Bemsha Swing

"Bemsha Swing" (also called "Bimsha Swing") is a jazz standard co-written by Thelonious Monk and Denzil Best. The name "Bimsha" comes from a phonetic spelling of "Bimshire," meaning "Little Bimshire," a nickname for Barbados, which is where Best was born^[1].

The tune is 16 bars in the form of AABA. It is in 4/4 meter but is often played with a 2-feel^[2]. The melody consists of a motif around a descending C Spanish Phrygian scale (the A section) and a chromatic sequencing of the same motif a fourth higher on an F Spanish Phrygian scale (the B section). The chordal movement by contrast suggests a C Major tonality rather than C Spanish Phrygian, its relative minor f (melodic or harmonic), or its relative Major, A♭ Major. However, the song ends on a D♭maj7(#11) rather than a C chord, a displacement which is characteristic of Monk compositions.

References

^ Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, by Robin D. G. Kelley. New York: Free Press, 2009, p. 161.
^ The Thelonious Monk Fake Book, Steve Cardenas (transcriber), Don Sickler (editor). Hal Leonard, 2002, p. 9.

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[1] Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, by Robin D. G. Kelley. New York: Free Press, 2009, p. 161.

[2] The Thelonious Monk Fake Book, Steve Cardenas (transcriber), Don Sickler (editor). Hal Leonard, 2002, p. 9.

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