Afronomical – Donald Brown

This Latin song is a classic example of Donald Brown's writing style. The melody is smooth and memorable with a modal sound, but the key center is ambiguous—simultaneously suggesting F minor, B♭ minor or even E♭ minor. The rhythm section plays a 2-feel groove in that distinctive post-bop Latin style. There is a detailed rhythm section arrangement on the head, with bass figures that complement the long notes of the melody—these, as well as piano voicings, are shown in our Rhythm Section part and Full Score.

The form is AABCC, with eight-measure A sections, an 18-measure bridge (divided further into eight-measure B1 and 10-measure B2) and C sections similar to A. An important difference between the A and C sections is the first note of the melody: it starts on the downbeat in A, with a piano chord on the "and" of beat 1, but on both C sections the melody hits with the chord on the "and" of 1 instead.

Harmonically, this song is mostly based on pedal points—particularly in the simplified solo changes. The A section alternates E♭ minor and F minor chords over a B♭ pedal; there is a D pedal at B1 and a G pedal at B2. In the solos the bass plays a 2-feel through these pedals, not necessarily sticking to the root notes. Some of the rhythm section figures that complement the head are not marked with specific chord symbols; several are stacked fourths. At the end of the bridge in the solo chorus, the rhythm section plays the same hits that they do at this point in the head; they also hit the "and" of 1 in the first measure of the next section.

This song begins with a solo piano intro—four measures of chords (essentially those of the A section), each two measures in length. We show tied whole notes here, but on the recording Mulgrew Miller plays an eighth-note pickup into each chord to establish the tempo.