Tune Up Explained

"Tune Up" or "Tune-Up" is a composition written by Eddie Vinson, but is traditionally credited to Miles Davis, who first recorded and popularized it. It has become a jazz standard.

Background and history

"Tune Up" was first recorded on May 19, 1953, with John Lewis on piano, and first appeared on the Miles Davis album Blue Haze, released in 1956, for the Prestige label. John Coltrane was a member of both Vinson's band in the late 1940s and the Miles Davis Quintet and performed the tune on numerous occasions while with Davis.[1]

According to Jack Chamber in his book Milestones: The Music in Times of Miles Davis, both "Four" and "Tune Up" were always credited to Davis for decades, and nobody objected to the false crediting until decades later. Vinson was a blues singer at the time and had no use for the tune.[2] Davis is documented to have also recorded the tune on November 12, 1956, and November 30, 1957, both while in Paris.[3] Wes Montgomery recorded it in October 1960 for his album Movin' Along, and three takes of the tune appeared on his 1963 album Fusion! Wes Montgomery with Strings.

Composition

The tune is typically played in the key of D major, though also modulates through the tonal centres of C major and Bb major.It has been cited as a good example of a standard with ii-V-I progressions in three different keys, making it valuable to musicians learning to play jazz.[4] There are four ii-V-I cadences: Em7-A7-D major 7, D minor 7-G7-C major 7, C minor 7-F7-Bb major 7, and back to Em7-A7-Dmajor 7.[5] Mark Levine in The Jazz Piano Book describes "Tune Up" as a "popular jam session tune".[6]

Other versions

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Dawson, Michael. Connectionist Representations of Tonal Music. AU Press. 2018. 233. 9781771992206 .
  2. Jack Chamber: Milestones: The Music in Times of Miles Davis. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 1998 (unabr. paperback edn): Pt. 1, p. 184.
  3. Book: Cole, Bill. Miles Davis: The Early Years. 209–210. 1994. 9780306805547 .
  4. Web site: Tune Up. Learnjazzstandards.com. 7 June 2021.
  5. Book: Jazz Theory and Practice. Hellmer, Jeffrey . Lawn, Richard . Alfred Publishing Company. 2005. 99. 9781457410680 .
  6. Book: Levine, Mark. The Jazz Piano Book. SHER Music. 2011. 7–8. 9781457101441 .

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