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New Year's Day - I've started looking at Wayne Shorter's Footprints, which has long been a favourite of mine, from the album Miles Smiles - what a great band that was!
So, I'm looking at the Real Book chart, and it looks like some kind of minor blues:
Cm11 for 4 bars
Fm11 for 2
Cm11 for 2
Then we have options for bars 9 and 10:
F#m11(b5) two beats each
F13(#11)
E7(alt)
A7(alt)
OR
F7(#11)
E7#9
D7(alt)
G7#5
Then two bars of Cm.
Bars 9 and 10 are confusing enough, but more so when I read John Goldsby's magnificent "The Jazz Bass Book" (highly recommended for history buffs) which has a transcription of Ron Carter's bass lines for these bars, with the chords notated simply as F#7 F7 / E7 Eb7.
All of the above options are interesting, and sound good. So, I guess one could use any one of them at different times, as long as the band know in advance.
Your thoughts?
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Also, what would be your improv choices for the other bars? I'm thinking:
1. a C minor blues with chromatic extensions/decorations all over the place - almost chromatic, but with a blues bias.
2. Fourths galore! Could be from BbMajor scale (Cm) and EbMajor scale (Fm), or from the C pentatonic minor, and maybe also G pent minor.
3. The melody notes form a scale: C D F G A Bb, a hexatonic scale - does it have a designated name? Clearly that would be useful too.
Bars 9 and 10 would take arpeggios, of course, but maybe also outright chromaticsism is an option.
Your thoughts?
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01-01-2016 09:00 AM
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Peter Spitzer Music Blog: Those "Footprints" Changes
has a discussion about what the "right" changes are.
If I recall correctly, Martino does /D7/%/ Db7/%/
I usually do
/ F#m7b5 B7alt / E7 A7 /
I like the fact that it isn't a cadence to Cm, and negotiating those changes to resolve to Cm is what makes the tune unique.
As to what to use for improv, I find quartal things work well, as you noticed, then you can go pretty far out from fourths/fifths/ to symmetric patterns or even totally out stuff on the "blues" part and then be more explicit with the harmony on bars 9-10 to resolve the tension.
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Thanks for the link. Much to mull over.
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Martino recorded it in D minor, and the recording featured G7(13)(b9) F#7(#9) | E7(#9)(b13) A7(#9)(b13) in the bars in question, which essentially is Peter Spitzer's 2nd offering under "Sher New Real Book, vol. 1"
Originally Posted by pkirk
Also, the D7 | Db7 | option was shown in one of the Real Book versions and actually works very well with the melody (plus it's functional!).
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I mainly treat it as a minor blues with a somewhat eccentric turnaround.
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It's a tension and release exercise really. You can play almost anything on that turnaround, based on how well you get back in.
I like to target one or two of those chords, or think of them as unresolving ii-V's and target what their "i" would be...or just play free and create tension then nail something strong on that C minor...
Let me see if I can make a video this afternoon...this is a fun song to mess with and a good one to discuss...even one where we can get into the dreaded CST...
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I like it, Joe. Sums it up nicely.
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Great, Jeff. I'm looking forward to what you come up with.
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Pretty much. As long as the line has some kind of internal logic and gets back to Cm eventually, it'll probably work. Which is awesome, because it gives you a lot of room to mess around, but does have an ultimate "finish line" which makes it satisfying. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Here we go. Pay in mind I had a few brewskis while watching the Bruins get their asses handed to them (but Raask is as tough as they come, eh?) So I indulge in some too fast playing and some Jerry Garcia isms...but it's all good.
So here's a take at playing essentially randomly over the turn...
Oh, headphones recommended!Last edited by mr. beaumont; 01-01-2016 at 08:11 PM.
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Great thread - I have been working a bit on Footprints - Cm7/Fm7/ Cm7-> turnaround ->F#m7b5/F7#11/E7#9/A7#9 - Cm7. There seems to a number of turnaround variations that support similar soloing ideas.
I may be wrong but I think this a forum member doing a well annotated version on the tube which explores a number of soloing ideas -
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Id also add something I found interesting. Years ago I acquired a photocopy of Wayne Shorters handwritten copy of this. The 5th bar he writes as AbMaj7+11 rather than Fm9.
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Oooh...I like it...similar chords...like an Fm6/9...but the root move is nice.
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The Ab makes more sense in relation to the bass line.
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I say, transcribe the hell outta this thing. Transcribe the piano, transcribe Shorter's lines. He uses a lot of interesting ideas in that solo, but I've never transcribed it. Who wants to try this with me? I think the version on Adam's Apple is more doable.
Any takers to co-transcribe it with me? This is a very elusive tune for me as well, but fun as hell to solo over.
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I got the chart from Todd Coolman who did his thesis on the 2nd Quintet. I think he transcribed of if that groups studio albums. I mean everybody - Miles, Wayne, Herbie, Ron, Tony!
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Sounds appetizing... Originally Posted by henryrobinett
But I get more from transcribing the stuff myself, you know what I mean? It sits longer in my ear and becomes part of me like those solos I transcribed way back. I can still hum some of the Chet, Grant Green, Wes, Raney, and Miles solos I transcribed way back when because I spent so much time transcribing em...
I'd be curious to see how Herbie navigates the harmony, though. He is a very interesting pianist, no?
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It seems part of the magic of Footprints is the variety of ways the turnaround can be articulated opening up some very engaging ways to release tension back to the Cmxxxx
Henry- thanks for the Abxxxx idea !
Will
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Absolutely. I wasn't saying not to do it. I just love that he did ALL of that. It's like Andrew White who did EVERY COLTRANE TRANSCRIPTION that was an officially released album. That's a lot if knowledge right there. Originally Posted by Irez87
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You're welcome! Originally Posted by WillMbCdn5
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Jeff, that was fun. The backing track was a little too loud, but we got the jist of what you were doing. Nice energy!
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Now, why doesn't everyone make videos like that? Originally Posted by WillMbCdn5
Very helpful.
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This is *not* Footprints. But it is very similar. The turnaround (transposed to C-):
|Absus |Gb^ Gb-|
Also check out this thread: Advice for FootPrints (Wayne Shorter)
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