"Lady Bird" is a sixteen-bar

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

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 ...

. This "celebrated" composition, "one of the most performed in modern jazz", was written around 1939, and released in 1948. Featuring, "a suave, mellow

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

,"Giddins, Gary (2004). ''Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century'', p.468. . it is the origin of the

Tadd Dameron turnaround In jazz, the Tadd Dameron turnaround, named for Tadd Dameron, "is a very common turnaround in the jazz idiom",Coker, et al (1982). ''Patterns for Jazz: A Theory Text for Jazz Composition and Improvisation'', p.118. . derived from a typical I� ...

(in C: CM⁷ E⁷ AM⁷ D⁷ CM⁷).Coker, et al (1982). ''Patterns for Jazz: A Theory Text for Jazz Composition and Improvisation'', p.118. . An example of Dameron's interest in keys and/or

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

related by thirds, the piece is in

binary form Binary form is a musical form in 2 related sections, both of which are usually repeated. Binary is also a structure used to choreograph dance. In music this is usually performed as A-A-B-B. Binary form was popular during the Baroque period, of ...

( AABC) and features, through the use of ii-V turnarounds, movement toward three keys other than the tonic; E, A, and G. The first three four-measure phrases end with secondary ii-V's, while the last ends instead with the Tadd Dameron turnaround resolving to the tonic. : IM⁷ , IM⁷ , ii⁷/III , V⁷/III , IM⁷ , IM⁷ , ii⁷/VI , V⁷/VI , VIM⁷ , VIM⁷ , ii⁷/V , V⁷/V , ii⁷ , V⁷ , IM⁷ III⁷ , VIM⁷ II⁷ : IM⁷ It has been recorded by

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

Don Byas Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, associated with swing and bebop. He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also led ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Along with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a leading figure in the development of modern ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

Tete Montoliu Vicenç Montoliu i Massana, better known as Tete Montoliu (28 March 1933 – 24 August 1997) was a Spanish jazz pianist from Catalonia, Spain. Born blind, he learnt braille music at age seven. His styles varied from hard bop, through afro-Cuban, ...

Horace Parlan Horace Parlan (January 19, 1931 – February 23, 2017) was an American pianist and composer known for working in the hard bop and post-bop styles of jazz. In addition to his work as a bandleader Parlan was known for his contributions to the Char ...

Andy LaVerne Andy LaVerne (born December 4, 1947) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. Education and musical career Born in New York City, LaVerne studied at Juilliard School of Music, Berklee College, and the New England Conservat ...

, and

Barry Harris Barry Doyle Harris (December 15, 1929 – December 8, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. He was an exponent of the bebop style. Life and career Harris was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December ...

, as well as

Tommy Flanagan Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...

and

Hank Jones Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored ...

. It was also recorded by Remeo Hailey Jones for his fifth album ''We Are Nest! 2003 Extended Play''.

's "Half Nelson" uses, except for measures seven and eight, the same chord progression as "Lady Bird".Koch, Lawrence O. (1988). ''Yardbird Suite: A Compendium of the Music and Life of Charlie Parker'', p.104. . "Lazy Susan" is also a

contrafact A contrafact is a musical work based on a prior work. The term comes from classical music and has only since the 1940s been applied to jazz, where it is still not standard. In classical music, contrafacts have been used as early as the parody mas ...

of the Dameron piece. Stanley Cornfield wrote lyrics to the song. The first line is "We fit together like two birds of a feather."

References

External links

Lady Bird
, ''SecondHandSongs.com''. Accessed June 2013.
Lady Bird
, ''LearnJazzStandards.com''. Accessed June 2013. {{authority control Bebop jazz standards Sixteen bar sections Songs with music by Tadd Dameron Instrumentals 1948 songs

See also

References

External links