There are several other ways to add motion to the harmony besides adding passing chords between the basic changes. For our purposes we will take a look at two import-ant categories: reharmonization and adding contrapuntal lines.
The great compers, like Hank Jones, often reharmonize small sections to add motion and splashes of color to a progression. This type of reharmonization is usually done on the fly and doesn’t radically change the harmonic fabric of the tune. The other mem-bers of the band do not need to have a separate chord sheet of reharmonizations; these momentary alterations of the harmony happen at a more subtle level, still allowing the soloist room to play on the more traditional changes. Hank Jones is a master at slipping in subtle motions that last two bars or less, just long enough to give a little lift to the tune. The following is a breakdown of six different types of reharmonization techniques employed by Hank Jones followed by a brief explanation of how he incorporates contra-puntal lines into his comping. The original basic chords are written above Hank Jones’s reharmonization.
Inserting a related ii7 or related V7 chord
This familiar technique was touched on in Chapter 2 of The Essentials. In essence, a dominant seventh chord can be preceded by its related ii7 (rel ii7) to add motion; or conversely, a ii7 chord can be replaced with its related dominant seventh chord (rel V7).
In the example below, Jones adds the ii7 chord in measure 2 to delay the resolution to V7.
FIG. 1i
Diatonic Walk-Up
Hank Jones often plays three ascending diatonic chords in a row to add motion while still maintaining the basic harmony. For example, he walks up from the ii chord to the IV chord in place of ii7, from I to iii in place of tonic major, or i to III in place of tonic minor.
Tritone Substitution
The most standard example of this device is substituting the V7 with a dominant chord a tritone away (bII7). From the last section we learned that you can access compatible
“brother and sister” chords by transposing the original chord up or down m3s. The chord or chord progression a tritone away is therefore compatible, and a worthy substi-tution.
Tritone substitution (tt sub) can also be applied to ii7, which can be replaced with the minor seventh a tritone away (bvi7). Hank Jones often substitutes the entire ii–V pro-gression with the ii–V a tritone away (bvi7–bII7).
Below is an example of a diatonic walk up starting from ii7 followed by tritone substitu-tion with an added rel ii.
FIG. 2
Basie Walk-up
Similar to the diatonic walk-up, the Basie walk-up adds motion by inserting ascending chords in place of I. The difference is that this device incorporates a #ii chord, usually PdimT2, in between ii and iii to create a four-chord progression. A typical basie walk-up would involve replacing tonic major with I–ii7–#iio7–I or I–IV6–#ivo7–I. Other varia-tions include: I–iim6–#iim6–I or I–ii7–#iim6–I.
FIG. 3
Harmonic Side-Slipping
Inspired by Art Tatum, this harmonic device involves inserting a ii–V a half step above the normal ii–V from the traditional changes. Tatum would often go further and actually briefly modulate a half step higher only to immediately move back to the original key.
For example instead of Dm7–G7, Tatum might play Ebm7–Ab7–Dbmaj–G7. In the exam-ple below, Hank Jones side-slips up a half step by preceding the normal ii–V with the ii–V a half step higher. Often this entails speeding up the harmonic rhythm from half note changes to quarter note changes. Harmonic Side-Slipping will be labeled “harmonic S-S”
in the transcriptions.
FIG. 4
This device involves inserting a set of chords in the final two bars of a section or chorus to harmonically “turnaround” to the top of the next section or chorus. The most famous turn-around in jazz is probably I–VI7–ii7–V7. Jazz musicians from the beginning have been ex-perimenting with novel and creative ways to turnaround to the top of the tune. A short list of some common turnarounds can be found in Chapter 2 of The Essentials. A great piano player can create different turnarounds for each chorus of a song to add tension that is released at the top of the next chorus. Below is an illustration of this device as Hank Jones uses a turnaround to get back to the top of the next chorus of Falling in Love with Love.
FIG. 5
Inserting Dominant Seventh Cycles
Again, influenced by the great Art Tatum, Hank Jones often inserts mini harmonic cycles for one or two measures to add unexpected motion to a song. A dominant seventh cycle refers to a progression of dominant chords that follows the cycle of fourths. Tatum and Jones understood the wonderful magnetic pull of dominant chords located a P4 away. In the example below, Hank Jones precedes the Ab major with two dominant chords (Bb7 and Eb7). Then, each dominant chord is preceded by its related ii7 (Fm7–Bb7–Bbm7–
Eb7). Finally a line is created from the top voice of each chord. The final progression then becomes: Fm9–Bb7b13–Bbm7–Eb13(b9).
FIG. 6
Adding Contrapuntal Lines
The great accompanists hear lines in their chordal accompaniments. Barry Harris’s en-tire harmonic system is based on the belief that chord playing is meant to be linear; be-fore you play a chord you should hear a melodic line. A chord is part of a scale of chords, so melodic lines can be easily harmonized. Chords and melody are essentially the same.
The masters are able to hear a melodic line, harmonize it, and insert it in a song behind a soloist as effective complimentary material. Sometimes, the chord itself isn’t neces-sary, just the melodic line.
The technique of adding contrapuntal lines can be very effective when playing with another chordal instrument in a situation in which there are two musicians comping si-multaneously. Comping with contrapuntal lines is texturally different than chordal play-ing. Often, the two comping textures can coexist and not get in the way of each other.
In the transcriptions to be discussed, Hank Jones uses specifically, descending chromatic contrapuntal lines (“Dchr CL”). He is able to creatively disguise them inside chord voic-ings. Below is an example of an unusual descending chromatic contrapuntal line that is also tucked inside of the voicing. The line descends chromatically from the ninth of Fm all the way to the b3 of Bbm7.
FIG. 7
Now we are ready to tackle our next comping transcription. This one is taken from Ken-ny Dorham’s Jazz Contrasts and it features Hank Jones’ comping behind KenKen-ny Dorham on “Falling in Love with Love.” Rich with drop-2 voicings, passing chords, and harmonic devices just discussed, it serves as a beautiful illustration of the concepts explored so far.
What is striking about this comping transcription is its intrinsic beauty; its ability to stand up on its own. It can be played without the recording and it sounds like a probing,
Join Oscar Pettiford, Hank Jones, Max Roach, Kenny Dorham, and Sonny Rollins as you play along with Hank Jones from the original record, . Hank Jones’s comping during the trumpet solo is fully notated with chord symbols. Besides mastering the written music, consider the underlying harmonic thinking.
The comping guide that follows only contains the basic changes with the passing chords and harmonic devices labeled. Passing chords precede targets, requiring you to read a few chords ahead. The entire chord including the bass note is considered a target, the exception being slash chords–in which the target is the numerator.
As you play along with the simple chord sheet, try adding in some of Hank Jones’s beau-tiful motion. You can refer back to the comping transcription. At this point, playing the precise voicings that he played is less important than mastering his moves and under-standing the thought process behind them. Note that the comping guide begins with the melody chorus.
After the comping guide, sample comping rhythms and comping progressions are pre-sented to isolate and practice. Comp along with Track 22 (demo) and Track 23 (without piano). Note: the demo track starts one bar before the first solo chorus. The piano-less track starts from the top of the melody chorus.
FIG. 8
FIG. 11
To comp like Basie is to put everything in the perfect place with the utmost musicality, all while generating an unrivaled feeling of swing. Obviously, this cannot be taught in a book.
What we can do is listen to Basie, and try to understand some of the basic elements. It’s no wonder why so many of the great pianists from Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, John Lewis, Wynton Kelly, and Phineas Newborn have been devotees of the Basie style. Count Basie was the master of what not to play, the orchestrator of the most dramatic effects, and the genius knowing how to perfectly set up the most grandiose big band sounds with the tiniest of plinks from the upper register of the piano. He was the master of the understatement, always eloquent and clear, and inimitable.
In the following section, we will experiment with some of Basie’s most common pro-gressions and rhythms, and investigate Hank Jones’s uncanny channeling of Basie’s spirit during his work on the record, Ben and “Sweets.”
The Classic Basie Ending
In Chapter 3D of The Essentials we delved into Rhythm Changes and found a curious progression that could be used instead of the I-VI-ii-V progression many people play. It was a simple chord progression that I first remember hearing in 4th grade band class–
the basic melody being: root, 3, 4, #4, 5. It is no coincidence that this tune is also one of the common bass lines studied in Chapter 1 of The Essentials, or the same tune that Ahmad Jamal quoted in the middle of his comping on “Broadway” where he suddenly played an octave bass line reminiscent of Count Basie in measures 61 and 62. Within that iconic bass line is the motion, IV-#ivo7-I. In the last section we labeled this move,
“The Basie.”
To see some examples of the move in action let’s take a look at one of Basie’s iconic end-ings. The famous “plink”, “plink”, “plink” ending is essentially IV-#ivo7-I. Although it is often voiced with the root on the top of each voicing, it can be played in countless ways.
Here are a few examples. Feel free to use both hands.
FIG. 1
Note the drop-2 style voicings. When playing this ending be careful not to rush, and keep the notes very short.
The Basie move can be thought of in a number of different ways depending on what notes the bass player plays: IV–#ivo7–I, ii7–#iio7–iii, IV–VII7b9–I, or even ii7–bVI7–I.
Remember, F#o7 is related to B7, and B7 and Ab7 are in the same family of domi-nant seventh chords. Of course, often the piano is playing this progression alone as a Basie-inspired ending, making all of this a moot point.
Comping Exercise #33: Basie-inspired Comping Patterns. Below are five progres-sions containing some of Basie’s signature comping patterns. If you have smaller hands, split the chord voicings between the hands. Play through the keys, possibly over a V pedal. Also experiment with linking the progressions together. For example, play the progression in the following order: P1–P6–P3–P4–P5–P2
Comping Exercise #34: Filling the Spaces with Basie-inspired Comping Patterns.
Below are twelve more possible comping patterns from which to choose. They are al-ready transposed for you. Write in the implied chord changes. Use your harmonic sense to select an appropriate comping pattern as you answer the one bar riff using
Track 24.
As you comp along to the CD fill in the spaces with either one of these comping patterns or with silence. Sometimes silence has much more impact than filling up an empty space with a complicated comping pattern. As you play, think about these two words: “ele-gance” and “simplicity.” Note that the exercise is based on the changes to Ellington’s “In A Mellow Tone.”
FIG. 3
There is more than one solution. One possibility is to answer the one-bar riffs using the comping patterns in this order: 3, 7, 9, 8, 6, 10, 1, 4, 11, 2, 9, 5, 11, 12, 3.
Finally, it’s time to study one of the greatest comps on record. Comp along with Hank Jones, Harry “Sweets” Edison, George Duvivier, and Clarence Johnston on “Did You Call Her Today” from the incredibly swinging Ben and “Sweets.” To make things a bit easier, the tune is based on the same changes as the Ellington standard studied on the previous page. The transcription starts from the beginning of the trumpet solo.
Again, a comping guide illustrating some of Hank Jones’ moves is provided after the transcription using rhythmic notation. Many of the passing chords and harmonic moves are labeled, and can be added to the basic changes. Note that the comping guide starts from the melody chorus (immediately after the 8-bar introduction). Sample comping rhythms and progressions are included at the end.
This is another example of Hank Jones’s exquisite touch, taste, and harmonic genius. Not only was he a great practitioner of the Basie style, Hank Jones was able to elevate the art form, imbuing it with his own unique language and personal flair. Use the and Track 25 (demo) and Track 26 (without piano). Note: the demo track starts from the solo break. The piano-less track starts from the top of the melody chorus.
FIG. 4
FIG. 5
On the changes to "Did You Call Her Today"