Happy Feet – Tom McIntosh

There's a lot more to this song than it seems at first. It's a fast song with a happy sound, but just how happy? The first four measures of the A section have a very strong C major tonality, strong enough in fact that it's almost not immediately obvious that the rest of the melody is essentially in a bluesy C minor. The changes meanwhile establish C major as the definite key center. These changes are functional, but not based on II-V7 motion. Much of the A section changes move between the tonic and the IV chord. The bridge starts on A♭, with a chromatically rising internal line from the fifth, then back to C, modulating to A minor for an unusual rising series of minor chords followed by a dominant chord a major third below—the last of the latter is A♭7 going to G7.

There is a lot of subtle rhythm section activity in the head. In all A and C sections, the rhythm section tacets for the first measure, coming in with hits on the second. Measures 3 and 4 have a Latin groove, while the rest of these sections swing with a 2-feel. The bridge goes to a 4-feel. In the solos the changes are simplified, especially in the bridge; the rhythm section plays a 2-feel on the A sections and 4-feel on the bridge, which on the recording is kept up throughout all the solos. There is a coda which repeats the beginning of the last phrase three times, followed by a IV-I cadence.

About the arrangement: The head begins with trumpet (on the recording, flugelhorn) alone. The alto sax joins in harmony on the second measure. In most places the horns are harmonized, occasionally going to unison or octaves. Several passages, such as the seventh measure, are harmonized in contrary motion. On the third and fourth measures of the bridge, the alto harmony note is above the trumpet melody.