Using Shapes in Jazz Improv (on "End of a Love Affair")

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Excerpt is from the "End of a Love Affair" as performed LIVE 2/24/23 at TrioGram ft Lewis Nash @ The Ravenscroft JazzBird Lounge (Scottsdale, AZ). To listen to the FULL CUT of “End of a Love Affair” from this concert, click HERE.

Check out how we can take 1 improv shape (a descending 4-note arpeggio) and apply it 10 times over 5 chords. By continuing this idea, we are also able to blur the start of the Bridge and go beyond always playing in 4 bar phrases.

When we stack the 4-note shapes into chords, notice how:
1) The 2nd Arpeggio is usually always an inversion of the 1st Arpeggio
2) When changing chords, we are voice leading to a nearby arpeggio