Into Dawn – Roy Hargrove

A subtle, subdued 3/4 song with a wistful melody. The form is 40 measures long, AABCD with C the same as the first A; D is sort of an interlude but is played every time. The two A sections are slightly different; the third measure of the second A has a different melody with added passing chords, and the last two measures, which loop back to F minor at the end of the first A, modulate towards A♭ in the second A section for the bridge. The long notes of the A section melody are broken up by a more active melody on the B and D sections.

The changes have almost more of a B♭ minor tonality than an F minor one, resolving to B♭m7 in the fifth measure through chords that mostly belong to that key center. The bridge is harmonically unexpected, visiting A♭ major, A major, and G minor; the melody here is largely triadic. The D section is more diatonic, with a four-measure triplet-based phrase repeated twice.

The rhythm section figures on the head are very important. There is a syncopated bass line that runs throughout the A and C sections, with piano doubling bass in octaves on the fifth and sixth measures. On the bridge the rhythm section plays mostly dotted quarter notes, with another piano/bass line on the last two measures. The bass line continues through the D section. In the first and fifth measures of this section, the offbeat bass rhythms are written as triplets (the third triplet of each beat) to line up with the triplets in the melody. All these rhythm section figures are notated in our two-staff Concert Condensed Score, which is the rhythm section part. Solos are on the whole form without the rhythm section figures; on the recording, the first chorus of each solo has a 1-feel, followed by a 3-feel (walking bass) on the second chorus.

On the recording, the horns play in octaves almost throughout, with harmony only on the third and fourth measures of the second A section. We have decided to include the harmonies in our lead sheets, instead of writing second horn parts.