Midnight Blue by Kenny Burrell

Overview

Key: A♭ major · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 17

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → B Section → Solo → A Section → B Section → Solo → C Section → D Section → Solo → A Section → B Section → Solo → Interlude → Vamp → Vamp

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

Intro 1

• Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 (×2)
  vi7 – vii7 – Imaj7 – vii7

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 (×3)
  vi7 – vii7 – Imaj7 – vii7
• Gm7♭5 – C7♯9 – Fm7
  viiø7 – III7#9 – vi7

B Section 1

• Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭7 – B♭m7 – A♭m7 – C7♯9 – Fm
  viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7 – II7 – ii7 – i7 – III7#9 – vi

Solo 1

• C7♯9
  III7#9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

Solo 2

Same chords as Solo 1.

C Section

• Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 (×3)
  vi7 – vii7 – Imaj7 – vii7
• Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7
  vi7 – vii7 – Imaj7

D Section

• Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fm7
  viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7

Solo 3

• B♭m7
  ii7

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

Solo 4

Same chords as Solo 1.

Interlude

• Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – Gm7
  vi7 – vii7 – Imaj7 – vii7 – vi7 – vii7

Vamp 1

• A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – Gm7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi7 – vii7

Vamp 2

• A♭maj7 – Gm7
  Imaj7 – vii7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fm7	vi7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section, Interlude, Vamp
Gm7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, C Section, Interlude, Vamp
A♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, C Section, Interlude, Vamp
Gm7♭5	viiø7	In the key	A Section, B Section, D Section
C7♯9	III7#9	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section, B Section, Solo
C7♭9	III7b9	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section, D Section
B♭7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B♭m7	ii7	In the key	B Section, Solo
A♭m7	i7	Borrowed from A♭ minor	B Section
Fm	vi	In the key	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• A♭m7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• C7♯9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Fm7.
• C7♭9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Fm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Midnight Blue” (credited “Burrell Kenny”, 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 “Midnight Blue 2” (credited “Burrell Kenny”, 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 76%).
• 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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.