Play Along: On Green Dolphin Street (Jazz)- Miles Davis Standards vol. 49 (sheet music free download)

With the Melody:

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On Green Dolphin Street (Jazz Standard)

‘On Green Dolphin Street’ (originally titled ‘Green Dolphin Street’) was the song composed for the film Green Dolphin Street, which was based on a novel of the same name by Elizabeth Goudge (1944) about two sisters of English origin who fall in love. of the same man and the consequent troubles that are generated as a result of such… let’s call it ‘coincidence’.

As for its popularity, it is not that the song received the clamor of the public, but that jazz musicians adopted it for its attractive chord sequence, which alternates eight bars of a Tonic Pedal (static) and another eight bars of a harmonic progression with a typical, but lively movement between fundamentals.

Even so, the song became popular among jazz musicians, following the version recorded by Miles Davis in 1958 with John Coltrane, Canonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb. Few were the artists who had interpreted the piece before, but the version that probably served as a reference to Miles Davis was the one recorded two years earlier by the pianist Ahmad Jamal, whose repertoire used to be a source of inspiration for Davis at that time.

On the other hand, Bronislaw Kaper was a musical prodigy who studied law and music in his native Poland before moving to Berlin to pursue music. He composed for German films, but as anti-Semitism increased he moved to Paris in 1933. There he was discovered by Louis B. Mayer, who hired him for MGM studios.

From 1936 to 1940 he wrote songs for films: ‘Tomorrow Is Another Day’, ‘Cosi Cosa’ or ‘A Day at the Races’ (1937) and ‘A Night at the Opera’ (1935) by the Marx Brothers. But it was in 1947 that Kaper’s soundtrack for Green Dolphin Street produced a jazz classic: ‘On Green Dolphin Street.’

Kaper won an Oscar for Lili, which contained the song ‘Hi-Lili Hi-Lo,’ and two Golden Globes for best song for ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ and ‘A Life of Her Own.’

With Webster also as lyricist, Kaper wrote ‘Invitation’ (1952), which would become a jazz standard that is still frequently recorded today and which I will have to tell you about one day as well.

Lyrics

Lover, one lovely day
Love came, planning to stay
Green Dolphin Street supplied the setting
The setting for nights beyond forgetting

Through these moments apart
Memories live in my heart
When I recall the love I found on
I could kiss the ground on Green Dolphin Street

Lover, one lovely day
Love came, planning to stay
Green Dolphin Street supplied the setting
The setting for nights beyond forgetting

And through these moments apart
Memories live in my heart
When I recall the love I found on
I could kiss the ground on Green Dolphin Street

*Ella Fitzgerad & Joe Pass ver.

Musical Analysis

The topic has the form ABAC, we will analyze each section separately using the same procedure.

The section A contains only a dominant D/C chord (D7), which resolves to Db/C (DbMaj7) a semitone down. Although the bass is not in the fundamental, encryption and analysis are performed in the same way.

Single chords and chain endings we have: CMaj7, Cm7, and Db/C (DbMaj7). Due to the predominance of the CMaj7 chord, in the first two and last two measures, it is possible to think that the harmonic rhythm is TDDT with two measures per function. Which fits with DbMaj7 acting as the dominant being a modal exchange bIIMaj7, which replaces V7; which, in turn, would precede the D7 as V7/V.

The Cm7 chord will be a mode exchange chord with a minor tonic function, so that although it is not more tense, the harmonic tension already begins to grow in the less weak part of the dominant area.

Thus, attributing its tonal function to each chord, we formalize:

As for the B section, we find two major II-VI progressions, and an optional dominant like “turn around”.

The single chords and chain endings are: CMaj7 and EbMaj7. Harmonic rhythm is obvious in that it is TDTD at two bars per function. It would be possible to fall into the mistake of thinking that EbMaj7 is the bIIIMaj7, and in turn that Fm7 and Bb7 are the IVm7 and the bVII7; all of them modal interchange.

But normally whenever a complete chain of II-VI and so on occurs so clearly within the harmonic rhythm, it will be treated as an extra-tonal modulation imposing the key of Eb Major.

Formalizing:

In section C we find two cadences of IIm7b5-V7-Im7, and a longer chain with two dominants and their chained minor seconds. Also, a II-V of “turn around”.

The single chords are Dm7, Am7 and CMaj7, all belonging to C Major, however the non-diatonic chords E7, F#m7b5, B7 and A7 appear. As for the E7, there is no problem considering it as the V/VI. However, we will not consider F#m7b5 and B7 to be the modal exchange #IVm7b5 and V/III.

Instead, we will focus on the descending bass line that occurs with the Dm7-Dm/C-Bm7b5 progression. In the key of A minor, it serves to chain the IVm7 with the IIm7b5, and then with the V7 and the Im7. We see that it then repeats itself mimicking the motif with Am7-Am/GF#m7b5, and then also resolves with B7 and Em7. In such a way that we will consider that the progression has been repeated in another key.

On the other hand, it is easy to see that Em7-A7-Dm7-G7-CMaj7 comply with the formalization IIIm7-V/II-IIm7-G7-IMaj7. It could be said that in the third measure it is modulated to E minor by means of the pivot chord Am7, which is Im7 of A minor (or VIm7 of C Major) and in turn IVm7 of E minor. It is also modulated back to the starting key in the fifth bar with the pivot chord Em7, which is Im7 of E minor and IIIm7 of C Major.

The harmonic rhythm coming from the A section induces the dominant two bars per function. However, the modulation to E minor forces it to be split to one measure per function, and it works like this until the end of the section. If the “turn around” is not played, the predominance of areas is balanced, if it is played, it is restored to the beginning of the new chorus.

Formalizing the last section:

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