Bright Samba – Michael Cochrane

Though not the brightest in terms of tempo, this medium-up samba certainly sets a bright mood. The melody has a hard-bop, "sweet blues" sound, switching between G major and minor tonalities. The form is 48 measures long: two eight-measure A sections, a 16-measure bridge, and C similar to the two A sections but ending differently. Our lead sheets show the full 16-measure C section written out without a repeat, as this way it's easier to indicate where to go to the coda (four measures before the end).

The A section changes are generally descending, resolving to F and Eb key centers before returning to G. On the first half of the bridge the bass plays an F pedal point; the second half repeats the same material a whole step down on E♭.

There is an intro, which begins with eight measures of solo piano whole-note chords descending in minor thirds; the bass and drums then come in for an eight-measure vamp setting up the head. The coda takes the third to last measure of the melody and repeats it five times, rising and falling in half steps to a final chord.

A Condensed Score is available for the recorded quintet arrangement; this is also the rhythm section part and includes the piano intro. The horns play harmony on the bridge, mostly in fifths. We also have a tenor sax 2nd part as recorded.

Check out more other Michael Cochrane songs from "Elements" on jazzleadsheets.com. The original recorded title of this song was Bossa For Quintet—Michael later renamed it Bright Samba. Either title could work—the tempo is somewhere between bossa and samba.