Exploring Modern Ideas for Jazz Standards: Pt. 2

In part 2 of his "Standards 2.0" series, John Stowell continues rethinking familiar jazz standards — this time through meter changes, simple reharmonization devices, and melodic minor tensions over dominant chords, demonstrated on All The Things You Are, Triste, and Autumn Leaves.

What's covered

• Changing the meter to refresh a tune: All The Things You Are as a waltz (a Jim Hall favorite) and as a Latin 3
• Odd meters made approachable: Jobim's Triste in 7 (subdivided 4+3, in two keys), and Ellington's Prelude to a Kiss as a Latin 5
• Reharmonizing by turning non-dominant chords dominant — the modified II-V (2 dominant, flat-2 dominant) and dominant cycles through 6-2-5-1-4 changes
• The implied five: inserting a V chord to lead you to a change, or away from it and back, shown on Autumn Leaves
• Four melodic minor modes for tension over dominants — superlocrian, the second mode, mixolydian flat 6, and lydian dominant — taught as melodic minor keys superimposed over the dominant, the way John's teacher Linc Chamberlain explained them
• Voice leading the top note of every comping chord

You'll come away with new soloing and comping ideas, fresh voicings, and a better grip on internalizing and varying chord progressions. The class includes a download. Full video is about 31 minutes.