"Tune Up" or "Tune-Up" is a composition written by
Eddie Vinson
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (born Edward L. Vinson Jr.; December 18, 1917 – July 2, 1988) was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and rhythm and blues, R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed "Cleanhead" after an incident in wh ...
, but is traditionally credited to
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
, 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
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
on piano, and first appeared on the Miles Davis album ''
Blue Haze
''Blue Haze'' is a compilation album of tracks recorded in 1953 and 1954 by Miles Davis for Prestige Records.
Overview
The album is a reissue in 12" format of the 10" LP '' Miles Davis Quartet'' (PRLP 161), with " I'll Remember April" added. ...
'', released in 1956, for the Prestige label.
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...
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.
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. Davis is documented to have also recorded the tune on November 12, 1956, and November 30, 1957, both while in Paris.
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...
recorded it in October 1960 for his album ''
Movin' Along
''Movin' Along'' is an album by American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in April 1961. It was reissued in the Original Jazz Classics series with two alternate takes. All the tracks are available in the Wes Montgomery compilation CD-set ...
D major
D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
, though also modulates through the tonal centres of
C major
C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...
and
Bb major
BB, Bb, or similar, may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* BB numbers, in the catalogue of works by Béla Bartók
* "BB", a chant supporting Big Brother in ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''
* ''BB'', a 2017 album by Mod Sun
* BB, a character in '' Beas ...
.
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. 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.
Mark Levine
Mark Andrew LeVine is an American historian, musician, writer, and professor. He is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine.
Education
LeVine received his B.A. in comparative religion and biblical studies from Hunter ...
in '' The Jazz Piano Book'' describes "Tune Up" as a "popular jam session tune".
Stan Levey
Adolph Stanley Levey known professionally as Stan Levey (April 5, 1926 – April 19, 2005) was an American jazz drummer. He was known for working with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the early development of bebop during the 1940s, and in ...
(1956) - ''
This Time the Drum's on Me
This may refer to:
* ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun
Places
* This (Egypt), or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt
* This, Ardennes, a commune in France
* This, a country mentioned in the ''Periplus of the Erythrae ...
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...
- ''
Max Roach + 4 at Newport
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE)
* Max (gorilla) (1 ...
'' (1958)
*
Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians.
In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...
- ''
Newk's Time
''Newk's Time'' is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins recorded on September 22, 1957 and released on Blue Note in 1959—his third album for the label.
Recording
The album was recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, o ...
Fat Jazz
''Fat Jazz'', also referred to as ''Jackie McLean Plays Fat Jazz'', is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean, which was recorded in late 1957 and released by the Jubilee label in 1959.
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...
- ''
Movin' Along
''Movin' Along'' is an album by American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in April 1961. It was reissued in the Original Jazz Classics series with two alternate takes. All the tracks are available in the Wes Montgomery compilation CD-set ...
Tune Up!
''Tune Up!'' is an album by organist Don Patterson (organist), Don Patterson featuring tracks recorded in 1964 and 1969 which was released by Prestige Records, Prestige in 1971.Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...
- ''
Tune-Up!
''Tune-Up!'' is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1972 and released on the Cobblestone Records, Cobblestone label.The George Shearing Trio - ''
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
'' (1978)
*
Monty Alexander
Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was in ...
with Ray Brown and Jeff Hamilton - '' Facets'' (1980)
*
Grant Green
Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer.
Green has been called one of the "most sampled guitarists."
Biography
Grant Green was born on June 6, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri, to John and ...
Hank Mobley
Henry Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone, that was neithe ...
Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. ...
Stan Getz
Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...
&
Albert Dailey
Albert Preston Dailey (June 16, 1939 – June 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist.
Early life
Dailey was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents were Albert Preston Dailey Sr, and Gertrude Johnson Dailey.Jon Pareles"Albert Dailey, 46, Jazz P ...
Ronnie Cuber
Ronald Edward Cuber (December 25, 1941 – October 7, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. He also played in Latin, pop, rock, and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he played tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet, ...
Larry Bunker
Lawrence Benjamin Bunker (November 4, 1928 – March 8, 2005) was an American jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and percussionist. A member of the Bill Evans Trio in the mid-1960s, he also played timpani with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.
...
Cindy Blackman
Cindy Blackman (born November 18, 1959), known as Cindy Blackman Santana since she married guitarist Carlos Santana in 2010, is an American jazz and Rock music, rock drummer performing since the 80s. Blackman has recorded several jazz albums as ...
Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by ''Jazz Journalists Association'', Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including mul ...
,
Jacky Terrasson
Jacky Terrasson (born November 27, 1965) is a French jazz pianist and composer.
Background
Terrasson's mother is African-American from Georgia, and his father is French. From his parents he heard classical music as a child. He began piano lesson ...
Cubismo
Cubismo is a Croatian music band of eleven members playing salsa and latin jazz. The band was formed in 1995 by a gathering of eight eminent musicians from various Croatian music bands. They also featured a Venezuelan vocalist Ricardo Luque.
Over ...
Conte Candoli
Secondo "Conte" Candoli (July 12, 1927 – December 14, 2001) was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orc ...
, featuring
Jan Lundgren
Jan Lundgren (born 22 March 1966) is an internationally active Swedish jazz musician. He is a pianist, composer, and senior lecturer at the Malmö Academy of Music, where he has taught since autumn 1991, as well as the artistic director of the ...
,
Chuck Berghofer
Charles Curtis Berghofer (born June 14, 1937) is an American double bassist and electric bassist, who has worked in jazz and as a session musician in the film industry for more than 60 years, including working on more than 400 movie soundtracks.
...
,
Joe LaBarbera
Joseph James LaBarbera (born February 22, 1948) is an American jazz drummer and composer. He is best known for his recordings and live performances with the trio of pianist Bill Evans in the final years of Evans's career. His older brothers are ...
Frank Morgan
Francis Phillip Wuppermann (June 1, 1890 – September 18, 1949), known professionally as Frank Morgan, was an American character actor. He was best known for his appearances in films starting in the silent era in 1916, and then numerous sound ...
Wayne Wallace
Wayne John Wallace is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer and coach who represented New Zealand in the 1988 World Cup final.
Playing career
Wallace played in the Canterbury Rugby League club competition for Hornby, although he spent ...
John Brown John Brown most often refers to:
*John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859
John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to:
Academia
* John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
(2007)
*
Claudio Roditi
Claudio Roditi (May 28, 1946 – January 17, 2020) was a Brazilian jazz trumpeter. In 1966 Claudio was named a trumpet finalist at the International Jazz Competition in Vienna, Austria. While in Vienna, Roditi met Art Farmer, one of his idols, an ...
Duduka Da Fonseca
Duduka Da Fonseca, born Eduardo Moreira Da Fonseca (Rio de Janeiro, March 31, 1951) is a Brazilian jazz drummer who is a founding member of Trio da Paz with Romero Lubambo and Nilson Matta. He leads the Duduka da Fonseca Trio, with David Feldman ...
(February 10, 2009)
*
Wagner Tiso
Wagner Tiso Veiga (born 12 December 1945) is a musician, arranger, conductor, pianist and composer from Brazil.
Born in Três Pontas, Tiso learned music theory with Paulo Moura and specialised in keyboards. In 1970, he joined Som Imaginário, work ...
(April 10, 2009)
*
Steve Howe Trio
The Steve Howe Trio was an English jazz trio led by Yes guitarist Steve Howe. Howe formed the band in 2007 with his son Dylan Howe on drums and Ross Stanley on Hammond organ.
History
The Steve Howe Trio toured the United Kingdom in 2007. The se ...
Noël Akchoté
Noël Akchoté (born 7 December 1968) is a French guitarist in free improvisation, classical, experimental, and free jazz.
Career
Starting on guitar at when he was eight years old,Philippe Carles, André Clergeat et Jean-Louis Comolli, ''Dictio ...
Gregory Tardy
Gregory Tardy (born February 3, 1966) is an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, who has released albums for the record labels WJ3 Records SteepleChase Records, J Curve Records, and Impulse! Records.Allmusic discography/ref> He has played w ...