Afternoon in Paris Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Chord progression

Analyzed excerpt

Section: A1 · Bars 1–5

Cmaj7 | Cm7 F7 | Bbmaj7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Abmaj7

This is a short excerpt quoted for analysis, not the full chart, and this composition is very likely still in copyright. Published versions and recordings disagree with each other about the rest of the tune, and often about these bars too.

The books behind this page

Every one of these tunes is assembled out of the same handful of harmonic resources. Jazz Harmony is those resources, explained in the order in which they build on each other.

Start here Project 03 · Harmony

Harmonic analysis

Key

C major

Tonal center

C

Confidence

Low

Chords analysed

7

Read in C major, the key of the tune. Taken on its own, with nothing around it, this excerpt is just as easy to hear in Ab major — a few bars are often not enough to fix a tonic, and that ambiguity is a real property of the music rather than a gap in the analysis.

Chord	Roman numeral	Function	What it is doing	Confidence
Cmaj7	I	Tonic	Cmaj7 is the tonic of C. It is where the progression is at rest.	High
Cm7	ii	Predominant	Cm7 is the ii chord of Bb: the classic predominant. It prepares the dominant and almost always moves to it.	High
F7	V7	Dominant	F7 is the dominant of Bb. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.	High
Bbmaj7	I	Tonic	Bbmaj7 is the tonic of Bb. It is where the progression is at rest.	High
Bbm7	ii	Predominant	Bbm7 is the ii chord of Ab: the classic predominant. It prepares the dominant and almost always moves to it.	High
Eb7	V7	Dominant	Eb7 is the dominant of Ab. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.	High
Abmaj7	I	Tonic	Abmaj7 is the tonic of Ab. It is where the progression is at rest.	High

What the analyzer found in it

ModulationBb major

Bars 2-3 are heard in Bb major: the harmony cadences there and stays long enough to become a key.

ModulationAb major

Bars 4-5 are heard in Ab major: the harmony cadences there and stays long enough to become a key.

ii - V7 - ICm7 - F7 - Bbmaj7

A complete ii-V-I in Bb. Predominant, dominant, tonic: the sentence jazz harmony is built out of.

ii - V7 - IBbm7 - Eb7 - Abmaj7

A complete ii-V-I in Ab. Predominant, dominant, tonic: the sentence jazz harmony is built out of.

High, medium and low next to each numeral are judgements about musical context, not probabilities. A low rating marks a bar that can honestly be read more than one way. How the ratings are decided →

Why this example matters

Numbered against C major, the excerpt is I – ii – V7. Inside those 7 chords there is a complete ii-V-I. Take the roots away and keep the third and seventh. In F7 that is A and Eb. Those two notes decide where the progression is going, and hearing them move is worth more than naming the chords. Autumn Leaves, All The Things You Are and Tune Up use the same device, which is the argument for learning it once properly rather than three times by accident.

How the rest of Afternoon in Paris goes

A compact form built from ii-V cadences that step downward by whole tone, each one complete, arriving in a new key and immediately preparing the next. It is essentially a study in the descending cadence chain, written by a composer with a strong formal education, and it is more tightly organised than most tunes of its period. Because every cadence resolves properly, it is an excellent piece for practising the vocabulary in several keys within one chorus.

Afternoon in Paris on record

John Lewis wrote it in 1949, before founding the Modern Jazz Quartet, and it was recorded that year by a group under Sacha Distel’s name in Paris. Lewis’s interest in classical form is audible in it, and the tune is often cited when his role in the MJQ’s more composed approach is being explained. It remains one of the few originals from that period that is played more for its structure than for its melody.

Analyze this progression

Open these chords in the analyzer and change them. Move one chord, substitute a dominant, take the ii away — the reading updates and tells you what you just did.

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Afternoon in Paris — Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Chord progression

The books behind this page

Jazz Harmony

Harmonic Narrative

Jazz Guitar Comping

Harmonic analysis

What the analyzer found in it

Why this example matters

How the rest of Afternoon in Paris goes

Afternoon in Paris on record

Analyze this progression

Related

ii-V-I

Autumn Leaves

All The Things You Are

Tune Up

Jazz chord progressions