Tadd Dameron, music · Stanley Cornfield, lyrics · First released on Blue Note with Fats Navarro, 1948
Lady Bird
Lady Bird is a 16-bar tune by Tadd Dameron, written around 1939 and released in 1948. It is short enough to learn by heart, and its closing turnaround became a habit across jazz. Miles Davis wrote Half Nelson on its changes, and Dexter Gordon, Bud Powell and Chet Baker recorded it.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Tadd Dameron Sextet✓
- 2 Hear the same changes under a new tune Miles Davis All Stars✓
- 3 Hear the composer at the piano, live Miles Davis / Tadd Dameron Quintet✓
- 4 Hear it with piano, bass and drums only Bud Powell Trio✓
- 5 Hear it at speed with a hard bop band Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers✓
- 6 Follow long solos over the 16 bars Dexter Gordon✓
- 7 Hear a small band play a written arrangement Chet Baker Sextet✓
- 8 Hear a vocal arrangement Vanessa Rubin✓
How the tune works
Sixteen bars in C, in four phrases of four bars. Bars 1 and 2 stay on C major seventh. Bar 3 is Fm7 and bar 4 is B♭7, a ii-V that points toward E♭ and then returns to C. Bars 5 and 6 are C major seventh again, then bar 7 is B♭m7 and bar 8 is E♭7, pointing toward A♭. A♭ major seventh fills bars 9 and 10. Bar 11 is Am7 and bar 12 is D7, which leans toward G. Bar 13 is Dm7 and bar 14 is G7, bringing the tune home to C. Bars 15 and 16 hold the Dameron turnaround, C to E♭ in bar 15 and A♭ to D♭ in bar 16, which leads straight into the next chorus. Dameron's record plays E♭7 and D♭7 there; the chart, from a 1955 solo, has major sevenths.
The changes under Hank Mobley's tenor solo with the Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia (1955), transcribed in the Weimar Jazz Database. Dameron's own record plays E♭7 and D♭7 in the turnaround where this chart has major sevenths.
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Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with Dameron's own 1948 recording and Miles Davis's Half Nelson, which uses the same changes, then Dameron at the piano in Paris. It moves on to a piano trio, a hard bop band, two tenor saxophones, Chet Baker's sextet and a vocal arrangement.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Tadd Dameron Sextet (with Fats Navarro) 1948
The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Vol. 2
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- Listen for
- Fats Navarro plays two solo choruses starting near 0:33. Count the 16-bar chorus and listen for the turnaround Dameron's tune is known for in the last two bars.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords along with the recording, one chord change at a time, and start again at bar 1 after the turnaround in bars 15 and 16.
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Step 2 · Hear the same changes under a new tune Now playing
Miles Davis All Stars 1947
“Half Nelson”, First Steps: First Recordings From the Creators of Modern Jazz
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- Listen for
- Half Nelson follows the Lady Bird chord pattern except in bars 7 and 8. Charlie Parker plays tenor saxophone on this session.
- Try this
- Play the Lady Bird chart's chords along with this track and listen through bars 7 and 8, where the two tunes differ, to hear what the band plays there instead.
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Step 3 · Hear the composer at the piano, live Now playing
Miles Davis / Tadd Dameron Quintet 1949
“Lady Bird (live)”, The Miles Davis/Tadd Dameron Quintet in Paris Festival International de Jazz, May 1949
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- Listen for
- James Moody joins Davis on tenor saxophone, and Dameron plays piano. The track runs a little over five minutes, so use the chart to count the 16-bar choruses.
- Try this
- Count the choruses with the chart and write down which instrument you hear leading each one.
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Step 4 · Hear it with piano, bass and drums only Now playing
Bud Powell Trio 1955
Piano Interpretations by Bud Powell
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- Listen for
- Piano, bass and drums only, with Percy Heath on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. Follow the chart bar by bar and notice where each 16-bar chorus restarts.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords at the piano or guitar along with the recording. At the piano, hold the root of each chord in the left hand and play the chord in your own voicing with the right.
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Step 5 · Hear it at speed with a hard bop band Now playing
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers 1955
“Lady Bird (live)”, At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1
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- Listen for
- Kenny Dorham plays trumpet, Hank Mobley tenor saxophone and Horace Silver piano. Mobley's solo starts at 2:14 and runs six choruses.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords at half speed first, then try the recording's tempo. At full speed, play only the first chord of each bar.
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Step 6 · Follow long solos over the 16 bars Now playing
Dexter Gordon (with James Moody) 1969
More Power!
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- Listen for
- Two tenor saxophones, Gordon and Moody, lead, with Barry Harris on piano, Buster Williams on bass and Tootie Heath on drums. At over ten minutes the track holds many choruses, so use the chart to find where each one starts.
- Try this
- Pick one chorus and play the chart's chords through it with the recording, then rest for a chorus and come back in. Soloing over the changes takes more practice; a smaller version is to play only the root of each chord.
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Step 7 · Hear a small band play a written arrangement Now playing
Chet Baker Sextet 1959
Chet Baker in Milan
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- Listen for
- Three horns lead this track: Baker on trumpet, Glauco Masetti on alto saxophone and Gianni Basso on tenor saxophone, in an arrangement by Giulio Libano. It runs just under five minutes.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords with the track, one chord per bar at first, and count each 16-bar chorus out loud.
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Step 8 · Hear a vocal arrangement Now playing
Vanessa Rubin 2017
The Dream Is You: Vanessa Rubin Sings Tadd Dameron
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- Listen for
- Rubin sings a soli in harmony with the reed section and scats choruses. The arrangement ends with a quotation from Half Nelson, and trumpeter Eddie Allen and pianist John Cowherd take solos.
- Try this
- The tempo is a little slower than usual, so this is a good version to play along with. Play the chart's chords and sing the chord roots on the first chord of each bar.
More great versions
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Miles Davis 1951
“Lady Bird (live)”, Birdland 1951
Miles Davis plays the tune in a broadcast from Birdland with two tenor saxophonists, Billy Taylor on piano, Charles Mingus on bass and Art Blakey on drums.
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Gerry Mulligan Quartet (with Chet Baker) 1953
Gene Norman Presents the Original Gerry Mulligan Tentet and Quartet
Gerry Mulligan's quartet with Chet Baker, recorded in Los Angeles on May 7, 1953 and issued by Gene Norman in 1954.
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The Charles Mingus Quintet 1955
“Lady Bird (live)”, The Charles Mingus Quintet Plus Max Roach
Mingus's quintet plays the tune live at the Cafe Bohemia on December 23, 1955, with a trombone and a tenor saxophone in the front line.
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Horace Parlan 1960
Movin' & Groovin'
Horace Parlan's trio recorded this at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in February 1960, with Sam Jones on bass and Al Harewood on drums.
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Tommy Flanagan & Hank Jones 1978
Our Delights
Two pianos and no other instruments: Tommy Flanagan and Hank Jones recorded this duet at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in January 1978.
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Emmet Cohen (feat. Benny Golson & Albert "Tootie" Heath) 2019
Masters Legacy Series, Vol. Three: Benny Golson & Albert "Tootie" Heath
Pianist Emmet Cohen plays the tune with saxophonist Benny Golson and drummer Tootie Heath on a 2019 self-produced album in his Masters Legacy Series.