Kobi Abcede

Jazz Improv 1
Professor Brad Shepik
10/31/17

Indiana and Donna Lee: A Comparative Analysis

The canon of jazz music depends greatly upon the popular music written at the time,

more specifically, rewriting that music to reflect modern musical and cultural trends. (Back

Home Again in) Indiana (referred to herein as Indiana), composed by James Hanley in the

1910s is an example of a piece of popular music that was reinvented by jazz musicians of the

time to modernize and reinvent an otherwise standard tune. A common practice in jazz

composition is the writing of contrafacts, compositions with a new melody based on the

chord changes of an existing piece of music. Aside of the creative stimulation of writing a

contrafact, musicians would often write them in order to evade paying publishing or

copyright fees, which were required upon rerecording someone else’s composition. It was

advantageous to be able to use existing chord changes, as artists were often already familiar

with them and would create a convenient vehicle for improvisation. One of the most

popular contrafacts in the jazz idiom is Donna Lee, written by Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, though

ownership has also been attributed to Miles Davis. This piece is both greatly similar and

vastly different from Indiana as a result of modifications to the rhythmic structure, a new

melody, and a different improvisational or soloistic approach to the piece.

Indiana, as it was a Tin Pan Alley pop tune, relies on a much simpler melodic structure

than Donna Lee. The melody lacks chromaticism and exists predominantly within the key

established at the beginning of the piece, and rhythmically, never becomes busier than at the

eighth note level. Additionally, Indiana was originally written in the key of F major, whereas
Davis’ contrafact was written in Ab major. Davis’ contrafact also greatly differs in its

rhythmic and melodic approach.

Most notably, Davis’ piece has an incredibly busy melodic structure. Characteristic of

bebop playing and composition, Davis’ melody consists of consistent eighth note runs

enclosing and outlining chord changes using extensive chromaticism and triplet rhythms. His

piece also begins on a half note rest, setting a different atmosphere for the piece from the

very top. This way of playing was slowly becoming the norm with trailblazers Charlie Parker

and Dizzy Gillespie setting the foundation for what we know as bebop today. Many

contrafacts of old standards are geared more towards showing instrumental prowess rather

than a simpler lyrical approach that say a vocalist would take as many of the old standards

had lyrics.

Donna Lee was first recorded by Charlie Parker about 70 years ago on May 8, 1947

with fellow jazz musicians: Miles Davis (Trumpet), Bud Powell (Piano), Tommy Potter

(Bass), and Max Roach (Drums). This tune is a staple in the Jazz standard repertoire and is a

classic example of the evolution of the music.