Notating Jazz Chords for Piano

[FwL]

I'm putting together an arrangement of Charles Mingus' Goodbye Pork Pie Hat for piano and clarinet. The key signature is Eb minor (six flats), but the chords go all over the place. I originally notated each chord based on root note function and chord type which resulted in a lot of enharmonic accidentals. My piano player took one look at it and said, "No way!" So I re-notated the part to have the least amount of enharmonic notes.

My question is which is the best way to do something like this... show clear chord functions by notating each chord type by a given root note, or make it easier to read with no reference to how the chords function?

An example of what I'm talking about is the first three chords - Eb7#9 - B7 - Emaj9

B7 correctly notated is B D# A D# F# low to high, but that results in five accidentals. Notating the chord as Cb Eb A Eb Gb results in one accidental, but doesn't match the chord.

Anybody have any thoughts on this sort of thing?

[michelp]

I would go for simplification. And B7 is anyway better than Cb7 if the next chord is EMaj7.
P.S.: the B7 could be more precise in its tensions (9/13). The main chords support a pentatonic melody (pentatonic based upon Eb-7), so the tensions have to match those notes.

[Peter Thomsen]

… The key signature is Eb minor (six flats), but the chords go all over the place …

I am not familiar with the piece, but if the chords go “all over the place”, it might be wiser to notate the entire piece - or certain sections of it - without a key signature.

[oldmkvi]

I agree with Michelp.
Notate the Extensions, and be sure of what they are!
A bare-bones B7 is unlikely.

[MikeHalloran]

My piano player took one look at it and said, "No way!"

Is asking the piano player not an option?

It's not like this isn't a standard found in nearly every fake book. Oh wait, it is but normally in Fm.

There are many examples of this chart on the internet. I would look at a few. The piano player is right.

[FwL]

Thanks everybody for the input.

There are lots of charts for this tune posted... but in actuality there's only one or two variations. I have never seen anything but a lead sheet posted; never the actual piano notation. And yes, every version I've seen puts it in F minor rather than Eb minor.

I'm basing my arrangement off the original Mingus recording found on his Ah Um album, and I'm pretty confident in the chord voicings I've transcribed from that recording.

Chord Extensions and key aside, the real issue with this tune and a lot of jazz tunes is the frequent use of borrowed chords, secondary dominants, altered chords, etc. and whether to notate these chords relative to the key signature or by common function.

Here's a common breakdown of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat for reference:

Head:

Eb7#9 B13 | Emaj9 A7#11 | Db9sus B13 | Db7sus Eb7 | Abm11 B13 | Fm7b5 Bb7#5#9 | C13#11 F13 | B7 Emaj7 | A13 Ab7 | Bb7 Db7 | Eb7#9 B7 | Emaj7#11 A7#11 |

solos:

|: Ebm7 Abm7 | Ebm7 Abm7 | Ebm7 Abm7 | Ebm7 A7+ | Abm7 | B7 Bb7+ | Ebm7 Abm7 | Ebm7 Ab7 | Cm7b5 F7#5#9 | F#m7 B7(Bb7) | Ebm7 Ab7 | Ebm7 Ab7 | Ebm7 | B7 | Ebm7 | B7 | Abm7 | B7 Bb7+ | Ebm7 Ab7 | Ebm7 Ab7 | Cm7b5 F7 | F#m7 B7(Bb7) | Ebm7 Ab7 | Ebm7 Ab7