Cheese Cake by Dexter Gordon

Overview

Key: C minor · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 5

Form: A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

A Section 1

• Cm69 – Dm7♭5 – Gaug7 – Cm69 – C7 – Fm69 – Caug7 – Fm69 – Dm7♭5 – Gaug7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – Dm7♭5 – Gaug7 – Cm69 – Dm7♭5 – Gaug7
  i69 – iiø7 – V+7 – i69 – I7 – iv69 – I+7 – iv69 – iiø7 – V+7 – iv7 – bVII7 – biii7 – bVI7 – iiø7 – V+7 – i69 – iiø7 – V+7

A Section 2

• Cm69 – Dm7♭5 – Gaug7 – Cm69 – C7 – Fm69 – Caug7 – Fm69 – Dm7♭5 – Gaug7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – Dm7♭5 – Gaug7 – Cm69
  i69 – iiø7 – V+7 – i69 – I7 – iv69 – I+7 – iv69 – iiø7 – V+7 – iv7 – bVII7 – biii7 – bVI7 – iiø7 – V+7 – i69

B Section 1

• Gm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – Dm7♭5
  v7 – I7 – iv7 – bVII7 – biii7 – bVI7 – iiø7

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

B Section 2

• Gm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – Dm7♭5 – Gaug7
  v7 – I7 – iv7 – bVII7 – biii7 – bVI7 – iiø7 – V+7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Cm69	i69	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm7♭5	iiø7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Gaug7	V+7	In the key	A Section, B Section
C7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/iv)	A Section, B Section
Fm69	iv69	In the key	A Section
Caug7	I+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fm7	iv7	In the key	A Section, B Section
B♭7	bVII7	In the key	A Section, B Section
E♭m7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
A♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
Gm7	v7	In the key	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• C7 acts as V/iv: it resolves to Fm69.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Cheese Cake” (credited “Gordon Dexter”, style Medium Up Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Cheese Cake” (credited “Gordon Dexter”, style Medium Up Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 87%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• 1 chord was simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.