You, Personally, Are Playing There Will Never Be Another You Wrong

In my analysis of Dexter Gordon s solo on There Will Never Be Another You (from Bo
dy & Soul, recorded in 1967), I make a semi-biggish deal of Dexter s using a major
ii-V7 in bars 3 and 4: in other words, Dexter played Dm9 to G9 (concert key) in
that spot, instead of the God-ordained (as I put it back then) changes Dm7b5 to G
7(b9).
Related Post
Dexter GordonThere Will Never Be Another You transcription
Jazz musicians over the years have settled on those latter changes, which form a
minor ii-V7 progression with a half-dimished ii chord (a minor chord with a fla
tted fifth) and a V7 chord with a flatted ninth. The minor progression makes sen
se from a music theory standpoint, since the changes resolve in bar 5 to a C min
or chord. And it sounds good: those minor ii-V7s, with their flat fifths and fla
t ninths, give improvisers some meaty, darker harmonies to dig into...
Now, this might seem to be a nerdy inside baseball kind of observation (and that s o
nly because, let s face it, it is!)
however, the difference between the minor vs.
major ii-V7s is big: even non-musician normal-type human beings can hear it...
When I first came across this recording of Dexter and his major ii-V7s, chockful
l of natural fifths and ninths, I didn t recognize what he was up to: I thought he
was blowing some sort of especially fresh and interesting substitution. It was
a facepalm moment once I actually started transcribing the solo: nothing fancy o
r exotic to see here, folks just one of my heroes messing with my expectations!
Dexter was the first guy I ve heard consistently and relentlessly play major ii-V7
s at that spot on TWNBAY (don t be afraid, just an acronym...), but there was at l
east one other person who heard the tune that way even before Dexter did
and tha
t individual is Harry Warren, the guy who composed it!
Not long after I d posted my Dexter TWNBAY transcription, I heard from Terry Lukiw
ski, a fine trombonist based in Toronto. He d spotted my commentary on Dexter s nove
l (to me!) interpretation of the tune, and told me that Gordon was merely playin
g what Harry Warren had originally intended. Later, Terry was kind enough to sen
d me a copy of the original published arrangement. (He sent this to me almost ex
actly three years ago; it s apparently taken me till now to build up the emotional
strength to deal with this shattering development!)
Here s the relevant section, the first bars of the refrain, from the published arr
angement:
And here s what that sounds like:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5627085/blogfiles/therewill.mp3)
Here s the exact same arrangement, but with bars 3 and 4 minorized
the A s and E s in
hose bars flatted, so that we have D half-diminished 7 [or Dm7(b5)] to G7(b9), t
he common performance practice of the tune today:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5627085/blogfiles/therewillminor.mp3)
The first is sweet; the second bittersweet
ribing how I hear them.

at least, that s a succinct way of desc

So: which is correct ?

Well, it s worth noting that jazz musicians are hardly known for their fealty to a

composer s intentions
in this genre all about improvisation, the tune is often no
more than the half-pipe (by the way, the Winter Olympics are on TV right now...
) which the improvisor freestyles over: nobody really cares about the infrastruc
ture folks just tune in to see the cool moves.
However, jazz musicians, especially old-timers, have also been known to solemnly
advise youngsters and up-and-comers that they need to know the lyrics of a song
in order to properly interpret it.
The lyrics (written not by Warren, but by Mack Gordon) at that moment are: There
will be many other nights like this
a sweet, positive sentiment, right? And take
a look at the performance instruction there, buried under those guitar tabs: swe
etly, it says! Major ii-V7 all the way, dangit!
But the entire tune is definitely bittersweet: this is our last dance together, an
d while I ll meet other people and get on with my life, no one will ever get to me
the way you have. Yes, I may dream a million dreams, But how can they come true,
If there will never ever be another you?
Sob! Bittersweet! Minor ii-V7, fer sure!
Whichever: All I know is that Dexter played it sweet and happy that lovely July
night in Copenhagen, in 1967....
(Meanwhile, even if you don t know Harry Warren, you likely know some of his music
: in addition to TWNBAY, he wrote Lullaby of Broadway, Chattanooga Choo Choo, Je
epers Creepers, The More I See You, I ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo, You re My Everythin
g, Forty-Second Street, September in the Rain, You ll Never Know, I Only Have Eyes
for You, You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby, Lulu s Back in Town, and lots more
[Shuffle Off to Buffalo]!
However, even if you were already familiar with Harry Warren and his music, I ll b
et you didn t know that his birth name was Salvatore Antonio Guaragna!)