Your favorite chord progressions to improvise over

[Jimmy blue note]

Thanks! I didn't know this one. I found some music for it and will check it out this afternoon

Here's Wolfgang's lead sheet he and Mick used for this performance.

Begins in E minor, ends in Eb minor.

[RunningBeagle]

I really like Falling Grace, Along Came Betty, 26-2, Stella, etc. I'm not sure what unites those. I think it's because they "see" a lot of key centers without ever getting too abstract. Everything fits together well and allows you to build a solo. In contrast, something like Skippy is too much. Makes building a believable musical contour very tough. Perhaps not impossible, but really hard for me.

[Christian Miller]

I practice 26-2 a lot but I can’t say I enjoy blowing on it haha (yet.)

[henryrobinett]

For me it always varies, of course. Lately it's been Green Dolphin Street (Eb), Invitation, Four, Herzog (Bobby Hutcherson). At various times it was Stella, Body and Soul, Tones For Joan's Bones, Humpty Dumpty, , Along Came Betty, There'll Never Be Another You, ATTYA. Or just the Blues, Rhythm Changes. These are tunes I play without thinking when I first pick up the guitar.

[supersoul]

I really like Falling Grace

I like Falling Grace as well, and spent a lot of time last summer on it. It's interesting because the form is 6, 8, 10 bars. It took me a while to feel the changes internally.

A couple others by him that I like are Away and Radio

[Jimmy blue note]

Steve Swallow is a treasure trove of compositions.
He's also extremely generous in his access to them.
He has made all his compositions available for use in high quality format. For free.
Check out any or all of these. He and his wife Carla Bley do the same thing.
Steve Swallow Lead Sheets

[supersoul]

Steve Swallow is a treasure trove of compositions.
He's also extremely generous in his access to them.
He has made all his compositions available for use in high quality format. For free.
Check out any or all of these. He and his wife Carla Bley do the same thing.
Steve Swallow Lead Sheets

Indeed, it's a treasure trove from both of them! The last couple of years I've been working on these, I don't want to say exclusively, but a lot.

Ad Infinitum, Baby Baby, Dreams So Real, Egyptian, Healing Power, Ictus, Ida Lupino, Jesus Maria, Lawns, Mother of the Dead Man, Night-Glo, Pretend You're In Love, Rut, Sing Me Softly the Blues, Utviklingssang.

[spencer096]

Stella

[princeplanet]

Some good 'uns since I last checked in, keep 'em coming!

[grahambop]

Jerry Bergonzi has also made all his compositions available for free:

The Music of Jerry Bergonzi - JEFF ELLWOOD

[grahambop]

A couple I often play around with are Solar and Invitation (in addition to some already mentioned e.g. Stella, ATTYA, Body’n’Sole, Miss Jones).

[Laurence Finston]

Thanks! I didn't know this one. I found some music for it and will check it out this afternoon

It's from the Three-Penny-Opera. Kurt Weill's German music is published by Universal-Edition (UE). It's in the vocal score but UE also has a songbook for the Three-Penny-Opera, which is probably still in print, with chord symbols. It's simplified with respect to the versions in the vocal score. I'm not sure about this song, but for most of the music in the TPO, it is very difficult to figure out the harmonies.

[Brooks]

Hack jazzer over here too! I enjoy improvising over Road Song & The Thumb, both by Wes. Villanova Junction by Jimi Hendrix is a cool 12 bar blues w/ a Wes styled octave melody & chromatic turnaround. I start most gigs w/ Blue Bossa. Sco's version of Hit The Road Jack is fun to play over.

[Laurence Finston]

It's from the Three-Penny-Opera. Kurt Weill's German music is published by Universal-Edition (UE). It's in the vocal score but UE also has a songbook for the Three-Penny-Opera, which is probably still in print with chord symbols.

The songbook is still in print. This is it: Weill, Kurt : Alle 17 Songs aus Die Dreigroschenoper fur - bei Musik Kontor kaufen

It's UE No. 13832. In real life, the cover isn't blurry like that.

The vocal score is UE No. 8851. I won't check whether it's still in print; it's probably one of their biggest sellers. The accompaniment is simpler than some of the music in the TPO, but it still looks a bit tricky. The rhythm of the melody in the lead sheet posted above does not correspond exactly with the original.

[supersoul]

Here's Wolfgang's lead sheet he and Mick used for this performance.

Begins in E minor, ends in Eb minor.

I found this sheet music for Liebeslied. The body of the song we're talking about starts at the bottom of the first page. First bar has Eb in the bass, 2nd bar has E natural.

The original full score (also below) has the piano playing Eb7, Ebmaj7 on beats two and three of the first measure

Just seems like an interesting turn around to me: Last two bars of Ebmin, moves to Eb7 -> Ebmaj7 -> Emin