Charlie Parker practiced out of Hyqcinthe Klosé’s 1882 “25 Daily Exercises for Saxophone” The bebop scale was written 6 times in first exercise in 1882.
Not entirely convinced. It's such a common sort of progression 5#, 5, 5#, 5, 1, which is really just a variation (using the tritone sub) of 2,5,2,5,1, which itself is just a common variation on 2 (two bars), 5 (2 bars), 1. All of these are natural introductions, used frequently.
Do you know who the arranger was for Good Jelly Blues? I know Tadd Dameron and Gil Fuller among others wrote for the band. I also wonder, in the face of the skepticism of some commenters, whether Dizzy or anybody who was around then actually said it was lifted from the Prelude. I played that intro, which is a simple 3 note riff, for over 40 years (and Mom played the Prude, too) before anyone pointed out it was the same notes. Obviously, Mingus got it. I'm inclined to say it's possible, and even likely, but it could have just happened; I'd believe someone who was there in 44/45.
How about a new intro? I've been singing this for awhile and I've started telling the musicians that if I hear the intro again, (I know it's great.) I'll throw something at them. The tune has a verse. Please leave a reply here if you come up with another cool intro. In my opinion, it's time for one: ditto for "Star Eyes". Thank you! Thanks for the very informative video.
Right on! While these classic bebop intros can be great, especially in jam sessions and pickup bands, for a vocal version, a normal intro would be better, and have more to do with the song. The verse is OK, too-it's a beautiful bit, but the song is plenty strong without it. There's an opinion going around that if a verse was written, you should perform it, but that's rarely true of dance band recordings of the era from which these songs come, and also rare on jazz recordings. If your audience has come to sit still and listen to you deliver stories, rubato verses can work. If you're doing background or playing for dancing, better to start in swinging the refrain.
Have you heard the recording of Dark Eyes by Maxine Sullivan? The intro is certainly inspired by Rachmaninov, the arranger and pianist on that date was Claude Thornhill: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V_dWXVxaMCw.html
