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What's the relation in chord progressions between Jazz and Blues? I only read the article quickly so it might be mentioned, but it's odd that the title says "Ja

What's the relation in chord progressions between Jazz and Blues? I only read the article quickly so it might be mentioned, but it's odd that the title says "Jazz" and mostly deals with the progressions known as "12 bar blues". A straight 12-bar blues progression would be recognized as "blues" by any listener, so presumably there is something that makes such a progression sound more like jazz than blues. But what is it? Is it through the number of tweaks added, such as more "jazzy" chords like 9/11/13 chords? Is there something else that distinguishes jazz from blues in a 12 bar progression? Edit: I found an explanation here: https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/71149/how-can-you-recognize-whether-a-song-is-blues-or-jazz https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/71149/how-can-you-...

tgv 6y ago
I think the article focuses on the 12 chord blues progression to show how the rules can turn I-IV-I-V into something which could be considered jazz, by introducing sevenths and substitutions. And since it's a generative grammar, it also needs a starting point...
prionassembly 6y ago
Short answer to the narrower question: a "jazz blues" song like Parker's "Blues for alice" has a turnaround. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnaround_(music) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnaround_(music) OTOH straight delta/Chicago blues can compress the whole I/IV/V language in a single bar, as in Muddy Waters' "Mannish boy".
kleinsch 6y ago
Blues is both a style of music as well as the name of a chord progression (that’s used in that style of music). You could play that chord progression in a Latin or bebop style and you’d be playing a 12-bar blues, but you wouldn’t be playing the Blues.
- WorldMaker 6y ago
  A fun example: NRBQ has a (classic) song called "12-Bar Blues" with lyrics about playing a "12-bar blues" and demonstrates a 12-bar blues progression inside it but whose tone/style is much farther toward R&B/Rock than the Blues.
aczerepinski 6y ago
The chords don’t need to be different. A jazz blues would also (usually) be characterized by a walking bass and lack of a backbeat on the drums. Thelonious Monk’s “Blue Monk” is an example with pretty standard blues changes. That being said, there are infinite variations of blues chord progressions in the jazz canon. Some great examples are Charles Mingus’s “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” and “Nostalgia in Times Square.” Then you have examples that are closer to standard blues but with a few substitutions, like Joe Henderson’s “Isotope.”
tunesmith 6y ago
All rules have exceptions, but the top two that come to mind is that blues usually start with a dominant 7th chord (for the I) while jazz standards don't, and blues usually has a 12-bar progression while jazz has a 32-bar AABA structure.

tgv 6y ago

I think the article focuses on the 12 chord blues progression to show how the rules can turn I-IV-I-V into something which could be considered jazz, by introducing sevenths and substitutions. And since it's a generative grammar, it also needs a starting point...

prionassembly 6y ago

Short answer to the narrower question: a "jazz blues" song like Parker's "Blues for alice" has a turnaround. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnaround_(music) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnaround_(music) OTOH straight delta/Chicago blues can compress the whole I/IV/V language in a single bar, as in Muddy Waters' "Mannish boy".

kleinsch 6y ago

Blues is both a style of music as well as the name of a chord progression (that’s used in that style of music). You could play that chord progression in a Latin or bebop style and you’d be playing a 12-bar blues, but you wouldn’t be playing the Blues.

WorldMaker 6y ago
A fun example: NRBQ has a (classic) song called "12-Bar Blues" with lyrics about playing a "12-bar blues" and demonstrates a 12-bar blues progression inside it but whose tone/style is much farther toward R&B/Rock than the Blues.

aczerepinski 6y ago

The chords don’t need to be different. A jazz blues would also (usually) be characterized by a walking bass and lack of a backbeat on the drums. Thelonious Monk’s “Blue Monk” is an example with pretty standard blues changes. That being said, there are infinite variations of blues chord progressions in the jazz canon. Some great examples are Charles Mingus’s “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” and “Nostalgia in Times Square.” Then you have examples that are closer to standard blues but with a few substitutions, like Joe Henderson’s “Isotope.”

tunesmith 6y ago

All rules have exceptions, but the top two that come to mind is that blues usually start with a dominant 7th chord (for the I) while jazz standards don't, and blues usually has a 12-bar progression while jazz has a 32-bar AABA structure.