Partial transcription of Milt Jackson’s vibe solo on the Modern Jazz Quartet tune “Blues in C Minor”.
Really great minor blues vocabulary here. He had some incredibly hip ways of bending the time within phrases that made it difficult to notate the exact rhythms. Definitely check out the recording to catch the laid-back rubato-esque feel.
Key: C
I | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |
The first two bars only have the root and fifth. Then the third is introduced in the third bar. There is also a little 4-5 hammer-on bit that happens at the end of every second measure.
I V9 I Imaj7(6) ii(6) | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | iii ii V IV V Vadd6 V7 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |
The voicings and parallel movement of chords are important to the feel of this song. These are the guitar chords:
Key: D
Note: This song could also be analyzed in B minor.
vi vimM9 I V9/V | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |
Bass does a 6-b6-5-#4 chromatic descent under these chords.
IVmaj9 I V9 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | x2 V9 IVmaj7 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |
I Iadd6 Imaj7 Imaj9add6 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | IVmaj7 V7b9/vi I | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - | IVmaj7 V7b9/vi | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |
Key: F
Note: The guitar mostly plays triads and sometimes 7ths. The upper extensions occur primarily in the backing voices.
I | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |
I Iadd6 Imaj7 Imaj7add6 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | V9/V V9 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | vi7 V9/V | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | V9 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | I | - - - - | - - - - |
Key: E
I | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |
ii7 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | V9 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | ii7 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |
When this first happens after the intro, the second ii7 sounds like a I because of the accompaniment emphasizing the tonic. When the accompaniment fades out, the guitar is strumming ii7.