Jean-Marie – Ronnie Mathews

This E minor composition in 3/4 is constantly moving harmonically from measure to measure. Starting out, it may be tough to solo on, but it's well worth the time to figure out. Our audio excerpt starts with the melody, and, as you hear, it's a good interval workout for horn players.

Although this composition works great in a trio or quartet format, the Woody Shaw recording is a quintet, so second parts are available including a Trumpet second part (for a Soprano Sax melody). The C treble clef lead sheet has both horn parts notated and also contains some specific information for the bass and piano that you'll hear on the recording. There are some complex chord symbols (C6 with sharp 11 and 9, for example), as Ronnie had specific voicings for the pianist in mind.

Vocalist/lyricist Judy Niemack wrote a lyric to Jean-Marie entitled Like A Butterfly. It's in B minor and has an accompaniment-only rhythm section track.

This has become a "musician's favorite" Mathews composition. Ronnie first recorded Jean-Marie in Japan on a trio date in 1975. He then introduced it to his friends, soon yielding recordings by Woody Shaw, Louis Hayes, Sam Jones and Johnny Griffin (all recorded in the 1970s), Mark Levine, T.S. Monk and, most recently, the Generations Band. Jean-Marie was Ronnie's wife and the mother of Ronnie's pride and joy, his daugher Salima.

Lyricist/vocalist Judy Niemack put a lyric to Jean-Marie and titled it Like A Butterfly (available in B minor, with a recording and also an accompaniment-only MP3).

Solo Piano Arrangement: Ronnie Mathew's Solo Piano Arrangement is also available. Ronnie's concept was that the pianist always plays the melody, no matter what the front line is. As you'll notice, this composition also works great for piano alone.