March Song Of The Month--(I'm) Confessin'

MikeK

This month's song is great to call in the middle of a set when there have been a lot of mid-tempo to up-tempo songs played. Usually played at a slow tempo, it'll bring a fiery band back to a cool, delicate groove and the recognizable head will resonate with many audience members. It's origin is interesting--it was originally published in 1929 as "Lookin' For Another Sweetie", with the lyrics credited to Sterling Grant & the music to Chris Smith. The 1st recording of that was by Fats Waller. But in 1930, it appeared as (I'm) Confessin' (That I Love You), with lyrics by Al Neiburg & music by Doc Dougherty and Ellis Reynolds. This version was 1st recorded by Louis Armstrong. Through the years, it's been recorded by so many great artists, but some notable recordings for me are those by Thelonius Monk and Les Paul & Mary Ford. My favorite Django version is from his sessions in Paris, 3/10/53. Regular readers of this column may notice that if there's a version of the song of the month from those sessions, it'll usually be my favorite recording of it. I love his electric tone & find his phrasing prescient. Here's a link to that recording:

https://youtu.be/biioK_L-Hvk

My band plays it in G, I'll post the chart we use later.

MikeK

Below is the chart my band uses. Note one issue--neither I nor anyone I play with plays the F7 on bar 3, we play G6. (This makes line 1 the same line 7).

2023-03-12 09-00.pdf

Buco

For years I played a simple

|G D7 |G |G |E7 |

before I ran into this reharmonized version. I kinda learned to live with it when it comes up but the straightforward while staying in the key way is a nicer platform for a soloist. Another variation that a friend here plays is

|G |F#7 |G |E7 |

Need to listen to what does Django play...what do they play?

billyshakes

So is the B section a temporary key change to the key of C? You'd have the V7 as G7 then to C, but then it would seem the A7 is the V of V to the D7 being the V7 of the original key of G to bring you into the third A section?

Or is there another way to analyze that?

Buco

Yes I think it does a key change to C. A7 that follows I see as VI chord of C, only dominant which isn't unusual for II and VI chords to be played as dominants. I like to play A- to D7 which then is a 2/5 prior to going back to G.

MikeK

Nice, Buco. Billy, I see it as you stated. The bridge starts with a V-I in C. Then, before using the V (D7) of the key of the A section (G) to lead back to it, it does the classic V of the V to create more tension to get you there. Buco's ii-V makes it even sweeter.