"Bolivia" is a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive li ...

written by American jazz pianist

Cedar Walton Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and co ...

. It is regarded as his best-known composition.

Background

Bolivia was first recorded on Eastern Rebellion's self-titled album released in 1976 with Cedar Walton on piano, George Coleman on tenor saxophone, Sam Jones on bass, and

Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, ...

on drums.

Musical composition

Bolivia is composed in

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable com ...

and typically played in an Afro-Cuban style. The song contains a bass

ostinato In music, an ostinato (; derived from Italian word for ''stubborn'', compare English ''obstinate'') is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces include ...

that is repeated throughout the first 16 bars of the song. The first 16 bars are entirely based upon a G7(13) chord. The B section—or the final 16 bars—contains the following form. After the B-section, the song repeats with the same bass ostinato.

Notable recordings

* Eastern Rebellion in ''Eastern Rebellion (1976)'' * Sam Jones in '' Something in Common (1978)'' * Doug Raney Quintet in I'll Close My Eyes (1982) *

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives ...

in Bolivia (1991) * Cody Moffett in ''Evidence (1993)'' * John Carlini in ''Further Adventures (2007)'' * Sean Dobbins and the Modern Jazz Messengers in ''Blue Horizons (2008)''

References

1970s jazz standards Jazz compositions {{Jazz-composition-stub Jazz compositions in G major Jazz standards