Good Bait

Good Bait” is a jazz composition written by American jazz piano player and composer Tadd Dameron and by band leader Count Basie. It was introduced in 1944 and was popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

This AABA form song, often studied by musicians who learn jazz standards, uses harmony based on the rhythm changes in Bb on the A sections and in Eb on the bridge.

Good Bait - Course

6 Responses

  1. its those last 2 bars that always get me. ive been trying to memorize – and done OK – but when it comes to bar 7 , i always stumble- and am tempted to peek at the music


  2. Great video on the melody, I had the A sections down before breakfast 😮 😀


  3. In the sixties, I worked in a band as a drummer and “Good Bait” was part of the repertoire.
    In 1965, Dizzy Gillespie quintet went in Bordeaux: fabulous concert with James Moody.
    They played this tune and also Con Alma which is one of my favorites tunes in latin jazz: great choruses by James Moody. I like versions of Good Bait by Theodore Fats Navarro, John Coltrane, Phil Woods, Basie and many others.
    Thanks, Alex for this choice, because it’s very important to manage this structure, called “Anatole” in France and Rythm change all over the world!


    1. Glad you enjoy this tune Christian 🙂 Be careful though, in French there is a little bit of confusion because indeed the harmonic progression I VI II V is indeed called “anatole”, but when we talk about rhythm changes this is the AABA form with the harmonic progression from I Got Rhythm.

      Here is the lesson about that:
      https://jazzvideolessons.netportfolio-items/rhythm-changes-i-got-rhythm-part-1/

      Other standards that use the same forms include Oleo, Moose the mooche, Anthropology etc…


      1. Thank you Alex for the precision. In the books of Philippe Baudoin ( Jazz mode d’emploi) and of Jacques Siron (La partition intérieure), the explanations are not very clear, and when I learned Anthropology, it was difficult for me to analyse the tune after reading the chapters of these two authors.
        Have a good day.


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