Jazz Blues Jam Track – ala “Footprints”

I am labeling this jam ‘jazz blues’ but it is not a traditional jazz-blues 12-bar progression. That is for another lesson. However, I found this minor jazz blues jam to be one of the easier jazz progressions to solo over as I made the transition from rock style guitar to blues to jazz. It is modeled on the tune “Footprints” by sax great Wayne Shorter, who played with Miles Davis, in the fusion super-group Weather Report as well as leading his own solo projects.

Footprints Jam Track

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The progression is a great one for jamming. It is a 12-bar progression using just four relatively simple chords – Cm7, Fm7, D7 and Db7. The track has two distinct different feels for soloing over divided into two choruses each.  And, since it swings in the time signature of 6/4, this jam track makes for a great change up from the usual ‘common time’.

Though the progression is open to scale substitutions (especially over the D7-Db7 changes) you can solo nicely using just the C Minor Pentatonic Scale. Here are some scale suggestions. The Dorian mode works well over the Cm7 chord. The Aeolian is excellent for the Fm7 change.