Of particular interest are the dominant seventh chords with specific alterations: #9 and #5. Sometimes these two dominant seventh alterations appear together in the same chord, sometimes their colors are treated separately. Listen to the recording, play through this transcription of Bill’s solo in Example 1, go over the scale and chord relationships in Example 2, and then incorporate the different colors into your own playing.
An interesting bit of jazz folklore has it that “Blue In Green” is the result of two chords Miles allegedly gave to Bill as a problem to work out: Gm and Aaug. This could be interpreted as a ii-V in minor, with the Gm the upper structure of an Emin7b5, leading to an A7alt. The same harmonic relationship appears in this tune as Dm7 to E7#9. In any case, “Blue In Green” is an exquisite example of the work of both Bill Evans and Miles Davis.
Ex. 1. The first of Bill Evans’ two solos on “Blue In Green” is thoughtful and melodic. It contrasts starkly with his solos on the modal tunes, such as “So What” and “Flamenco Sketches.” He makes a distinction between the A7# 5 and E7# 9 chords in terms of his choice of notes; the differences are subtle, but they alter the color and mood of the chords. He used a good deal of scale tone triads drawn from the scales we’ll look at more closely in Example 2 on the following page. This is an excellent example of how to incorporate scale theory into your melodies to create lyrical lines.
Ex. 2. It’s wonderful to have so many amazing soloists to listen to on this tune; you can learn a lot by listening to how each one treats the dominant chords in “Blue in Green.” In 2a, you see Coltrane’s scale choice for the A7# 5; it’s the fifth mode of the melodic minor scale (in this instance, the D melodic minor), which is known as the Mixolydian b6. The left hand voicing is the one Bill uses during Trane’s solo. Another choice that works well is the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale, known as the altered Phrygian (2b). Notice the extra alteration of b9. 2c: The seventh mode of the melodic minor (Bb melodic minor in this case) is called the altered scale. One reason for that name is that the scale contains every note that can be altered in a dominant seventh chord (b9, #9, #11, b13). Other names are diminished whole tone (so called because of its intervallic structure), and super Locrian. The left-hand voicing in this case contains the #9 and b13. This is one of two scales that those two alterations appear in together, the other being the fifth mode of the harmonic minor (back in 2b). In 2d, the six-note whole tone scale does the job nicely. Notice the left-hand voicing contains the #5 along with the guide tones (third and seventh). 2e: The eight-note diminished scale (a.k.a, auxiliary diminished, half-step whole-step diminished) contains all the dominant alterations except the #5/b13 — which is why the diminished scale isn’t the best choice over the A7+5 chord. You can use it if that’s what your ears want; given the clash of the b13 in the voicing and the natural 13 in the scale, a little dissonance never hurts. For the E7+9 in 2f, you can use the diminished scale; a common alternate chord symbol for this is E7b9. The left-hand voicing that Bill played contains the third, seventh, and #9. The E altered scale (2g) is a great choice for E7# 9. E altered Phrygian is another option (2h), as it contains the #9 and #5/b13, as does the left hand voicing.