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I don't think so. I'm not really aware of too many occurances of this in any jazz style, but I'm sure it's done. I think Bill Evans does this sort of thing often enough, but I wouldn't say that he's a bebop player. He wrote tunes like this alot. Like Comrade Conrad, which modulates through the ascending circle of 5ths through I think 9 keys before returning to the head in the original key.

OK Scott, thought I'd check with an expert. I was listening to Kenny Dorham's Ladybird and wasn't sure whether he used the turnaround to change keys between the head and the improv.

I don't know... maybe he did. Which version are you listening to? I know that Ladybird has a strange turnaround (I - bIII - bVI - bII) that might give the impression of a modulation.

Nothing strange about a Tad Dameron turnaround
All (except the root) Tritone substitutions - the beauty of it in my pow, is that it's all Maj7th chords so there's no false leading to another key.
On the other hand, the turnaround can be transformed into many cool variations.

Checkout CC: Here's the lead sheet.

I agree with Criss about Hals Forward motion, there's things discussed in that book that I haven't seen anywhere else so far that's of vital importance. I also agree that it's poorly written. There should be a revised edition with some editing and text formatting.

Yeah, you're right. I was just thinking that with the non-diatonic root movement it sounds different than a typical I-vi-ii-V kind of thing. I don't think it sounds like it modulates, but I guess it's possible it might be heard that way.

Chris: Thanks for posting the lead sheet for Comrade Conrad. I'd never heard of this fascinating piece. Just so I understand how it works:
1. The first A, which in in 4/4 is in Abmaj/Fmin.
2. The last four bars set up a modulation to the B section, which is in Ebmaj/Cmin, and also in 3/4.
3. If you continue the piece, you would solo over the changes in A, in 4/4, but in Bbmaj/Gmin.
4. When you reach the B section, you'd change to 3/4 and play the changes but in Fmaj/Dim.
5. And so on, until you are ready to play the original key, at which point you play the head? (Assuming your head hasn't spun off it's mooring)

Thanks,

Sorry I got a little busy --

Scott, I really enjoyed that Here's a Rainy Day tutorial. I've asked somewhere in this thread for reharm ideas on that and no one answered. I'll have to study that closely.

While I was at it, I saw you do a video of Bye Bye blackbird so that was good to see too. As you know I'm learning this too and seeing if I can introduce a little bebop stylings into what I do. You're the one to copy for that

How I view it:
A is in Ab and 4/4
B is in Eb and 3/4 (bar 17)

Next would be Bb and 4/4, then F and 3/4, then C and 4/4, then G and 3/4, then D and 4/4,
then A and 3/4, then E and 4/4, then B and 3/4, then F# and 4/4, then C#(Db) in 3/4,
Then back to Ab . . .

Hi Scott and Chris
Thanks for Comrade Conrad and the explanation, what a beautiful song, and no wonder so few have attempted it due to its complexity.

For the Ladybird version by Kenny Dorham, I wasn't sure what was happening at 0:43.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSXe8FKoJA0

It's a line written out for the turnaround which was previously described (the bIII, bVI bII)

Yeah, that's just the turnaround, I-bIII-bVI-bII. Great tune!

Thanks Scep and Scott.

Comrade Conrad may just be the most entertaining way to practice your II-V-Is. It's got both major and minor II-V-Is, and cycles through all of the keys. I made it through the whole cycle (with lots of pauses) but had to ignore the 4/4, 3/4 sequence.

Anyone know if Bill Evans wrote this as a sort of challenge, and it just turned into a neat tune? Kind of like Ravel's Bolero, which, as I recall, he wrote as an exercise in orchestation and it turned into his most popular piece.

New tune to me. Thanks for the Leadsheet!

For those of you who don't already know about this, Spotify is a great resource for listening to different versions of tunes and it's free (if you don't mind an occasional advertisement).

http://www.spotify.com/us/start/?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=start

I just checked and there are 6 versions of Comrade Conrad played by Bill Evans. And the other day I searched for Skylark and found over 100 versions by different artists... great for comparisons or finding new ways to approach tunes.

The Tom Harrell solo on the original Bill Evans recording of Comrade Conrad is a gem. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of that solo over the years. Taking 1, 2, 3, even 4 bar phrases and transposing to all 12 keys.

TH is one of my favorites...

Knots
I couldn't open the link

BTW Knotty, I never did figure this out. Since you took it out already, what was it?