Solar (composition)
File:Sir Miles Davis Gravesite.JPG
"Solar" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|oʊ|l|ər}} or {{IPAc-en|s|oʊ|ˈ|l|ɑr}}{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}) is a composition written by Chuck Wayne and later recorded and copyrighted with small alterations by Miles Davis. It first appeared on Davis's 1954 album Miles Davis Quintet and is considered a modern jazz standard.
Chord structure
"Solar" is considered a blues{{cite journal | url=http://www.csl.sony.fr/downloads/papers/2000/pachet00f.pdf | title=Computer Analysis of Jazz Chord Sequences: Is Solar a Blues? | author=Pachet, François | journal=Readings in Music and Artificial Intelligence | date=February 2000 | access-date=2012-06-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807013723/http://csl.sony.fr/downloads/papers/2000/pachet00f.pdf | archive-date=2015-08-07 }} by most listeners, and the commonly accepted chord structure for this piece{{cite book |title=New Real Book Volume 1 |date=1988 |publisher=Sher Music |location=Petalnuma, California}} is:
| class="wikitable" | |||
| CmMaj7 | % | Cm7 or Gm7 | Gm7 : C7 |
| FMaj7 | % | Fm7 | B{{music|b}}7 |
| E{{music|b}}Maj7 | E{{music|b}}m7 : A{{music|b}}7 | D{{music|b}}Maj7 | Dm7{{music|b}}5 : G7 |
Recordings and popularity
The first released recording of the piece appeared on Davis's album Miles Davis Quintet in 1954;{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} and then appeared on his album Walkin'.{{cite book |last1=Gioia |first1=Ted |title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-19-993739-4 |pages=377–378}} It was the only time that he recorded the piece. Probably the best-known version is on pianist Bill Evans's trio album Sunday at the Village Vanguard from 1961. The composition is popular with educators and learners, partly because the structure is "both rich and succinct".
Authorship
The composition was copyrighted by Prestige Music Co. in Davis's name in 1963.{{cite web |url=https://lewisporter.substack.com/p/miles-davis-did-not-steal-tunes-1 |title=Miles Davis Did Not Exactly "Steal" Tunes, 1: Record Labels, Publishers, and "Solar" |last=Porter |first=Lewis |date=May 31, 2023 |access-date=September 13, 2023}} However, some musicians and others believed that it had been written by Wayne,{{cite web |last=Iverson |first=Ethan |author-link=Ethan Iverson |date=July 6, 2012 |title=Credit Where It's Due |url=http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/2012/07/credit-where-its-due.html |website=dothemath |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402184329/http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/2012/07/credit-where-its-due.html |archive-date=April 2, 2016}} with some making the assertion in print.{{cite news |last1=Voce |first1=Steve |title=Obituary: Chuck Wayne |work=The Independent |date=August 1, 1997 |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/obituary-chuck-wayne-5556571.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803202331/https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/obituary-chuck-wayne-5556571.html |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |access-date=August 3, 2020}}{{cite encyclopedia |last=DeVeaux |first=Scott |date=2002 |title=Wayne, Chuck [Jagelka, Charles] |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J476600}} Proof of the suspicions appeared later: in 2012, a Library of Congress archivist revealed that material donated by Wayne's wife the previous year included an unreleased recording of the guitarist playing the tune at a jam session in 1946.{{cite magazine |last=Meyer |first=Robinson |date=June 9, 2010 |title=The Time Miles Davis Stole (or Borrowed) a Song – and How It Ended Up on His Tombstone |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/the-time-miles-davis-stole-or-borrowed-a-song-151and-how-it-ended-up-on-his-tombstone/259556/ |magazine=The Atlantic |access-date=August 3, 2020}}{{cite web|last=Appelbaum|first=Larry|title=Chuck Wayne, Sonny & Solar|date=3 July 2012 |url=http://blogs.loc.gov/music/2012/07/chuck-wayne-sonny-solar/|publisher=In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog, Library of Congress|access-date=3 July 2012}} Then, it was known by the title "Sonny", after trumpeter Sonny Berman, who also played at the session.{{cite web |last=Myers |first=Marc |author-link=Marc Myers |date=July 5, 2012 |title='Solar' Wasn't by Miles Davis |url=http://www.jazzwax.com/2012/07/solar-wasnt-by-miles-davis.html |website=jazzwax.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509231847/http://www.jazzwax.com/2012/07/solar-wasnt-by-miles-davis.html |archive-date=May 9, 2016}} Wayne is believed to have written "Sonny" when he was part of Woody Herman's band in 1946.
The melodies of "Sonny" and "Solar" are the same. Davis altered the opening, major chord of Wayne's composition by making it minor. Davis died in 1991; the first two measures of the composition adorn his tombstone.
References
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{{Miles Davis|state=collapsed}}
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