The Meaning of the Blues

"The Meaning Of The Blues" (1957) is a jazz composition and song, with music by Bobby Troup and lyrics by Leah Worth.^[1] It was written for Troup's wife, Julie London, for her album About the Blues (1957) and recorded shortly thereafter by Miles Davis and Gil Evans on the celebrated record Miles Ahead.^[2]

Despite its title, this 32-bar piece is structurally not a blues. Its form follows a standard ABAC design. The overall tonality is minor, with modulations to the major mode in both B & C sections. The melody itself has no accidentals, apart from the raised leading tone at bar 16, where the B section returns to A. The song is commonly performed at a ballad tempo, mm.66 or slower (refer to the Julie London recording, at mm.54).

• Julie London - About the Blues (1957)
• Miles Davis - Miles Ahead (1957)
• Stan Kenton - Standards in Silhouette (1959)
• Linda Lawson - Introducing Linda Lawson (1960)
• Miles Davis - Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (1961)
• Mark Murphy - That's How I Love the Blues! (1963)
• Woody Herman - Giant Steps (1973)
• Gil Evans - There Comes a Time (1975)
• Keith Jarrett - Standards (1983)
• Michael Brecker - Now You See It… (Now You Don't) (1990)
• J.J. Johnson - Tangence (1994)
• Shirley Horn - The Main Ingredient (1995)