Beirut by Steps Ahead

This tune by Steps Ahead is a really interesting one. The melody uses an interplay between the minor and major 3rds over a static Dm7 chord.

This was a common feature of Michael Brecker’s playing and Mike Stern took this idea and ran with it in a lot of his heads (Chromazone, Link & others).

Michael Brecker’s solo on this is so, so good. Such a clinic in phrasing.

It’s also interesting to note that because there’s so much time spent on a static Dm7 chord, the scale choices are a lot less restrictive than they might be if it were a functional II chord for example.

Check it out and comment with any questions or observations etc

Cheers, James.