Style:

Swing, usually played at an up tempo.

Form:

A-A-B-A (54 Bars) [14-14-12-14]

Arrangements:

The last 4 bars of the B section are played with a Samba feel throughout the entire performance.

Key:

Atonal

Harmony/Overview:

The  harmony of this composition is not functional, and the melody is  centered around a pentatonic line that makes extensive use of various  side-stepping techniques. Take the first few changes of the A sections  for example: Cm7 - Amaj7 - AbMaj7. To outline the harmony the melody  moves from G minor pentatonic (Cmi7) to G# minor pentatonic (AMaj7), and  finishes off the phrase with F minor pentatonic (AbMaj7). The rest of  the melody continues in a similar fashion, weaving in and out of the  seemingly unrelated chord changes with passages that are made up almost  entirely of 4ths. The bridge is also rather complex, beginning with Gmi6  - Ab7sus - Bmin7 - Dmin7. Despite the changes that seem to have nothing  to do with one other, the upper-structures of the first few chords  manage to consist of Maj7 chords that descend Major 3rds: Gmi6 (BbMaj7) -  Ab7sus (GbMaj7) - Bmi7 (DMaj7). The final 4 bars are made up of 7sus  chords descending in minor 3rd's.

Recordings:

This  song has been recorded just a handful of times to date. It was first  introduced on Larry Young's album Unity in 1965, and this was the only  occasion that Woody Shaw ever recorded it. It has since become one of  Shaw's most cherished compositions, and it offers tremendous insight  into his distinctly individualistic harmonic and melodic concept.

JGC Top Picks:

Larry Young, Unity, 1965

Ralph Peterson's Unity Project, Outer Reaches, 2010

Alex Sipiagin, Generations: Dedicated to Woody Shaw, 2010