[Dixielandjazz] Chord Question in "Louisiana"

[Phil Wilking]

If going through the Bb7 sounds better to you, play it that way unless it clashes badly with the melody as your band plays it. This is a once popular tune played by a jazz band, not something by Beethoven or J. S. Bach played by a symphony orchestra (and even they had many revisions in their manuscript scores).

Something else to try is playing the first measure (or part of it) of the Eb7 as an Eb9 chord to continue the emphasis of the F tone while changing the underlying harmony.

Phil Wilking

-----Original Message-----
>From: Larry Zaidan <zaidanl at coppelia-enterprises.com>
>
>Dear Listers:
>
>Is the chord, 4 bars from the end of the chorus definitely an Eb, or can it be played as a Bb7?
>
>As written: F7/Eb7/Eb7/Ab/Ab, the last 5 bars make intellectual sense, but I find the F7 going to Eb7 too jarring.
>
>I feel that it flows more smoothly, harmonically, as F7/Bb7/Eb7/Ab/Ab for the last 5 bars, in spite of the obvious melodic clues.
>
>Any insight would be appreciated!  (As you can probably guess, I am fairly new to the Trad Jazz scene.)