The Meaning of the Blues

"The Meaning Of The Blues" (1957) is a jazz composition and song, with music by Bobby Troup and lyrics by Leah Worth.^[1]

This 32-bar piece, despite its title, is structurally not a blues, instead it consists of two 16-bar parts A, A', with a slight dramatic melodic heightening in A'. The melody is minor and remains in the diatonic range, apart from a leading note on the dominant chord in the second to last bar of each part. The piece is usually played as ballad with around 76 bpm or slightly less.

Notable recordings

• Michael Brecker - Now You See It… (Now You Don't) (1990)
• Miles Davis - Miles Ahead (1957)
• Miles Davis - Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (1961)
• Gil Evans - There Comes a Time (1975)
• Shirley Horn - The Main Ingredient (1995)
• Keith Jarrett - Standards (1983)
• Stan Kenton - Standards in Silhouette (1959)
• Linda Lawson - Introducing Linda Lawson (1960)
• Julie London - About the Blues (1957)
• Mark Murphy - That's How I Love the Blues! (1963)

References