Stablemates (Benny Golson)

[guitar61]

Good morning everyone. Is there anyone who can help me with the harmonic analysis of stablemates and in any case with the improvisational approach of the song?

[djg]

sure. i got a few minutes. what do you have so far? what is your question?

[pamosmusic]

Oh baby this should be fun.

Love that tune but it’s a toughy.

[David B]

Benny Golson wrote the tune in '54.
Miles Davis recorded it first, in '55, with some different changes.
Golson didn't record it himself until '58, on 'Benny Golson and The Philadelphians'. That's the recording and changes you want to learn from.

The first chord of Stablemates is Bb7b9#5. It's not an E minor, as shown in many charts.

Mike Moreno has a very detailed video on his Patreon site, uploaded this month, going through Stablemates in the way that the OP is looking for.

[wintermoon]

Benny Golson wrote the tune in '54.
Miles Davis recorded it first, in '55, with some different changes.
Golson didn't record it himself until '58, on 'Benny Golson and The Philadelphians'. That's the recording and changes you want to learn from.

The first chord of Stablemates is Bb7b9#5. It's not an E minor, as shown in many charts.

Mike Moreno has a very detailed video on his Patreon site, uploaded this month, going through Stablemates in the way that the OP is looking for.

Not sure if you meant under his own name but Blakeys Moanin lp that he played on was recorded a little earlier in the year iirc.

[grahambop]

Not sure if you meant under his own name but Blakeys Moanin lp that he played on was recorded a little earlier in the year iirc.

Stablemates is not on Moanin’, perhaps you were thinking of Along Came Betty which is on the album.

Incidentally I recently got the Sher Music Benny Golson songbook (which says it uses Benny’s own lead sheets - the pages look like photocopies of old charts), and there it shows the first chord as Em (then A7).

The Aebersold book and recording of Benny Golson tunes (which it says was supervised/produced by Benny himself) also shows Em in the chart.

Not that it matters much, doesn't make a lot of difference really.

[grahambop]

As far as how to play it, the A section is basically a bunch of ii-Vs which move around (with a lot of those chromatic little shifts that Benny likes). So chunk it into ii-Vs and work on it like that.

The B section is a bit tricky for the first 4 bars, I would just follow the chord tones, then it’s chromatically descending dominants.

[PMB]

Stablemates is not on Moanin’, perhaps you were thinking of Along Came Betty which is on the album.

Incidentally I recently got the Sher Music Benny Golson songbook (which says it uses Benny’s own lead sheets - the pages look like photocopies of old charts), and there it shows the first chord as Em (then A7).

The Aebersold book and recording of Benny Golson tunes (which it says was supervised/produced by Benny himself) also shows Em in the chart.

Not that it matters much, doesn't make a lot of difference really.

I have a rare and excellent book put out by Columbia Pictures Publications in 1985, The Genius of Benny Golson that contains a bunch of the composer's own piano arrangements. The version of Stablemates included in this collection also opens with an Em9.

[wintermoon]

Stablemates is not on Moanin’, perhaps you were thinking of Along Came Betty which is on the album.

Incidentally I recently got the Sher Music Benny Golson songbook (which says it uses Benny’s own lead sheets - the pages look like photocopies of old charts), and there it shows the first chord as Em (then A7).

The Aebersold book and recording of Benny Golson tunes (which it says was supervised/produced by Benny himself) also shows Em in the chart.

Not that it matters much, doesn't make a lot of difference really.

Silly me, I should certainly know better. It has a few of his compositions but obviously not that one.
Thanks for the correction and apologies to DB, I'll crawl back in my hole now, but before I do I'll mention there's a wonderful rendition on the Bags Meets Wes lp from '62 if someone wants to hear a guitarist navigate the changes.

[grahambop]

I found another vibes and guitar version:

[djg]

As far as how to play it, the A section is basically a bunch of ii-Vs which move around (with a lot of those chromatic little shifts that Benny likes). So chunk it into ii-Vs and work on it like that.

The B section is a bit tricky for the first 4 bars, I would just follow the chord tones, then it’s chromatically descending dominants.

i see the whole tune in Db. short detour to the IV chord Gb and then classic backcycling to Db via Gm7b5 etc. similar to woodyn you or all gods chillun. B section you can either think Fm: I V7 bVI7 V7 and then descent. or you can already start descending in bar 3 of the bridge , Db7 C7 B7 etc.

[pamosmusic]

i see the whole tune in Db. short detour to the IV chord Gb and then classic backcycling to Db via Gm7b5 etc. similar to woodyn you or all gods chillun. B section you can either think Fm: I V7 bVI7 V7 and then descent. or you can already start descending in bar 3 of the bridge , Db7 C7 B7 etc.

Yeah the A section is like an extended iii VI ii V … the way he does that ii-V to F minor but instead of that, he goes up the the minor third. Normally that’s a spiffy little back door cadence, but instead of going to Ebm he takes it to the IV chord.

[David B]

Anyone else hear the A section like this?

Bb7(b9#5) / Ebm9 Ab7 (b9#5) / Dbmaj9 / C+(7)

Abm7 / Db9 / Gbmaj / Gm7 C7(b9)

Fm7 / Bb13(b9) / Ebm9 / D9

Dbmaj9 / Dbmaj9

[pamosmusic]

Anyone else hear the A section like this?

Bb7(b9#5) / Ebm9 Ab7 (b9#5) / Dbmaj9 / C+(7)

Abm7 / Db9 / Gbmaj / Gm7 C7(b9)

Fm7 / Bb13(b9) / Ebm9 / D9

Dbmaj9 / Dbmaj9

Hard to tell on the stop time, but in the solos I’m definitely hearing the Em A7

[djg]

Anyone else hear the A section like this?

Bb7(b9#5) / Ebm9 Ab7 (b9#5) / Dbmaj9 / C+(7)

Abm7 / Db9 / Gbmaj / Gm7 C7(b9)

Fm7 / Bb13(b9) / Ebm9 / D9

Dbmaj9 / Dbmaj9

that is pretty much what i play, except i go em9 a7 in the first bar. and Bb7b13 in bar10. the C7+ i sometimes treat as Ab7+ or quite often as Dbo. also instead of Dbmaj for 2 bars i again like Dbo in bar 13

[BreckerFan]

Interesting, though maybe trivial thing I just noticed, if you play with voicings a bit you can voice lead nearly an entire octave chromatic scale through the A section:

E-9/Bb7#5 (F#)
Eb-9 (F)
Ab7#5 (E)
Dbmaj9/C7#9/Ab-7 (Eb)
Db7b9 (Ebb)
Gbmaj7/G-7b5 (Db)
C7/F-7 (C)
Bb7b9 (Cb)
Eb-7 (Bb)
Ab7b9 (Bbb)
Dmaj9 (Ab)

[djg]

Interesting, though maybe trivial thing I just noticed, if you play with voicings a bit you can voice lead nearly an entire octave chromatic scale through the A section:

E-9/Bb7#5 (F#)
Eb-9 (F)
Ab7#5 (E)
Dbmaj9/C7#9/Ab-7 (Eb)
Db7b9 (Ebb)
Gbmaj7/G-7b5 (Db)
C7/F-7 (C)
Bb7b9 (Cb)
Eb-7 (Bb)
Ab7b9 (Bbb)
Dmaj9 (Ab)

yes. i do that specific movement a lot. it is also useful for the kicks under the melody, especially the Dbmaj C7#9 Abm7 part.

[grahambop]

There is some analysis and an etude here which may be useful.

It refers to tenor sax key so in the text the chords are often described a whole tone up, but the etude has a concert version.

The Jazz Sax & Improvisation Blog of Saxophonist Bobby Stern - bobbysternjazz.com

[Christian Miller]

Good morning everyone. Is there anyone who can help me with the harmonic analysis of stablemates and in any case with the improvisational approach of the song?

This is a vid I made a long while back

Pay close attention to what the soloists play on the original. Interesting


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[pcjazz]

Last night at The Rex Lorne Lofsky’s trio played Stablemates as a bossa in 7/4 time. Lorne recorded this version a few years ago on his album This Song Is New, available on streaming services.