Jazz Changes

Cole Porter, music and lyrics · From the Broadway musical The New Yorkers

Love for Sale

Cole Porter wrote Love for Sale for the 1930 Broadway musical The New Yorkers. The minor-key A sections run 16 bars each, and the bridge opens in D♭ major. You can hear it sung by Ella Fitzgerald and played by bop, hard bop, piano trio and guitar groups.

B♭ minor · 64 bars · A A B A form · how it works

Listen in this order

The path starts with a sung version, then moves to a piano trio, a vibes quintet, Charlie Parker and an early Wes Montgomery guitar date. It ends with the 1958 Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley session, Dexter Gordon and a 1993 quintet.

8 recordings, 1951 to 1993 · Play all 8 on YouTube ↗

  1. Oscar Peterson Trio1951 · Bebop
  2. Charlie Parker1954 · Bebop
  3. Wes Montgomery1955
  4. Ella Fitzgerald1956 · Vocal
  5. Sonny Criss1956 · Bebop
  6. Cannonball Adderley1958 · Hard bop
  7. Dexter Gordon1962 · Hard bop
  8. Wallace Roney1993 · Hard bop

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Learn the song

Ella Fitzgerald · 1956 · Vocal

“Love For Sale”, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book

Listen for
Listen for Paul Smith's piano and Barney Kessel's guitar under the voice, and count 16-bar sections to follow the A A B A form.
Try this
Hum the melody while you play two bars of E♭maj7 and two bars of B♭m7, twice through, to cover the first eight bars.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear the form in a trio

Oscar Peterson Trio · 1951 · Bebop

“Love For Sale”, Oscar Peterson Plays Cole Porter

Listen for
The session lists only piano, guitar and bass, so follow each instrument in turn through one chorus.
Try this
Play the melody with your right hand and one chord per two bars with your left, E♭maj7 then B♭m7, over the first eight bars.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a short horn version

Sonny Criss · 1956 · Bebop

“Love For Sale”, Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter

Listen for
Listen for Larry Bunker's vibes alongside Criss's alto; the whole take lasts 2:43.
Try this
Play the melody of one A section in B♭ minor and count the 16 bars out loud.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear the tune in bebop

Charlie Parker · 1954 · Bebop

“Love For Sale”, Charlie Parker Plays Cole Porter

Listen for
Listen for Billy Bauer's guitar and Walter Bishop Jr.'s piano behind Parker's alto.
Try this
Soloing over the changes takes more experience, so start smaller: play only the chord roots of the first eight bars, E♭ then B♭, two bars each, twice. Then try the melody over those roots.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a guitarist lead

Wes Montgomery (The Montgomery Brothers Quintet) · 1955

Almost Forgotten

Listen for
Listen for Wes Montgomery's guitar and Pookie Johnson's tenor saxophone in the front line.
Try this
Play the first four bars of the B section, one chord per bar: E♭m7, A♭7, D♭maj7, B♭7.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a landmark band

Cannonball Adderley (with Miles Davis) · 1958 · Hard bop

“Love For Sale”, Somethin' Else

Listen for
Listen for Miles Davis's trumpet and Adderley's alto in the front line, with Art Blakey on drums behind them.
Try this
Play the root of each chord in the first eight bars of the A section, two bars on E♭ then two on B♭, twice, as a bass line.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a tenor saxophone lead

Dexter Gordon · 1962 · Hard bop

“Love For Sale”, Go!

Listen for
Listen for Sonny Clark's piano behind Gordon's tenor and for Billy Higgins on drums.
Try this
Play the melody once through the 64 bars at a slow tempo and stop at the end of each 16-bar section to check where you are.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a recent quintet

Wallace Roney · 1993 · Hard bop, Post-bop

“Love For Sale”, Munchin'

Listen for
Listen for the trumpet and tenor saxophone together in the front line, with Geri Allen's piano and Kenny Washington's drums behind them.
Try this
Play the last four bars of the A section, one chord per bar: Cm7♭5, F7♭13, B♭m6, B♭m6.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

More great versions

6 more, from 1955 to 1982. Tap a cover to play it here.

  1. Hank Mobley Quartet1955 · Hard bop
  2. Zoot Sims Quartet1961 · Bebop
  3. The Dave Brubeck Quartet1966
  4. Phineas Newborn Jr. Trio1976
  5. Chet Baker1977 · Cool jazz
  6. The Joe Pass Trio1982 · Hard bop

How the tune works

B♭ minorusual key
64 barsA · A · B · A form
B♭ minor · D♭ major · E♭ minor · F minor, E, E♭ minorkeys it moves between

The tune runs 64 bars in A A B A form, with 16 bars in each section. Each A section stays in B♭ minor for eight bars, moving two bars at a time between E♭maj7 and B♭m7. It then turns through D♭ major for four bars and returns to B♭ minor. The B section opens in D♭ major for eight bars, settles on E♭ minor for four, and finishes with four bars of ii-V pairs, in F minor, E and E♭ minor, that lead back to the last A. Some performances add an eight-bar tag, which players often leave out.

Play the changes

B♭ minor
Open in iReal Pro ↗
A16 bars
E♭maj7
E♭maj7
B♭m7
B♭m7
E♭maj7
E♭maj7
B♭m7
B♭m7
E♭m7
A♭7
D♭maj7
G♭7
Cm7♭5
F7♭13
B♭m6
FineB♭m6
B16 bars
E♭m7
A♭7
D♭maj7
B♭7
E♭m7
A♭7
D♭maj7
D♭maj7
B♭7
B7B♭7
E♭m6
E♭m6
Gm7♭5C7♭9
Gm7♭5C7♭9
D.C. al FineF♯m7B7
Fm7♭5B♭7

Chart from iReal Pro's Jazz 1460 playlist, contributed by its users.