Blue Ching – Kenny Dorham

This blues head is an Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers classic, with the stop-time and dynamic contrasts that that band thrived on. It's based on a call-and-response two-measure riff similar in overall structure to Moanin', though with the response chords held out behind the melody phrases. The melody is entirely pentatonic; the "response" chords are V-I cadences instead of the IV-I in Moanin'.

This song's dynamics are integral to the arrangement. The first chorus of the in head has the horns playing the melody, voiced in fourths, with rhythm section responses; it begins softly and builds all the way to the eighth measure. The second chorus uses piano for the melody (in octaves), with horns, bass, and drums responding; this chorus remains relatively soft (rhythm section mf, horns mp) with no crescendo. On this recording, the out head's arrangement is reversed: the first chorus has the piano melody, while the horns take over for the second chorus and coda. We have indicated this in the lead sheet with a double coda sign where the "first" chorus (the chorus with the horns playing the melody) would go to the coda. The single coda sign can also be used if you choose to play the out head the same way as the in head.

Our rhythm section parts (Piano, Bass & Condensed Score for the drummer) show as much as possible what is going on among the other instruments. We feel this is especially important in stop-time songs like this one.