The “Standards” of Darn That Dream:

A Comparison of Form and Imrpovisation

Devin Okey
 Jimmy Van Heusen wrote “Darn That Dream” for the musical,

Swingin’ The Dream, in 1939. Originally touted as a “musical-comedy

extravaganza,” this musical based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer

Night’s Dream, was an enormous failure. (Wilson, 2011) Despite an

all-star cast including Louis Armstrong and Maxine Sullivan, the show

held no commercial or critical success outside of a single hit song. This

song was not only a hit among a listeners, but musicians as well. This

song has received a treatment common to many jazz standards:

endless variation.

With a chromatic, unorthodox melody and harmonic structure,

“Darn That Dream” allows for a wide variety of interpretation and

collaborative strategies. As one can see in mm. 1-3 of the lead sheet,

the melody has a tendency to shift up by semitones on beats 1 and 3.

Because of this interesting melodic shape, the harmony is directed to

different key centers. In mm. 1 of the lead sheet on beat 3, we see an

unorthodox chord progression that would become commonplace in the

Bebop era of Jazz; ii-V motion transposed by semi-tones. (<Bb-7-Eb7-

A-7-D7>) Another interesting harmonic choice in this same situation

was the choice to modulate to relative minor instead of tonic. (<Bb-7

Eb7 A-7 B7 E->) This modulation is followed by a chromatic bass-line,

which then is proceeded by more standard Tin-Pan-Alley harmony.

Other than modulating to bVI on the bridge (this borrows from minor

mode), this part of the tune is very open-ended harmonically and

opens the door for harmonic substitution. On mm 25 of the lead sheet,

the melody returns to its original theme and closes out the structure to

the “standard” form of this jazz standard.

Two versions of the standard are a version on Dexter Gordon’s

album, “Ballads,” and a version by Bill Evans/Jim Hall on the album

“Undercurrent.” These two versions, in some ways, feel like different

songs. Although they are the same tune at the most basic level, the

texture and feel are extremely different. The strongest contrasts are in

the approach to the melody, the improvised solos, and in the overall

form of each recording.

The melody to “Darn That Dream” is characterized by its

chromatic undertones, a short meandering with scalar motion, and a

return to its original theme. (Wilson, 2011) The Dexter and Evans/Hall

interpretations of playing the melody are interesting in that while they

are moving at nearly identical tempos, there are much different

choices in nuance. Dexter’s tenor saxophone playing can be compared

to how a singer would interpret the melody; it is very warm and he

takes a few less liberties, favoring the original melody as much as

possible. Dexter only seems to add ornament in choice situations, such

as mm 24 on the transcription of his playing. Evans/Hall take a

different approach. The duo takes turns swapping the melody back and

forth, both seeming to favor a more sparse texture. They take more

liberties and weave the melody in and out of their improvisation. Jim

Hall seems to add many ornaments, including several minor-second

intervals and counter point figures, during the entirety of the bridge

section of the tune. This is interesting, because the addition of these

dissonant “chords” adds so much color during this very sparse section.

With only two notes, it’s very easy to hear the contour of the harmony.

The intimacy of the duo setting allows Hall to very effectively take

these liberties.

The improvised solos on the two recordings could not be more

diverse. The improvised solos on Dexter’s recording are very succinct

and separated sections; there is Dexter’s brash and very thematic

solo, followed by a pianist’s very technical solo. Both solos are steeped

in the influence of Charlie Parker; around the two minute and fifty

second mark in Dexter’s recording, Dexter employs some ii-V licks in

chromatic succession and does this time and time again in the

recording, as does the pianist. Here is an example of Dexter employing

these ideas during his solo.

This act of transposing the same ideas over chromatic chord

progressions is key to playing in the Bebop style and “Darn That

Dream’s” harmonic structure lends itself to this kind of approach to

improvisation. These solos are strong in the canon and tradition of

Bebop-Era jazz. The Evans/Hall recording cannot be easily explained

this way. The duo is improvising nearly the entire time in 8 bar

phrases, the new leader taking charge on their “turn.” Both tend to

keep their ideas in the confines of the very sparse texture they have

created for themselves, but these solos are very rich with melodic

content. There are not as many bebop clichés present in the

Evans/Hall improvisations, as they seem to be very intent on listening

to each other as much as possible. This approach takes their

improvisation to unexpected places more often.

The first eight bars of this selection show Jim Hall’s improvised solo.

When examining beats 1 and 3 of of the first two bars, you see Hall

employing the same kind of chromatic ideas that are present in the

melody. Another interesting choice by Hall is the repeated figure

starting in the fifth bar of his solo. He employs this same lick over

different chord changes and it is a powerful sound. The second eight

bars of this selection show Bill Evans’ solo. Evan’s solo is much less

thematic; it seems to just float over the changes. He also seems less

focused on keeping an exact time feel.

Surprisingly, Dexter’s seemingly more traditional approach took

many liberties with the form of the tune, having added an intro, outro,

and a cadenza. These also seemed very comfortable and rehearsed,

meaning these weren’t necessarily improvised sections but intentional

plans by the bandleader, Dexter. Evans/Hall stuck the traditional

structure of the tune outside of harmonic substitutions and a tag at the

end. It is interesting to note this tag is led by Evans and seems to be

derived from both the Tadd Dameron turn-around (<Imaj7 bIIImaj7

bVImaj7 bIIMaj7>) as well as the traditional bebop turn-around.

(<Imaj7 VI7 ii7 V7>) These two recordings seem to both lend

themselves to being categorized as variations form. Both recordings

cycle the same structure with a lot of melodic variation and

“recycling.”

Despite these two very different recordings being produced

around the same time period, Dexter and Evans/Hall presented the

listener with very different experiences. Dexter gave his listeners a

more sultry and traditional ballad, while Evans/Hall took this song as

an opportunity to explore intimate improvisation in a duo setting.

Though there are a vast amount of differences between the two

recordings, to the learned listener there is no question that the song is

still “Darn That Dream.” It’s interesting in the world of Jazz that this is

so possible; two extremely different recordings that are technically the

same “song.” That is certainly a level of artistry many wish they could

attain. Whether considered variations form or song form, they are both

“Darn That Dream.”

Thematic Texture Solo Substitutions/scales/et Comments
Letter Instrument c
Intro Piano intro, piano Improvised chord intro
triplet
based
A Tenor sax Tenor sax is Piano player substitutes
melody, featured on the last two bars of the
homophony embellishment chorus with a very
of melody chromatic progression
B Tenor sax Tenor sax In the second A section of
solo, the solo, the piano starts
homophony altering many of the
chromatic chord changes
C Piano solo, Piano Extended use of bebop The piano
homophony skills at a fast tempo substitutes
fewer/no
changes
during his
solo, albeit
it is shorter
A’ Tenor sax Tenor The piano player It is
melody featured again improvises some chords important
on melody to lead into the outro to note that
the piano
solo was
only half of
the chorus,
and that
the tenor
comes in
on the
bridge
Outro Tenor sax Tenor Tenor sax improvises his
cadenza outline of chord changes
to lead into the final
fermata
Thematic Texture Solo Subs/scales/etc Comments
Letter Instrument
A Trades Piano, then Mostly colors, Very soft,
between solo guitar extension of intimate
piano texture chords, and
and solo some light
guitar before counterpoint
going to duo
texture
B Improvised Guitar, then Very melodic Intimate
solos by guitar piano trading material, trading
and piano substitution between the
over dominant two musicians
chords prevalent followed by a
return to the
melody
Outro Warmer, more Piano I-VI7-ii-V7 tag The tune ends
active somewhat added on EbMaj7
piano/guitar featured instead of the
texture typical Gmaj7
Works Cited

Gioia, T. (2012). The jazz standards: A guide to the

repertoire. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Shadwick, K. (2002). Bill Evans: Everything happens

to me, a musical biography. San Francisco, Calif.:

Backbeat Books.

Wilder, A., & Maher, J. (1972). American popular

song: The great innovators, 1900-1950. New York:

Oxford University Press

Wilson, J. (2011, May 1). Darn That Dream. Retrieved

December 3, 2015, from

http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-

0/darnthatdream.htm