M.36 - The D natural doesn't really fit the Bbm7.
M.28 - Plausible as a II V, but again reflects a possible b9/#9 over an imagined C7. 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.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. 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).īelow 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!Ĭlifford 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): I don't hear any key change here, but the melody in these spots is definitely a II V shape.Īll 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.
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. 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. "Modal interchange" is another term used for this sort of device: i.e., switching from major mode to minor mode. They can often substitute for each other. Subdominant minor chords used in C major would include Fm6, Fm7, Bb7, Abmaj7, Ab7, Dm7b5. 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.
In that kind of setting, they are best explained as "chords borrowed from the parallel minor." Classical music has long used this device. 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. For one thing, IVm and bVIIdom are not always used together, but quite often are used singly, and can substitute for each other. The IVm bVIIdom progression is sometimes called a "back door II V." I've never felt quite right about using this term. Taking a cue from the melody, is II V maybe a better way to go in this case? 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. 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. 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." Note also that he follows this in bars 7-10 with a shift from C into Ab, a major third down. This shift of tonality from C to Eb, a minor third up, would not be unusual for Dameron.
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. 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.
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