Grove's Groove – Steve Davis

A laid-back swinger with a classic hard-bop sound. It's a minor blues variation with a 13-measure head—but slick enough that the extra measure seems perfectly natural. There are two chords per measure in most of the form, filling out the changes diatonically. The IV chord (E♭m7) "walks up" to A♭7 to resolve to D♭ major in the seventh measure. The turnaround is three measures long, with a V of V between two II-V7s to the tonic, but in the head the tonic is replaced by E♭m7 as a sort of resting point before the one-measure pickup to the repeat of the head.

The medium-slow tempo makes these changes not seem busy; the diatonic nature of the changes also helps with this. The head contains several slick rhythm section figures, sometimes going along with the melody and at other times providing a rhythmic counterpoint. Solos are on a 12-measure version of the form, going to the tonic in the last measure. There is a four-measure send-off for the bass solo. The coda extends the last hit on E♭m7 to three two-measure phrases, followed by a similar set-up to a final tonic chord.

About the arrangement: The two-horn arrangement is the same on the two repeats of the head. The horns begin in unison, going to mostly thirds from the fifth measure to the beginning of the tenth measure. The last chord of the head and the send-off for the bass solo are also in thirds. The coda is voiced mostly in thirds with some fourths; the last two notes are in tenths.

This sextet arrangement uses 3-horn voicings everywhere that the quintet arrangement has 2-horn voicings. The two repeats of the head use different voicings, so the second and third parts have A1 and A2 sections separately written. To play the first part, use the lead sheet, playing an octave higher the second time through the head (starting from the first ending pickup). On the recording, trumpeter Eddie Henderson keeps the 12th measure in the lower octave both times, as well as the coda; these notes are below the second part, and would sound just as good in the upper octave. The voicings are mostly triadic, with the third part breaking off to hit with the rhythm section in the seventh and eighth measures.