Patti Cake (Herb Ellis)

[gvurrdon]

This was on one of the first jazz albums I ever bought (on cassette) and I've been listening to it again recently via more modern means:

Whilst having a go at transcribing the head and parts of the guitar solo I realised that I can't quite work out what's going on with the changes, particularly in the middle four bars. If anyone has a better ear then hints would be appreciated, thanks.

[AllanAllen]

Is it not a blues?

[gvurrdon]

Is it not a blues?

It does indeed sound like a 12-bar blues.
But, the head and the first chorus of soloing (at least) suggest to me that the IV chord continues though bars 7 and 8. Perhaps that's not the case(*) and it's simply the lack of piano or guitar comping which makes it work. There might be other substitutions I haven't been able to spot, of course.

(*) I'm finding it hard to make the bass notes out clearly, which would normally offer a clue.

[garybaldy]

Is it not a blues?

After 2 chorus of the blues (I think) the sequence for the next 2 choruses is

Bb Bb+ Bb6 Bb7
Eb Eb+ Eb6 Eb7
Bb/G7 C7/F7 Bb/Eb Bb/F7
or similar.
Sorry didn't necessarily mean to quote AllenAllen.

[AllanAllen]

Yeah, it seems like they hold the IV from the horn backing and later some of Herb's comping he's hitting 6 chords in the turnaround. Really nice blues tune.

|Bb | %| % | % |
|Eb | %| % | % |
|F6 |Eb6| Bb | % |

[gvurrdon]

Thanks, good to know that I wasn't imagining things.
If I can sort out writing stuff down for the horns then that would be a very nice tune for the local jam session (conveniently, 100 yards from my house!)

[AllanAllen]

If you use a program like MuseScore it's the push of a button. I'm happy to look over your sheet if you write it out.

You could also ask them to back you with chromatic whole notes starting at the fifth, if they have big band experience they should understand that and play it fine. If they're theory heads and they start talking about counterpoint, you're in for some fun.

[pamosmusic]

After the horns drop out it’s a straightforward blues.

IV #iv iii VI7 in the middle four