To A Mornin' Sunrise – Eli "Lucky" Thompson

Lucky Thompson had a very distinctive way of writing ballads, especially with regard to the chord progression. This is a good example of his ballad style. The changes of this one explore a lot of tritone substitutions, the most notable being the second measure, which has a tritone sub II-V to E♭ major (the IV chord) in the third measure. Also notable is the first ending of the A section, where the G7 leads to G♭ instead of C. Many of the bridges of Lucky's ballads visit at least three major key centers besides the tonic; here they are G♭, D and D♭. The melody weaves the changes together with smooth, stepwise motion. Most of Lucky's ballads, such as this one, end on the tonic chord in the last measure with the root in the melody. This never sounds clichéd, however, because it provides a fitting closure to the harmonic twists and turns that occurred earlier.

Tenor Sax Melody Transcription: The Melody Transcription details everything Lucky played on the in head, with all embellishments and fills. After soloing on the A and B sections of the next chorus, he returns to the melody at C and concludes with a cadenza; these sections are also in the transcription. Articulations are clearly marked in so you can really see what makes his style unique. Take a listen to Lucky at the bridge clip.