has this measure as | Fm Ab7+ |. HL Real Jazz Standards and iReal turn the last 2 beats into a II V, Ebm7 Ab7. This seems like another effort to turn every change into stock jazz chord movements. I don't think the chart needs this; after all, a soloist can always play a II V over a simple V, anyway. HL 6th ed. and both Aebersold charts insert a chromatic passing chord, Em7, resulting in this bar looking like | Fm Em7 Ebm7 Ab7 |. To me this is unnecessary clutter.

m28: The sheet music chord symbols show Fm7b5 on the last beat. However, it follows 3 beats of Dbmaj9, so in effect the Fm7b5 is really Db9. Note that the top notes of this chord, Ab C Eb, spell Abm, a chromatic upper neighbor to the Gm7 that follows. Great writing! If a chart expresses the last beat of m28 as either Db7 or Fm7b5, it's fine. HL 6th ed. and HL Ultimate Fake Book show Abm7 and Abm6 here respectively - not quite as effective, but following the same basic idea. However, iReal and Old RB show Ab7 (subV of Gm7), another example of changing a more interesting sound into "correct" predictability. Aebersold Vol. 93 shows D7+4, essentially the same thing as Ab7. The four-chord sequence shown by HL 6th ed. in mm 27-28 seems stilted to me.

After all that, what is the best chart? That depends on what you are looking for. For a chart that is more of an arrangement, I think Dick Hyman's is excellent. If you are looking for a basic, serviceable "vanilla" arrangement that is mostly correct, then perhaps the chart from the Hal Leonard Real Jazz Standards Fake Book, which also has the virtue of including the verse. Use the alternate changes. And actually, the Old RB chart isn't too bad. I wonder who at Berklee c.1974 was responsible for it?

Here's a chart with combined features, intended as a sort of common-practice-yet-correct version:

Finally, though, how you handle any song is your call, as long as it sounds good. This arrangement, for example:

The "Back Door" Chord Progression

The use of IVm and/or bVII dominant chords in an otherwise-major progression is a common harmonic device in "Great American Songbook" tunes and jazz standards. When I was first learning theory, this device was described as "borrowing chords from the parallel minor" or "modal interchange" (i.e., switching briefly from major to minor). Some friends who had gone to Berklee in the early 1970s also used the term "subdominant minor" to describe these chords.

In maybe the last 15 years or so, I've been hearing the term "back door progression" to describe this device, and "back door II V" to describe the combination IVm bVIIdom (leading to the I chord). I've been trying to get some clarity on this term. The first instance of the term in print that I could find is in Jerry Coker's book, Elements of the Jazz Language (1991). Coker briefly describes IVm bVIIdom as a substitute for V7, calling it the "back door progression." A later Coker book, Hearin' the Changes (1997) - a terrific book, by the way - gives a more complete description of the device.

As described in "Hearin' the Changes," the "back door progression" is "a cell made up of IV-7 and bVII7 chords, leading to I." He never actually uses the term "backdoor II V," preferring to call it a "progression."

The book goes into more detail (below, with my comments):

• Historically, this progression began as a simple bVIIdom, substituting for V. "At least as early as the bebop era, the IV-7 was added...providing a quasi II function..." 

Comment: I'm not so sure about this. Certainly bVIIdom was used occasionally in standards as a substitute for V (e.g., "Speak Low," "Georgia"), but IVm or IVm6 was used earlier and more often, not necessarily as a V substitute but rather as a way of importing minor-key color, with jazz players later sometimes adding the bVIIdom to form a quasi II V shape. At least, that's how I see it.

• "The back door progression operates in one of three ways: (1) as a substitute for the II V progression (or just the V); (2) as a means of returning to the original key center after a brief modulation to IV major; and (3) as a free-standing cell, usually sandwiched between two I chords."

Comment: I agree. This is a nice breakdown of the harmonic situations where IVm and/or bVIIdom appear. My only reservation about this explanation is that it disregards the "minorizing" function of these chords, which I think is the basic reason that they are there.

In many, many tunes (e.g., Thad Jones' "A Child is Born," any number of tunes by Cole Porter, etc.), the IVm is obviously there to add minor color. bVIIdom can be used as a substitute for IVm; or the two chords can be used together as IVm bVIIdom. Sometimes IIm7b5 V7b9 can be used in these same spots. All of these variations include the "minorizing" b6 note of the key.

For a good example of early use, check out the original sheet music of "After You've Gone" (1918), bar 2 of the chorus (after the "verse" introduction). It's a IVm chord (not bVIIdom) in the key of C, following a IV. It fits Coker's category (2) above. The lyrics in this bar are "...and left me crying." The composer was clearly supporting the lyrics with evocative minor color. At the same time, the sequence incorporates some voice-leading from the A in the F chord, to Ab in the Fm chord, to the G in the C chord.

It's this sort of use that I think originally was (and still is) the main function of "parallel minor" chords, although it's true that bVIIdom has occasionally been used as a substitute for V.

But beyond the "descriptive" side; there's also the "prescriptive" consideration. That is, how can improvisers work with these harmonic areas?

Coker, who knows his stuff, suggests using IVm and/or bVIIdom as a substitute for V alt (I assume he is talking about both soloing and arranging). I'd add that the reverse can work too - playing V alt over the IVm bVIIdom - as seems to be the case in Clifford Brown's solo in "Joy Spring" (see this post).

As mentioned in that post, another possibility is to simply treat IVm bVIIdom as a II V. That is, if Fm7 Bb7 occurs in a tune in the key of C major, you could play as though it is a II V in Eb major. (Note, though, that I was looking at solos in two jazz tunes, "Lady Bird" and "Joy Spring," where the composer's melody itself was written as a II V lick in those spots.)

I still think that the way I was taught is the approach that is most to-the-point: Treat IVm and/or bVIIdom as borrowing notes from the parallel minor, and use the color brought by the b6 note of the key.

The b6 (Ab, in the key of C) is the important note. The chord progression is not necessarily a complete flip into the parallel minor. E natural, although it is not a note in the key of C minor, can work just fine over Fm6 or Bb7, depending how it is used.

Although it's a convenient shorthand, I'm not sure that "back door progression" is the best term for describing this device. "Chords borrowed from the parallel minor" describes its function a little better, as I see it. I should also mention that the term "back door" has also been used to describe a sequence like F#m7b5 B7 Cmaj7, a rather different concept.

Quibbles aside, I'm a fan of Jerry Coker's educational publications. The book mentioned here, Hearin' the Changes, is a well-written survey of the formulas that comprise most of the harmony in jazz standards. The book is aimed at giving players a means of more easily hearing and memorizing changes. It should be interesting to any fairly experienced jazz player, who enjoys digging into this kind of harmonic thinking.

"Lady Bird" and "Joy Spring" - Parallel Minor or II V?

According to some sources, Tadd Dameron's "Lady Bird" was written in 1939. This sparked a few thoughts. The melody in measures 3-4 is a version of the well-known "Honeysuckle Rose" lick, deriving from Fats Waller's 1929 tune of the same name, and a favorite II V phrase of the 1940s bebop players (often played with rhythmic or melodic variations). If the 1939 date is correct, it's the earliest use of the lick that I know of, after Waller's original song - though I'd imagine players quoted it plenty in the 1930s, since the tune was a pop hit.

Here are the changes to "Lady Bird":

I had always thought of the Fm7 Bb7 in bars 3-4 as IVm and bVII dominant, two chords borrowed from the parallel minor key (C minor), rather than as II V in Eb major. But here Dameron uses a II V lick as melody, indicating that he was thinking of the harmony in bars 3-4 as a II V in Eb. This shift of tonality from C to Eb, a minor third up, would not be unusual for Dameron. Note also that he follows this in bars 7-10 with a shift from C into Ab, a major third down. All of this makes me think that II V in Eb is probably what Dameron had in mind for bars 3-4, not "parallel minor."

Yes, it's true that Eb major and C minor share a key signature, and use the same set of notes - but they are not the same thing; they sound different. Using one key or the other, or thinking of the sequence as a II V, will lead one to come up with different types of solo ideas. Taking a cue from the melody, is II V maybe a better way to go in this case?

The IVm bVIIdom progression is sometimes called a "back door II V." I've never felt quite right about using this term. For one thing, IVm and bVIIdom are not always used together, but quite often are used singly, and can substitute for each other. In many or most Broadway-style standards, IVm and/or bVIIdom do not suggest a key change, but are there to provide minor color to a prevailing major key. In that kind of setting, they are best explained as "chords borrowed from the parallel minor." Classical music has long used this device.

The IVm bVIIdom progression is also sometimes classified under the heading "subdominant minor" - a group of chords that use the b6 note, the strongest note for bringing minor color to a piece that is otherwise in major. Subdominant minor chords used in C major would include Fm6, Fm7, Bb7, Abmaj7, Ab7, Dm7b5. They can often substitute for each other.

"Modal interchange" is another term used for this sort of device: i.e., switching from major mode to minor mode. Using this term, we can add G7b9, G7#9, G7"alt" and G7 #5 to the above list (I can't quite bring myself to label a dominant, V-type chord as "subdominant minor"), since they import notes from the parallel minor.

In "Joy Spring," written by a jazz player (Clifford Brown) rather than a Broadway composer, the melody and chords in measures 4, 12, and 28 seem to reflect a treatment more like Dameron's - that is, the melody employs a II V lick over the IVm bVIIdom. I don't hear any key change here, but the melody in these spots is definitely a II V shape.

All this musing led me to check out some classic solos on "Lady Bird" and "Joy Spring," to see if I could find any indications as to which way the soloists might have been thinking. I checked Clifford Brown's and Harold Land's solos on "Joy Spring," Miles Davis' solo on "Half Nelson" (1947, same chords as "Lady Bird"), Fats Navarro's solo on "Lady Bird" (first recording, 1948, with Dameron), and Dexter Gordon on "Lady Bird" (1964, 9 choruses).

Below is my take on what these great players were doing over the IVm bVIIdom sections in "Lady Bird" and "Joy Spring." The players' names are linked to the transcriptions that I consulted - thanks to the musicians who did the transcribing, including Jeff Rzepiela for the Harold Land solo!

Clifford Brown on "Joy Spring" (transcription is in concert key, F; trumpet solo starts at 1:45 of the video) (the measure numbers below are not as shown on the linked chart; my numbers do not include pickup measures):

m.4 - Notes are plausible as a "back door II V" (Bbm7 Eb7), but Brown may be treating this measure as he would a C7 (V in F), playing a b9/#9 lick over it.
m.12 - Brings out the D, the parallel minor-signifying b6 note in this section, but the line is plausible as a II V.
m.28 - Plausible as a II V, but again reflects a possible b9/#9 over an imagined C7.
m.36 - The D natural doesn't really fit the Bbm7. Could be a missed note, but would fit an imagined Gm7 C7 with b9/#9 over the C7.
m.44 - F# minor scale (parallel minor in this section).
m.60 - Brings out the Db (parallel minor note in this section); plausible as a II V.

Harold Land on "Joy Spring" (transposed for Bb inst., shown in G; tenor solo starts on 0:55 of the video linked to above for the Clifford solo) (again, measure numbers not as shown on chart; mine do not include pickups):

m.4 - Seems to be an obvious II V lick
m.12 - Bebop scale II V lick
m.28 - II V lick

Miles Davis on "Half Nelson" (same chords as "Lady Bird") (transposed for Bb inst., shown in D; recording is here; trumpet solo starts at 1:21):

mm.4-5 - Melodic shape somewhat follows the outline of the "Honeysuckle Rose" II V lick.
mm.19-20 - Scalewise with F# pickup; plausible as a II V (Gm7 C7) lick, with #9/b9 over the C7.

Fats Navarro on "Lady Bird" (transposed for Bb inst., shown in D; recording is here; trumpet solo starts at 0:32):

mm.4-5 - Chord-oriented with "enclosure" shapes; he is probably thinking II V.
mm.19-20 - Runs Gm7 to the 9, possibly a II V idea.

Dexter Gordon on "Lady Bird" (transcription in link, described below, is in concert key, C; video is here, with visuals showing transcription in D, transposed for Bb inst.):

mm.3-4 (chorus 1) - Seems to be thinking Fm7 for both measures
mm.19-20 (chorus 2) - Same
mm.35-36 (chorus 3) - Eb note moving to D suggests II V
mm.51-52 (chorus 4) - Perhaps II V
mm.67-68 (chorus 5) - Quotes head (Honeysuckle Rose II V lick)
mm.83-84 (chorus 6) - Eb major material (suggests II V)
mm.99-100 (chorus 7) - F "blues scale" lick, both measures
mm.115-116 (chorus 8) - F blues lick and Fm material
mm.131-132 (chorus 9) - Eb note suggests parallel minor, but Dexter might be just thinking Fm7 for 2 bars again.

Summing up - In these recordings, the II V interpretation is the approach most utilized over the IVm bVIIdom. In the case of these two tunes, "back door II V" might be an apt term. However, II V doesn't seem to have been the only way these players' thoughts went. Sometimes we hear a parallel minor shape, as in m.44 of Clifford Brown's solo, or a b9 #9 that would normally go over a C7 (V) even though the chords are  Bbm7 Eb7 (IVm bVIIdom), as in mm.4, 28, and 36 of Clifford's solo. Or a player might just run the IVm chord, as Dexter seems to be doing. It all works. As always, if it sounds right, it is right.