Duke Jordan - 1954
‘Jordu’ is a 1953 composition by the great Duke Jordan. It came to the fore with the Clifford Brown / Max Roach recording of 1954.
This is another piece based on harmonic minor harmony. The analysis of ‘Nica’s Dream’ goes into some detail about this harmony and can be used as a primer (Link).
Jordan sets up the minor harmony in bar 2 with a II – V – I sequence to the tonic C minor. The listener doesn’t know it’s in a minor key (or probably cares!) but the listener does recognize a II – V -I.
Example 1 shows the difference between an “expected” II – V – I sequence and a minor one. Instead of D minor 7 – G7 – C7 we have D major 7 – G7 – C minor 6.
Getting ready for improvisation you probably want to start by working on II-V-I changes in C harmonic minor (Example 2). Notice how the flat 7 (Cm7) is going to clash with the natural 7 of the scale – play around with that b6 instead. Notice how the Cm b6 is the same as an Ab7 (a good chance to play with some expectations!)
