What are your favourite subs for ATTYA

[Liarspoker]

As the title says what are your favourite subs and/or voicings for ATTYA?

[paulkogut]

There's the classic bebop half step ii-V's

F-7/Bb-7/E-7 A7/Ebm7 Ab7/Db/D-7 G7/C/C

then B-7 E7/Bbm7 Eb7 on the next 8

I recall a Jerry Bergonzi reharmonization that starts on F#-9, f I ever find the chart I'll post it

PK

[jonh]

This may not be what you’re looking for, but the original sheet music doesn’t have a Bdim7 in bar 32. It’s a sparse voicing on piano, arguably Em7b5. That’s what I play, or Em7b5 to Bbdim7.

[Christian Miller]

Whatever Tigran is doing here. I like that

I started transcribing but forgot. Will get back to it.

[Liarspoker]

There's the classic bebop half step ii-V's

F-7/Bb-7/E-7 A7/Ebm7 Ab7/Db/D-7 G7/C/C

then B-7 E7/Bbm7 Eb7 on the next 8

I recall a Jerry Bergonzi reharmonization that starts on F#-9, f I ever find the chart I'll post it

PK

Cool, I was messing with Bm7 instead of Dm7 and had the F# in the bass so it's fun to see this.

[ragman1]

I don't care. The odd tritone in the right place maybe but extreme reharms usually just mess it up. I've yet to find a reharm that grabs the ear and has people going wow. You could say that for most tunes actually.

[grahambop]

There's the classic bebop half step ii-V's

F-7/Bb-7/E-7 A7/Ebm7 Ab7/Db/D-7 G7/C/C

then B-7 E7/Bbm7 Eb7 on the next 8

I recall a Jerry Bergonzi reharmonization that starts on F#-9, f I ever find the chart I'll post it

PK

It might be ‘All The Thangs’ in the Music of Jerry Bergonzi book here (it’s not in the standards reharm book).

Jerry made these tunes freely available, so it’s all legit.

The Music of Jerry Bergonzi - JEFF ELLWOOD

[ragman1]

I just did this (without reference to anything else). Be honest, it'll make me millions as film music :-)

Fm7b5 - E7b5 - Cm6 - Bm6#5
Dm7b5 - Db7b5 - AM7 - Eb7b9
Cm7 - Fm7b5 - E7b5 - EbM7#5
DbM7 - Ab7b5 - CM7 - %

Graham, you are returned!

[paulkogut]

That's it!

Thanks,

PK

[PMB]

I don't care. The odd tritone in the right place maybe but extreme reharms usually just mess it up. I've yet to find a reharm that grabs the ear and has people going wow. You could say that for most tunes actually.

I'd make an exception for Vic Juris who recorded his complete reharm of ATTYA (inspired by listening to Radiohead) on a few occasions:

http://www.poparad.com/pdf/attya-c.pdf

[PMB]

There's the classic bebop half step ii-V's

F-7/Bb-7/E-7 A7/Ebm7 Ab7/Db/D-7 G7/C/C

then B-7 E7/Bbm7 Eb7 on the next 8

Coleman Hawkins probably came up with those subs. The tune was written in 1939 and Bean is already playing them in his 1944 rendition.

I'll sometimes move to Cma7#5 for the resolution of that initial phrase. It forms a nice connection between the two initial keys of Ab and C major.

[ragman1]

I'd make an exception for Vic Juris who recorded his complete reharm of ATTYA (inspired by listening to Radiohead) on a few occasions

Agreed, it's not bad :-)

[PMB]

Agreed, it's not bad :-)

ATTYA seems a prime candidate for a reharmonisation as the melody moves slowly, often at one note per chord change. The challenge is that the both the melody and harmonic cycle are very well known so a badly placed sub can sound particularly gratuitous and easily 'mess things up', as you say. The trick is to create some kind of logical bass movement and inner voice-leading as Juris does in his version.

[ragman1]

But you'll notice that, in order to produce a different sound, both Juris and myself instinctively felt the need to make it 'moody'. Given that premise it's fairly easy to produce a reharm. For one thing the melody is very sparse which simplifies things a lot. It would be a lot harder to do a reharm at a medium swing tempo, which is how most jazz versions are played.