Deep Blue – Steve Johns

Deep and blue—while not technically a blues, this song has all the depth and blues feeling the title implies. It's in a medium-slow 6/4 groove with a "2-feel" (dotted half notes in the bass); each measure is like two measures of 3/4, but the longer meter gives a more accurate sense of the song's elongated, meditative feeling. The melody is quite simple and singable; it's subtly bluesy without using the blues scale. The form is 20 measures, divided into contrasting 8-measure A and 12-measure B sections. The A section changes pivot between C7sus and F7sus (with passing chords), while the B section has quite a colorful set of changes that touch on a variety of key centers: F♯ minor, G major, and at the end B major. This section uses a rare chord quality in a couple of places: a minor 7th chord with a sharp 5th, for example Bm7♯5 in the pickup to this section, which is also spelled out in the melody notes (D, G, A).

There is a tag ending that vamps the changes of the first four measures. On this recording, the in head is played twice, first with piano melody and then adding tenor sax. The last chorus is split between a bass solo and the out melody, which comes in in the pickup to the fifth measure of B. Pianist Noah Haidu and saxophonist Peter Brainin play opposite articulations in their respective A section melodies: Haidu plays the first quarter note of each phrase short and the second long, while Brainin plays these notes long then short.

Like the first recording of this song, this one comes from the second album by a group that's recorded multiple times with the same lineup. The quartet Native Soul has recorded four albums so far, starting with 2006's "Rough Jazz.". Steve Johns first recorded with saxophonist Peter Brainin on a co-led quartet album in 1997, "Ceremony," with guitarist Ben Monder and bassist Sean Smith.