Jazz Ballad in A minor “Summer Solstice”

This is the jam track play along for a jazz ballad composition in A minor at 70 BPM titled ‘Summer Solstice’ inspired by a popular jazz standard chord progression. This track is played in a jazz trio setting and features Benjamin Harrison (benharrison.com.au) on piano and double bass, and Ben Todd (bentodd.com.au) on drums.

Some other jazz standards and compositions that use a similar chord progression/sequence to this jam track are ‘Summertime’ by George Gershwin and ‘Four On Six’ by Wes Montgomery. And if you know of any others or contrafacts of these tunes, let me know and I’ll add them to the list!

The Ben’s Jam Tracks: Jazz Sessions jam tracks were recorded with an emphasis on creating an organic dynamic flow that builds during the duration of the track with tasteful rhythm and comping parts that support soloing over the chord changes without getting in the way and a stylistically appropriate ending/tag as you would find playing with a live jazz trio.

You can also buy versions of this track ‘Without Drums’ to practice your jazz drumming skills, ‘Without Bass’ to work on your jazz walking bass line construction and ‘Without Piano’ to practise your jazz piano comping and soloing. These alternate versions are a fantastic tool for improving your time feel and practising your rhythm section accompaniment.