Standards · 1948
Black Coffee chords & key
- Key
- C major
- Form
- AABA
- Bars
- 44
- Groove
- Slow swing
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Year
- 1948
“Black Coffee” is a jazz standard by Burke-Webster from 1948. It is usually played in C major as a slow swing, and the 44-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 1 major ii–V–I cadence and 1 minor ii–V–i, uses 18 different chords and moves between the key centres C minor and D♭ major. In this atlas it appears on 7 album tracks.
Chord changes
Showing in: Concert (C) — C major
Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.
Harmonic analysis
Most used chords
- C7♯9×24
- D♭7♯9×20
- F7×6
- Dm7×4
- A7♭5♭9×3
- G7sus×3
Key centres reached by ii–V
C minor and D♭ major
Characteristics
- AABA song form
History
"Black Coffee" is a song with music by Sonny Burke and words by Paul Francis Webster. The song was published in 1948. Sarah Vaughan charted with this song in 1949 on Columbia; arranged by Joe Lipman, it is considered one of the most notable versions. Peggy Lee recorded the song on May 4, 1953, and it was included on her first LP record Black Coffee. It was included in the soundtrack for the 1960 Columbia Pictures feature Let No Man Write My Epitaph, recorded on Verve by Ella Fitzgerald, also in 1960. The version by Ella Fitzgerald was a favourite song of Polish Nobel Prize laureate Wisława Szymborska who chose it as the song to be performed at her funeral.
Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Recorded on these albums
Frequently asked questions
What key is Black Coffee in?
Black Coffee is usually played in C major. For B♭ instruments that is D major, for E♭ instruments A major.
Who wrote Black Coffee?
Black Coffee was written by Burke-Webster (1948).
What is the form of Black Coffee?
Black Coffee has 4 sections (AABA) with 44 bars in total.
How fast is Black Coffee played?
The usual groove is Slow swing.
What are the chord changes to Black Coffee?
The opening bars are C7#9 Db7#9 | C7#9 Db7#9 | C7#9 Db7#9 | C7#9 Db7#9. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.