Dotti-Dotti – Bertha Hope
An advanced song despite its compact 12-measure form, Dotti-Dotti has no definite key center. Bertha Hope's solo piano arrangement is available with an exclusive recording by Glenn Zaleski.
- Recording: Bertha Hope - Between Two Kings
- Recorded on: 1992
- Label: Minor Music (801025)
- Concert Key: No key center
- Vocal Range: , to
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Piano - Bertha Hope
- Bass - Walter Booker
- Drums - Jimmy Cobb
Video
- Description
- Historical Notes
- Solos
- Piano Corner
- Bass Corner
- Drum Corner
- Guitar Corner
- Inside & Beyond
- Minus You
Though 12 measures long, Dotti-Dotti is certainly not a blues! This advanced song is truly without a key center, packing a lot of twists and turns into a compact form. It's held together by an energetic swing feel and elegant voice leading in both melody and harmony. Though there are no repeated phrases in the form, a rhythmic figure in the fourth measure reappears in the eighth measure with a different melodic shape. These two phrases each land on a chord (D7sus and F♯7 respectively) held out for two measures—good points of reference for soloing, especially as there are two chords per measure elsewhere in the form.
Our lead sheet shows the basic melody and changes from Bertha Hope's manuscript. On the "Between Two Kings" recording, she takes some liberties with the melody and phrasing of the head. There is an intro in this version, not shown in the lead sheet: four measures of rhythmic hits on D7(♭9). The rhythm section feel from the recording is indicated in the lead sheet: a "2-beat" for the head, with the bass playing quarter-note roots on beats 1 and 3. Solos start with a 2-feel.
Our lead sheet shows the basic melody and changes from Bertha Hope's manuscript. On the "Between Two Kings" recording, she takes some liberties with the melody and phrasing of the head. There is an intro in this version, not shown in the lead sheet: four measures of rhythmic hits on D7(♭9). The rhythm section feel from the recording is indicated in the lead sheet: a "2-beat" for the head, with the bass playing quarter-note roots on beats 1 and 3. Solos start with a 2-feel.
From the liner notes for "Between Two Kings": Dotti-Dotti is dedicated "to two of Bertha's friends who both spell their names that way. 'Both of these ladies have great energy for getting things done and I admire them. I wanted to acknowledge that and there is something musical about the name repeated.'"
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- Recording: Glenn Zaleski - Glenn Zaleski Plays Bertha Hope's Solo Piano Arrangements
- Recorded on: December 1, 2012
- Label: jazzleadsheets.com (JLS 1054)
- Concert Key: No key center
- Vocal Range: , to
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Piano - Glenn Zaleski
Video
- Description
- Historical Notes
- Solos
- Piano Corner
- Bass Corner
- Drum Corner
- Guitar Corner
- Inside & Beyond
- Minus You
As recorded by Glenn Zaleski, Bertha Hope's solo piano arrangement is three choruses long. Though it's quite different from how Bertha played this song on her trio recording, the arrangement could work in a trio setting as well. For more details click on Piano Corner.
At the time this project was recorded, Glenn Zaleski was jazzleadsheets.com's piano editor. In 2014 he played on our Rhythm Section Workshop session, also recorded at Van Gelder Studio. Though there are no Bertha Hope compositions in that trio project, it does include a version of Minor Bertha—dedicated to her by composer Elmo Hope in 1959, a year before they married.
This Solo Piano Arrangement has a bit more going on than Bertha Hope's original trio interpretation, but as on the original recording, the left hand has a 2-beat feel with quarter notes on beats 1 and 3. The fifth and sixth measures add a left-hand pedal on beats 2 and 4. Except for eighth-note melody passages, most of the melody is played in two-handed voicings. There are three choruses, each with a different ending; these reflect the first and second endings of the in head and the second ending of the out head from Bertha's recording.
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Bertha Hope
born on November 8, 1936
A dynamic force in improvised music, pianist Bertha Hope has been making headway in the jazz scene since the early 1960s. Raised in Los Angeles, Bertha attended Manual Arts High School. She began her jazz journey with pianists Elmo Hope and Richie Powell in her youth. Although she studied piano at Los Angeles Community College, she received her B.A. in early childhood education from Antioch College. She married Elmo in 1960; they moved to New York where Bertha worked as a telephone operator by day and performed at night. Read more...
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