One For Liam – Jon Gordon

Jon Gordon is a master of writing artful compositions with modern, complex melodies. One For Liam is no exception. Jon describes this piece as a "modal blues with a little bit of different harmonic motion." The 24-bar form is reminiscent of an extended A♭ blues with sus chords. Our audio excerpt starts with the introduction which is notated on all lead sheet editions.

The melody is rhythmically and melodically complicated, with frequent, almost atonal sounding leaps. In this duet recording, the piano plays bass notes in the left hand and unison or harmonies with the alto melody in the right. He adds fuller chords at the end of phrases to beautifully accent the tonality of the landing note. The lack of bass and drums provides an open and relaxed feel with plenty of space for rhythmic and harmonic experimentation. The introduction of the piece is thoughtfully crafted and is expanded in the coda of the arrangement. The melodic and rhythmic simplicity provides a stark contrast to the main melody while outlining the chord changes of the first eight bars of the head.

Named for his son and written when Liam was about ten years old, One For Liam is from Jon's "Evolution" album. While this song features Gordon in a duo setting with pianist Bill Charlap, the rest of the album explores a variety of instrumentations with different numbers of horns and strings.

In composing this piece, Jon set out to write something that would work for a duo but would not put too much pressure on the pianist.