The story behind puzzle No. 31
Wayne Shorter · Adam's Apple · Blue Note · 1966 (released 1967)
Footprints is a 12-bar blues, but you would never guess it at first. Wayne Shorter hid the blues inside a rolling, three-beat groove.
Shorter recorded Footprints for Blue Note on February 24, 1966, for his album Adam's Apple, which came out in October 1967. Herbie Hancock played piano. Shorter was also a member of Miles Davis's quintet, and that band recorded Footprints too, on the album Miles Smiles.
The tune is a C minor blues, but it is usually written in 3/4 or 6/8 and moves back and forth between a feel of three and a feel of four. Near the end of each chorus, a string of unusual chords replaces the normal blues turnaround.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Play the Miles Smiles version next and compare it to Shorter's own.
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