Bronisław Kaper, music · Ned Washington, lyrics · From the film Green Dolphin Street (1947)
On Green Dolphin Street
Bronisław Kaper wrote the music and Ned Washington the words for the 1947 MGM film Green Dolphin Street. Players like how its pedal-point sections alternate with eight bars of faster chord changes. Miles Davis's 1958 record made it a standard; trios, horn bands and singers all play it.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne✓
- 2 Hear the template Miles Davis Sextet✓
- 3 Hear the piano trio Bill Evans Trio✓
- 4 See where the chart comes from Eric Dolphy Quintet✓
- 5 Hear it sung Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass✓
- 6 Hear it stretched out Miles Davis Quintet✓
- 7 Hear a later band Miles Davis Quintet✓
- 8 Hear a recent trio Chick Corea Akoustic Band✓
How the tune works
The tune has four eight-bar sections in the order A, B, A, C, and the two A sections are the same. Each A sits on a pedal point: two bars of the home chord, two bars of its minor form, then F7 and E chords played over a held E♭ in the bass, and two bars back at home. B is two ii–V–I turns. The first stays in the home key (Fm7, B♭7, E♭maj7), and the second moves a minor third higher to G♭ (A♭m7, D♭7, G♭maj7). Published charts often return to the A through a Fm7 B♭7 turnaround in bar 16. C starts on Fm7, then falls through two minor turns (Dm7♭5 G7♭9 into Cm7, Am7♭5 D7 into Gm7). Gm7 C7 and Fm7 B♭7 bring the home chord back in bar 31, and another Fm7 B♭7 turns the tune around. Many bands play the A sections as a vamp, often with a Latin feel, and swing the B and C sections. Solos are often swung all the way through.
The changes under Eric Dolphy's bass clarinet solo on Outward Bound (1960), transcribed in the Weimar Jazz Database. Bar 14 is corrected from the transcription's D7 to D♭7, as published charts have it; they also differ in a few turnaround bars.
Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Source: Weimar Jazz Database: Eric Dolphy, On Green Dolphin Street
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with a guitar trio and the Miles Davis sextet record that set the template for the tune, then moves through a piano trio, a bass clarinet quintet and a voice with guitar. The last three steps are longer live sets, from two Davis quintets and a 2018 piano trio.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne (The Poll Winners) 1957
The Poll Winners
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- Listen for
- Kessel plays the melody on guitar, with Ray Brown on bass and Shelly Manne on drums, in a medium Latin feel. Listen for the pattern Ted Gioia describes: eight bars on a pedal point, then eight bars of faster chord changes.
- Try this
- Play the first eight bars of the melody slowly with even eighth notes and one low home note held in your left hand. Smaller version: clap a steady beat with the record and hum the melody.
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Step 2 · Hear the template Now playing
Miles Davis Sextet 1958
Jazz Track
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- Listen for
- The A sections sit on a vamp and the contrasting sections swing more loosely. Davis, Coltrane, Adderley and Evans all take solos.
- Try this
- Play the tune in two feels: eight bars with even eighth notes over a held bass note, then eight bars swung. Smaller version: tap the two feels on a table while the record plays.
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Step 3 · Hear the piano trio Now playing
Bill Evans Trio 1959
“Green Dolphin Street”, Peace Piece and Other Pieces
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- Listen for
- Evans plays with Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums, with no horns. Evans and Chambers had both played on the 1958 Miles Davis sextet record.
- Try this
- Play the melody on piano with the home note held in your left hand for the first eight bars, then change the left hand with the chords for the next eight.
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Step 4 · See where the chart comes from Now playing
Eric Dolphy Quintet 1960
Outward Bound
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- Listen for
- The quintet swings at a medium-up tempo in E-flat. The Weimar Jazz Database places Dolphy's bass clarinet solo from about 0:50 to 2:24 on the track it analyzed.
- Try this
- Play along in E-flat with the chart on this page. Smaller version: play only the first chord of each two-bar group and keep a steady swing.
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Step 5 · Hear it sung Now playing
Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass 1986
Easy Living
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- Listen for
- Fitzgerald sings with only Joe Pass's guitar behind her. Singers record this song less often than instrumentalists do, partly because the melody is hard to keep in tune.
- Try this
- Hum the melody along with the record for the first eight bars. Pause where you lose the pitch and find the note on an instrument.
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Step 6 · Hear it stretched out Now playing
Miles Davis Quintet (with John Coltrane) 1960
“On Green Dolphin Street (Live from Olympia Theatre, Paris)”, The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6
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- Listen for
- At almost fifteen minutes this take is much longer than the 1958 studio version. Wynton Kelly plays piano in place of Bill Evans, and Chambers and Cobb are on both records.
- Try this
- Count the first chorus against the chart on this page. Full version: keep counting 32-bar choruses for the whole track, which takes practice. Smaller version: stop after the first chorus.
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Step 7 · Hear a later band Now playing
Miles Davis Quintet 1965
“On Green Dolphin Street (Live at the Plugged Nickel, Chicago, 2nd Set)”, The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
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- Listen for
- The rhythm section is Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, with Wayne Shorter on tenor sax. At thirteen minutes it runs longer than the 1958 studio take.
- Try this
- Follow the chart through the first chorus while the band plays. Smaller version: listen only for the home chord at the start of each eight-bar section.
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Step 8 · Hear a recent trio Now playing
Chick Corea Akoustic Band 2018
“On Green Dolphin Street (Live at SPC Music Hall, 2018)”, Chick Corea Akoustic Band LIVE
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- Listen for
- A piano, bass and drums trio with no horns, about nine minutes long. Compare it with the 1959 Bill Evans trio: the same instruments, nearly sixty years apart.
- Try this
- Play the melody once through at a slow tempo, then follow the chart on this page while the trio plays its first chorus.
More great versions
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Urbie Green 1955
East Coast Jazz, Vol. 6
Urbie Green plays the tune at a ballad tempo on trombone, with Jimmy Lyon on celeste, three years before the Miles Davis record.
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Ahmad Jamal Trio 1956
Count 'Em 88
Ahmad Jamal's trio revived the song in 1956.
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Wynton Kelly Trio 1959
Kelly Blue
Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb record the tune as a trio in March 1959.
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Mark Murphy 1961
Rah!
Mark Murphy sings the song with a brass arrangement by Ernie Wilkins.
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Sonny Rollins 1965
Sonny Rollins on Impulse!
Sonny Rollins plays the song on tenor sax with a piano, bass and drums rhythm section, recorded at Van Gelder Studio on July 8, 1965.
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Herbie Hancock 1978
The Piano
Herbie Hancock plays the song alone at the piano.