Lazy Bird is a

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

, first appearing on his 1958 album '' Blue Train''. Its name is most likely a play on the title of the

Tadd Dameron Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dameron was the most influential arranger of the bebop era, but also wrote charts for swi ...

composition " Lady Bird": Coltrane biographer Lewis Porter has proposed a harmonic relationship between "Lady Bird" and the A section of "Lazy Bird". (The bridge of Coltrane's song is apparently a variation on the standard "

Lover Man "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" (often called simply "Lover Man") is a 1941 popular song written by Jimmy Davis, Roger ("Ram") Ramirez, and James Sherman. It is particularly associated with Billie Holiday, for whom it was written, and her ...

"). The

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of "Lady Bird" may be transformed into that of "Lazy Bird" through

chord substitution In music theory, chord substitution is the technique of using a chord in place of another in a progression of chords, or a chord progression. Much of the European classical repertoire and the vast majority of blues, jazz and rock music songs a ...

using the

backdoor progression In jazz and jazz harmony, the chord progression from iv7 to VII7 to I (the tonic or "home" chord) has been nicknamed the backdoor progressionCoker, Jerry (1997). ''Elements of the Jazz Language for the Developing Improvisor'', p.82. . "Back Door ...

and

tritone substitution The tritone substitution is a common chord substitution found in both jazz and classical music. Where jazz is concerned, it was the precursor to more complex substitution patterns like Coltrane changes. Tritone substitutions are sometimes used in ...

.Lyon, Jason (2007)
"Coltrane's Substitution Tunes"
i

Sources

Chord substitution Compositions by John Coltrane Hard bop jazz standards 1958 compositions {{1950s-jazz-composition-stub

See also

Sources