Track #1 on evolution is “Tattered and Torn.”

Composed the day my first jazz band, Rhythm Method, broke up. Not a sad song at all; it was time to move on. By that, I do not mean to imply anything was wrong with the other band members; they were great. However, I had changed. Emulating was over; duplicating was over; innovating was beginning.

In the U.S., I’m afraid Jazz has become little more than historical reenactment. That is, the mainstream jazz societies and venues seem to want performers duplicating the sound of jazz bands from 50 years ago. Fellow musicians disparage innovation and modern instruments—to sound like Wes Montgomery or Django Reinhardt, they go to the extent of even buying exactly the same equipment and amps, as if the last 50 to 80 years of sound technology had never been.

Fine, but I want my music to be more than comfort food. Hasn’t the world heard “All of Me”, “Blue Bossa”, and “Autumn Leaves” enough times to say it’s been done and move on?

Jazz used to be about innovation and creation. Now, with Lincoln Center and jazz purists breathing down our collective necks, how are we supposed to revel in a music that at one point was mainly predictable in being unpredictable?

That’s the story behind the tune. As for the music, it is written in 7/4 time, returning to 4/4 on the chorus, a form of tension-and-release that I’d been playing with for a while. The main riff is in Am; the chorus alternates between Dm (Dm7 or Dm69) and Am (Am7 or Am13).

The bridge is a different story. I paused the music a bit and filled in the following four chords over 8 bars: Dm (DmMaj7 or Dm69); Eb dim; E phrygian (G7 / E), and Fmaj7#11.

The melody evolved over many times experience with the song. I started recording versions of “Tattered and Torn” as far back as 2004, but only recorded the final version on July 9, 2005. Finally, the song was “speaking to me”, and I knew it was ready.