B section of Body and Soul

Avalon

I am a gypsy newbie and understand that the Body and Soul changes as given in the Real Book are not typical of the way gypsy jazzers play the B section of the tune. Django played much simpler changes. My question is this: How are the B section changes typically played in a gypsy jam? My interest is in the first 4 bars of B specifically. Django just plays 3 or 4 bars of a I6 to V7 cadence. What do you play there?

spatzo

Personnally I really never have heard "Body & Soul" played in a gypsy jam (not even mentionned)...

I usually play what django played:

[E6/9 B9][E6/9 B9][E6/9 B9][E6/9]

Otherwise a good solution is a combination of a strong diatonic progression ending with fifths:

[E7M F#m7][G#m7 Am7(D7)][E6 B7][E7M B7b9]

Let's see of course the Coleman Hawkins famous version:

[E7M F#m7][G#m7 Am7][G#m7 C#7 F#m7 B7][E7M ]

or Wes Montgomery in double time version:

[E7M ][F#m7][G#m7][Am7 D7][G#m7 C#7][F#m7 B7][E7M ][% ]

or in single time version:

[E7M F#m7][G#m7 / Am7 D7][G#m7 C#7 F#m7 B7][E7M ]

What about Joe Pass?

[E7M F#m7][G#m7 Am7][B7 ][E7M]

Maybe you can also try the reverse solution that Oscar Peterson uses:

[E7M Am7][G#m7 / F#m9 F9#11][E7M A7M G#m7-Gm7 F#m7-B13 b9][E7M B7b9]

Or maybe with Coltrane changes...

[E7M F#m7][G#m7 / Am7 D7][E7M G7 C7M Eb7][Ab7 B7 E7M /]

Best

Buco

@spatzo that is amazing

Avalon

Thanks @spatzo. I like them all! I heard it played at a jam (I wasn’t a participant) a couple months ago. I loved the variety it lent to the jam. I have also heard it played in San Francisco at a club performance. I absolutely love ballads a la pompe.

wim

We played this occasionally back in Melbourne because one of the sax player on the scene liked it. We played simple changes. 1930 versions which I guess Django may have heard are also on simple changes (jack hylton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu4A6_Mv38A , louis armstrong https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpGZBr-RYK8), so I guess it is more a case of modern players complicating it than the hot club simplifying it.

Spatzo I assume that Gm7 was just a typo, sounds a bit odd (should be G#m7?)

spatzo

Yes, I corrected it, tks!

Buco

Here's how these guys play it, Paris Jazz Sessions

https://youtu.be/Swh6J5vUnVY

wim

Really nice, and just posted 2 hours ago! I did not know this channel, subbed 👍🏼

Buco

This channel is a gem for jazz in general. The production quality of these street performances blows me away how good they sound. They can have a singer, a piano, lineup of horns, drums, couple of guitars...and the mix is just perfect, every instrument and every note is there. They could put it on an album just like that and it would be great.

I'm thinking they must be sponsored by someone, this can't be cheap to put on.