Kenny Dorham, music · Introduced on Joe Henderson's Page One (Blue Note, 1963)
Blue Bossa
Blue Bossa is a 16-bar minor-key tune by trumpeter Kenny Dorham, first recorded in 1963. Players love it for its short form, one clear key change and an easy Latin pulse. You will hear it at jam sessions, in practice rooms and on records from every school of jazz.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Joe Henderson✓
- 2 Hear the composer play it Kenny Dorham✓
- 3 Follow one horn through the form Dexter Gordon Quartet✓
- 4 Hear a short version Art Pepper✓
- 5 Hear the song on guitar Pat Martino✓
- 6 Hear it as a piano trio Tommy Flanagan Trio✓
- 7 Hear a Latin jazz band McCoy Tyner and the Latin All-Stars✓
- 8 Hear the form without chords Joe Henderson Trio✓
How the tune works
The tune runs 16 bars in two halves of eight. The first half stays in C minor: two bars of Cm7, two of Fm7, then a ii–V–i of Dm7♭5, G7 and Cm7. The second half moves up a half step to D♭ major with its own ii–V–I of E♭m7, A♭7 and D♭maj7. Another ii–V–i brings the music back to C minor, and a quick Dm7♭5 G7 in the last bar leads into the next chorus.
One published harmonic analysis of the changes in C minor: 16 bars, four lines of four bars. Bars 5 and 13 start a Dm7♭5 to G7 to Cm7 sequence, and bar 9 starts the move to D♭ major.
Taken from an online harmonic analysis, not a printed lead sheet. Jazzadvice agrees on the 16 bars, the C minor home key and the ii–V–I in D♭ major. SaxTeacher UK writes the G7 as G7♯9. Compare the chart with the one you play from and with the recording.
Source: Learn Jazz Standards: Blue Bossa Chords And Analysis
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗Eight versions, from the first recording to a trio with no chord instrument. On the way you hear the composer's own band, a tenor and an alto saxophone, a guitar quartet, a piano trio and a Latin jazz band.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Joe Henderson (Quintet, with Kenny Dorham) 1963
Page One
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- A tenor saxophone and a trumpet share the front line over piano, bass and drums. Count the 16 bars of each chorus and listen for bar 9, where the music moves to a new key a half step higher and then comes home.
- Try this
- Play the chord chart on this page at a slow tempo, one chord per bar. Say 'new key' out loud when you reach bar 9.
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Step 2 · Hear the composer play it Now playing
Kenny Dorham (with Sonny Red, Cedar Walton, Paul Chambers and Denis Charles) 1967
“Blue Bossa (Live at the Blue Morocco in the Bronx, New York in 1967)”, Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- The track runs over 13 minutes, so the 16-bar chorus comes around many times. Dorham plays trumpet and Sonny Red plays alto saxophone, with Cedar Walton on piano. Use bar 9 to keep track of each chorus.
- Try this
- Play the three chords of bars 9 to 12 (E♭m7, A♭7, D♭maj7) and hold the last one for two bars. Then play bars 13 to 16 and start the next chorus.
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Step 3 · Follow one horn through the form Now playing
Dexter Gordon Quartet 1976
Biting the Apple
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- This is a quartet with a single horn. Follow the tenor saxophone, count the bars out loud and check your count at each key change at bar 9. The track lasts almost nine minutes.
- Try this
- Put on the record and tap four beats per bar. After a chorus, stop the record and play the chord roots from the chart, one per bar, at the same speed in any key you like.
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Step 4 · Hear a short version Now playing
Art Pepper (Quartet) 1978
Among Friends
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- At about four and a half minutes this is the shortest version on the path. An alto saxophone and a piano trio share the 16-bar form. Count how many choruses fit before it ends.
- Try this
- Play the 16 bars twice without stopping, at a tempo you can hold. Use the key buttons to move the chart to a key that suits your instrument.
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Step 5 · Hear the song on guitar Now playing
Pat Martino (Quartet) 1976
Exit
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- A guitar takes the lead role that horns had on the earlier records, with piano, bass and drums behind it. Listen for the key change at bar 9 and the return to the home key.
- Try this
- Play each chord of the chart as three notes: root, third and seventh. Move to the next chord with the smallest steps you can find. If that is too much, play only the root and third of each chord.
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Step 6 · Hear it as a piano trio Now playing
Tommy Flanagan Trio 1977
“Blue Bossa (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, CH / July 13, 1977)”, Montreux '77
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- The piano is the only melody instrument, with bass and drums beneath it. At about eight minutes the form goes around many times. Listen to what the bass plays when the key changes at bar 9.
- Try this
- Play the chart the way a trio would: bass notes with your left hand, chords with your right, one chord per bar. Slow down until both hands stay together.
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Step 7 · Hear a Latin jazz band Now playing
McCoy Tyner and the Latin All-Stars 1998
McCoy Tyner and the Latin All-Stars
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Timbales and congas join the drum set, which none of the earlier records on this path have. Listen to how the percussion sits against the piano and bass, and keep counting the 16 bars.
- Try this
- Tap four steady beats per bar with one hand and play the chord roots from the chart with the other, one root per bar.
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Step 8 · Hear the form without chords Now playing
Joe Henderson Trio (with Rufus Reid and Al Foster) 1991
The Standard Joe
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- With only tenor saxophone, bass and drums, the bass line is the main guide to the harmony. The track runs about nine minutes, so the form goes around many times. Listen for bar 9 each time.
- Try this
- Play the chart using only chord roots, one per bar, low on your instrument. Then play the root and the fifth of each chord.
More great versions
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Joe Henderson Quintet 1970
“Blue Bossa (Live)”, At the Lighthouse
Henderson plays the tune live seven years after Page One, with Woody Shaw on trumpet, George Cables on electric piano and a conga player added to the rhythm section.
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Joe Henderson Quartet 1971
Joe Henderson in Japan
A live quartet recorded in Tokyo in 1971, with Henderson and three Japanese players.
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Art Pepper Quartet 1977
“Blue Bossa (Instrumental) (Live at Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA / 1977)”, San Francisco Samba
A 16-minute live version from Pepper's August 1977 run at the Keystone Korner, with George Cables, Michael Formanek and Eddie Marshall.
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McCoy Tyner (with Claudio Roditi) 1991
Blue Bossa
The title track of a whole album of Tyner's, a quintet with trumpeter Claudio Roditi and a percussionist.
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Eliane Elias feat. Chick Corea 2021
Mirror Mirror
Two pianos: Eliane Elias and Chick Corea, who suggested the tune for the album.