Through-Composed Blues in C

Chapter 5 examines Parker’s favored key for through-composed blues, C major. (A through-composed blues does not repeat riffs in the manner of a classic aab blues.) There are eleven such pieces, of which two were not recorded. They include several well-known works, but the most famous are probably “Relaxin’ at Camarillo,” “Cheryl,” and “Perhaps.” Despite being only twelve bars long and in the key of C, these pieces are surprisingly varied. They feature ingenious bebop lines (“Bongo Bop,” “Bongo Beep,” and “Perhaps”); unusual rhythms with odd melodic turns (“Relaxin’ at Camarillo” and “Cheryl”); motivic saturation (“Visa” and “Passport Blues”); and hints of traditional blues (“Back Home Blues” and “Cosmic Rays”). “Dum Dum” and “Bongo Bird” were not recorded and are of uncertain provenance.