"Contrafact" is an original composition by Walter Smith III from his 2018 album Twio, built on the chord changes of the standard "Like Someone in Love." The practice of writing new melodies over existing chord progressions, known as contrafact, has been a cornerstone of jazz composition since the bebop era, when Charlie Parker and his contemporaries created an entire body of new compositions over popular song harmonies. Smith's tune is performed at approximately 245 beats per minute in E-flat with an ABAC form, a brisk tempo that puts the soloists' command of the changes to the test. Smith opens with two energetic choruses, followed by two equally inventive choruses from Joshua Redman, creating another electrifying two-tenor exchange on the album. Bassist Christian McBride then contributes a one-chorus solo that rounds out the performance with his characteristic combination of massive tone and melodic intelligence. The meta-musical title acknowledges the compositional technique being employed, adding an intellectual dimension to a performance that is fundamentally about the joy of swinging at high speed. By naming the piece "Contrafact" and revealing its harmonic source, Smith invites the listener into the compositional process while delivering a performance of tremendous energy and creative vitality.
