Clifford Brown - 1954
Clifford Brown was just 23 when he wrote and recorded ‘Daahoud’. Two years later he died in a car accident. The piece “plays with the listeners expectations” brilliantly without ever feeling gimmicky.
‘Daahoud’ shows how we can accept II – V – I patterns in modified form. Brown’s opening phrase outlines an Eb minor chord with a Major 7 and a 9th. This establishes the key but implies a minor key with the b3 and M7 (see more on Harmonic Minor here – Link). He immediately switches the function of that minor chord to set up a II – V – I to a temporary key centre of Db. The Db is minor so it sets up a new centre of Cb. The Cb starts a descending linear group back to Eb.
The ‘B’ section has two temporary key centres with two II – V – I groups. The Gb is a “sister chord” to the tonic Eb minor, with its three common tones, which sets up a return to the ‘A’ section.
