Bill Evans, music · Gene Lees, lyrics · First recorded as a solo piano piece on New Jazz Conceptions, 1956
Waltz for Debby
Waltz for Debby is a jazz waltz Bill Evans wrote in 1956 for his young niece. Players like its chords with classical-style inversions and the bass line that steps down through the first section. Hear it on Evans's 1961 Village Vanguard album and in versions by Tony Bennett and Oscar Peterson.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Bill Evans✓
- 2 Hear the trio Bill Evans Trio✓
- 3 Hear a horn lead it Cannonball Adderley with Bill Evans✓
- 4 Hear another piano trio Oscar Peterson Trio✓
- 5 Hear a Swedish lyric Monica Zetterlund with Bill Evans Trio✓
- 6 Hear the English lyric Tony Bennett and Bill Evans✓
- 7 Hear it on guitar John McLaughlin✓
- 8 Hear it today Chick Corea and Gary Burton✓
How the tune works
The theme runs 80 bars in 3/4, far longer than a 32-bar standard. A (bars 1 to 16) opens in F on Fmaj7/A, Dm7, Gm7 and C7. The bass then steps down under A7, D7, G7, C7, F7 and B♭6 until Gm7♭5 and C7 reach Am7, Dm7, Gm7 and C7. A² (17 to 32) begins the same way, then runs A7/C♯, D7/C, G7/B and C7/B♭ and climbs through A7, Dm7, B7 and E7 into four bars of A major. B (33 to 48) comes back to F on Gm7 and C7, moves through pairs of minor seventh and dominant chords, touches B♭maj7, then A♭maj7 and D♭maj7, and ends on Gm7 and C7. C (49 to 80) repeats the opening of A, turns toward A again with Bm7 and E7, passes F7 and B♭maj7, and settles through G7, G♯°7 and C7 into F6, with Dm7, Gm7 and C7 as a turnaround. On the 1961 trio record the solos move to 4/4 over a 40-bar form.
One shared iReal Pro chart, in F and in 3/4 with one chord to a bar, set out four bars to a line: A (bars 1–16), A² (17–32), B (33–48) and C (49–80).
Taken from the chord data in the JazzStandards collection on GitHub, which its readme says is pulled from the iReal Pro database of user-submitted charts. It gives Waltz for Debby in F, 3/4, as three sections of 32, 16 and 32 bars. Here the first section is split into A and A1 at bar 16, which matches the A, A1, B, C layout in an analysis quoted on the jazzguitar.be forum (A and B 16 bars each, C 32 bars; C is 10 bars of A, 10 bars of variation and 12 bars that resolve). The Jazz Guitar Today etude lesson by Barry Wahrhaftig agrees on the points that can be checked against it: seventh-to-third bass movement in bars 5 to 11, third-to-seventh movement in bars 21 to 24, a move to A major at bar 29, and a return to F through Gm7 and C7 at the start of B. Wahrhaftig counts bars 5 to 29 in 3/4 and the later parts in 4/4, so his bar 17 for the start of B is bar 33 here. A slash chord marks the bass note, as in A7/G in bar 5. A7alt is the source's own spelling, and the chart ends on F6, Dm7, Gm7 and C7 as a turnaround to the top. Other readings differ. A recital research paper on Evans's tunes from Towson University writes bars 13 to 20 as Am7, Dm7, Gm7, C7, Am7, Dm7, Gm7, C7, where this chart has Fmaj7/A in bar 17, and a forum poster counts 20 bars in the last section of a Real Book chart against 22 on the recording. The analysis quoted on the forum says the solos on the 1961 record run over a 40-bar form in 4/4, so this chart covers the theme only.
Source: Waltz For Debby: chord data, JazzStandards (iReal Pro database), GitHub
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with Evans alone in 1956 and his 1961 trio, then adds a saxophone, another piano trio, two vocals, a guitar and a piano and vibraphone duo. Each step gives you one thing to hear and one thing to try.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Bill Evans 1956
New Jazz Conceptions
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- Listen for
- Evans plays alone and the track runs only 1:18, so the tune is easy to hear by itself before the longer versions.
- Try this
- Play the melody once with your right hand. Then add the chart's first four chords in your left hand, one per bar: Fmaj7/A, Dm7, Gm7, C7. Smaller version: play only the bass note of each chord.
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Step 2 · Hear the trio Now playing
Bill Evans Trio 1961
“Waltz for Debby (Take 2)”, Waltz for Debby
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- Listen for
- The first time through is in 3/4. The melody then returns in 4/4 swing, and Evans starts his solos on the third time through the form.
- Try this
- Count three to a bar through the first chorus. When the melody comes back in 4/4, switch to counting four. Play the chart's A section (bars 1 to 16) in three with the record. Smaller version: tap three beats to a bar and change to four when the feel changes.
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Step 3 · Hear a horn lead it Now playing
Cannonball Adderley with Bill Evans 1961
Know What I Mean?
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- Listen for
- An alto sax leads here, with Evans on piano in the band. Evans arranged the sessions, and the bass and drums come from the Modern Jazz Quartet's rhythm section.
- Try this
- Sing or hum the melody along with the saxophone, breathing where the sax breathes. Then play it on your own instrument with the chart's chords under it, one per bar.
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Step 4 · Hear another piano trio Now playing
Oscar Peterson Trio 1962
“Waltz for Debbie”, Affinity
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- Listen for
- Peterson leads a piano, bass and drums trio, the same instruments as Evans's trio. Compare how this trio shares the song with the Village Vanguard version.
- Try this
- Play the chart's first eight bars slowly, melody in your right hand and one chord per bar in your left. Then play along with the record's opening and listen for how this trio treats the same eight bars.
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Step 5 · Hear a Swedish lyric Now playing
Monica Zetterlund with Bill Evans Trio 1964
“Monicas vals”, Waltz for Debby
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- Listen for
- Zetterlund sings the tune in Swedish with Evans, Chuck Israels and Larry Bunker behind her. The track runs 2:47.
- Try this
- Hum or sing the melody on one syllable along with Zetterlund. Then play the chart's A section (bars 1 to 16) as a trio would, one chord per bar. Smaller version: hum the first four bars.
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Step 6 · Hear the English lyric Now playing
Tony Bennett and Bill Evans 1975
The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album
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- Listen for
- Evans solos here and stays in 3/4. On his trio records he usually shifts to 4/4 for solos. The voice carries the tune with only the piano underneath.
- Try this
- Sing or hum the melody with Bennett, using the words if you know them. Then play the chart's A section in three, holding each chord for the whole bar under a voice or a hummed line.
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Step 7 · Hear it on guitar Now playing
John McLaughlin 1993
“Waltz for Debby (Instrumental)”, Time Remembered: John McLaughlin Plays Bill Evans
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- Listen for
- The album credits list acoustic guitars and acoustic bass, with no piano or drums. Listen for how guitar chords stand in for the piano chords on the earlier records.
- Try this
- If you play guitar, write the chart's first four chords as shapes and strum one per bar. Smaller version for any instrument: hum the melody over the track and tap three beats to a bar.
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Step 8 · Hear it today Now playing
Chick Corea and Gary Burton 2007
“Waltz For Debby (Live At Bjornsonhuset in Molde, Norway, 2007)”, The New Crystal Silence
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- Listen for
- The track credit names only Corea on piano and Burton on vibraphone, so each instrument covers more than one job. The track runs 8:03.
- Try this
- Play it as a duo with a friend: one plays the melody, the other plays the chart's chords, one per bar. Alone, play the melody with your right hand and the root of each bar's chord with your left.
More great versions
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Bill Evans Trio 1969
You're Gonna Hear From Me
A live trio version from Copenhagen with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell, recorded in November 1969 and first issued in 1988.
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Bill Evans Trio 1971
The Bill Evans Album
The studio version on The Bill Evans Album, a trio record with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell, runs more than seven minutes.
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Earl Klugh 1976
Earl Klugh
Earl Klugh plays the song on guitar on his 1976 debut album, which Dave Grusin arranged.
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Bill Evans Trio 1980
“Waltz For Debby (Recorded September 7, 1980)”, The Last Waltz: The Final Recordings
Evans's last recording of the song, made live at the Keystone Korner eight days before he died, with Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera.
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Kronos Quartet with Eddie Gomez and Jim Hall 1985
Music of Bill Evans
The Kronos Quartet play the song with Eddie Gomez and Jim Hall on a 1985 album of Bill Evans's music produced by Orrin Keepnews.
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Ralph Towner 1991
Open Letter
Ralph Towner plays the song on guitar on his 1992 ECM album Open Letter, recorded in Oslo.