Killer Joe by Benny Golson

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 4

Form: A Section → A Section → Bridge → A 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

• C7 – B♭7 (×4)
  bVII7 – bVI7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Bridge

• Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – A7 – A♭7sus4 – A♭7 – Em7 – A7♭9
  iiø7 – V7b9 – bii7 – bV7 – V7 – bV7sus4 – bV7 – ii7 – V7b9

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C7	bVII7	In the key	A Section
B♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Em7♭5	iiø7	In the key	Bridge
A7♭9	V7b9	In the key	Bridge
E♭m7	bii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
A♭7	bV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
A7	V7	In the key	Bridge
A♭7sus4	bV7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Em7	ii7	Borrowed from D major	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• Em7 (ii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Killer Joe” (credited “Golson Benny”, style Medium 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 “Killer Joe 1” (credited “Golson Benny”, style Medium 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 100%).
• 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 key setting didn't fit its chords (it was probably left at a default), so the key shown here was worked out from the chords.
• 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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.