Butch & Butch
Will Patton
HI ALL - The tune for this issue is a nice be-bop blues called Butch & Butch, written by Oliver Nelson, appearing on his classic Impulse album "The Blues and the Abstract Truth". There are some great players on this recording, including Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans and Freddie Hubbard. All the tunes follow a general 'blues' format and demonstrate the flexibility of the blues form in jazz. See also Charlie Parker's "Blues for Alice" for another nice set of alternative blues changes.
The form for the tune is: intro / head / head / solos / head / head / outro. In measures 9 and 10 of the head the rhythm section accents the D7sus on the 2 and 4 beats. The solos are played over a more streamlined set of changes, something like:
| G | A-7 D7 | G | D-7 G7 | C | C#dim |
| G/D | B-7 Bb-7 | A-7 | D7 | G E- | A-7 D7 ||
The tablature I've indicated is the fingering that seems to work for me, but there are any number of ways to play this line.
I've included the 3 part voicings of the intro/outro for the ensemble players, it's also fun to multi-track. The first ending is for the intro, second for the boffo finish. The ranges would work for mandolin, mandola and either mandocello or guitar with the low E tuned down to a D. In place of a drum fill, otherwise dignified mando players have been known to rap out a rhythm on the top of their instruments.
