About
Duke Jordan closes out the solos on piano with a quarter of the form, following Miles Davis at approximately 115 BPM. Set within a swinging rhythmic framework, the 36-bar AABA form and the key of A♭, the solo navigates the chord changes with purpose. The tune borrows its harmonic structure from "All The Things You Are," a set of changes that generations of improvisers have used as a testing ground for new ideas. Coming last in the solo order, Jordan has the task of building on everything that came before while steering the performance back toward the closing head. The tune dispenses with any composed melody, using the underlying chord changes as the sole point of departure, a format that would become increasingly common in later jazz. Duke plays just a short 8 bar solo over the B section before the rest of the band comes in for the last A.
Duke Jordan was 24 to 25 years old at the time.
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