Anyone know a Django tune in Bb which starts IV/IVm/I/VI7 ?

swing68 · November 16

Quick Q for you real experts -

Traditionalists will be pleased to know that I asked Google Gemini this same question, and it was about as good as a one-legged man at an arse-kicking contest.

Please direct me if you can to actual Bb recordings and not "why don't you transpose 'After You've Gone' from C?"

Alternatively if there's a Goodman tune that does this, that'd be grand.

It's for a medley. I currently have G, C, and F covered: next up in the cycle of fourths is, of course ...

billyshakes · November 16

If you aren’t open to transposing keys, what are you going to do when you get to Gb? And do you have any other rules to this? (Not being snarky, but an actual question on the nature of your medley project.)

Is it only the original key as recorded by the original artist? Like if a vocalist performed After You’ve Gone in Bb, would it count? Is this a live performance you are doing or stringing together recordings etc? Just curious.

swing68 · November 16

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/123648#Comment_123648

I don't plan going any further than Bb - for listeners' sakes as much as mine ;)

Original key should be Bb but with American Song Book numbers the notion of 'original artist' is a bit hazy. So if it's Pat Martino does Fats Waller, that's OK - assuming no Django comes to light, of course. I'd be surprised if there were no horn-centered examples.

If there's nothing to hand, well, I guess I'll have to transpose. But first I want to have eliminated the possiblity that there is.

Russell Letson · November 16

I join the puzzled. If the project is a cycle-of-fourths medley, why stick to original keys? Whatever "original" means--Real Book keys are based on particular recorded performances (for example, Bill Evans or Miles Davis), as distinct from, say, the earliest versions from a show or movie (as often documented in the Frank Mantooth "Best Chord Changes" books). And even in settings where Real Book keys and changes generally rule, the participation of a singer often requires key changes. I can't sing "Moonglow" in its original E-flat or the more common Real Book G (which I can play), so I transposed it to D, which is also fingerstyle-friendly for the signature two-bar riff.

Of course, if the project is a cycle-of-fourths medley of tunes from Django's repertory, in Django's keys, that's a different matter. Though it does seem a bit academic.

swing68 · November 16

A simple no would have sufficed, chaps.

Buco · November 16

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/123652#Comment_123652

Lol, you probably had it coming with:

Please direct me if you can to actual Bb recordings and not "why don't you transpose 'After You've Gone' from C?"

BillDaCostaWilliams · November 16

Anyone know a Django tune in Bb which starts IV/IVm/I/VI7

NO.

voutoreenie · November 16

Somewhat ironically, I just wrote a song that starts off with Eb/Ebm6/Bb/G7 in the A part, although I sub Dm6/D° for Bb/G7 to give it more of a bop feel for the solos. Obviously, not a Django tune or any kind of swing standard but the melody is very GJ and I can send you the chart if you'd like, OP.

Incidentally, "Candy" by Lee Morgan has similar changes, although the Bb to G7 is implied and replaced by chord subs.