Standards · 1928

Crazy Rhythm chords & key

Key: F major
Form: AABA
Bars: 32
Groove: Up-tempo swing
Time signature: 4/4
Year: 1928

“Crazy Rhythm” is a jazz standard by Wolfe-Kahn-Meyer from 1928. It is usually played in F major as a up-tempo swing, and the 32-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 5 major ii–V–I cadences, uses 16 different chords and moves between the key centres F major and B♭ major. In this atlas it appears on 24 album tracks and in 3 transcribed solos.

Chord changes

to key

Showing in: Concert (C) — F major

F⁶

D⁷

G^m7

C^7♭9

F⁶D^7♭9

G^m7C^7♭9

F⁶

C^m7

F⁷

B♭^maj7

B♭^m7

E♭⁷

A^7♯5D⁹

G^7♯5C⁹

F⁶

G⁷

G^m7

C⁷

F⁶D^7♭9

G^m7C^7♭9

Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.

Harmonic analysis

5Major ii–V–I

0Minor ii–V–i

7ii–V moves

0Tritone substitutions

3Dominant chains

16Different chords

Most used chords

F⁶×12
G^m7×5
C^7♭9×4
D⁷×2
D^7♭9×2
B♭^maj7×2

Key centres reached by ii–V

F major and B♭ major

Characteristics

AABA song form

History

"Crazy Rhythm" is a thirty-two-bar swing show tune written in 1928 by Irving Caesar with music by Joseph Meyer and Roger Wolfe Kahn for the Broadway musical Here's Howe.

Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Recorded on these albums

1953	Portraits on Standards Stan Kenton
1955	Swing Guitars Oscar Moore, Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow
1956	Piano Interpretations By Bud Powell Bud Powell
1956	More Harry James In Hi-fi Harry James
1957	The Beat of My Heart Tony Bennett
1957	Stan Getz and J.J. Johnson at The Opera House Stan Getz and J.J. Johnson
1958	The Herd Rides Again...In Stereo Woody Herman
1959	Rhythm Crazy Jimmy Cleveland
1961	More of the Greatest Piano of Them All Art Tatum
1962	Dig It! The Red Garland Quintet with John Coltrane
1965	Interpretations Stan Getz
1968	Crazy Rhythm Milt Buckner, Buddy Tate
1975	Art Tatum At The Crescendo Vol. II Art Tatum
1975	Back to the Roots Kay Starr
1976	Nothing but Piano Martial Solal
1978	Tea for Two Yehudi Menuhin & Stéphane Grappelli
1979	In Japan Hank Jones
1982	Really I do Bill Coleman Feat. Guy Lafitte
1983	Cleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert Cleo Laine
1985	Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark Stéphane Grappelli, Joe Pass & Niels‐Henning Ørsted Pedersen
1986	Live At The Crescendo Art Tatum
1988	Jazz at Storyville Sidney Bechet
1988	Bean Stalkin' Coleman Hawkins
1993	First Class Stéphane Grappelli & Claude Bolling

Transcribed solos on Crazy Rhythm

J.J. Johnson trombone	277 BPM	F-maj	1957-09-29
Stan Getz tenor saxophone	288 BPM	F-maj	1957-09-29
Phil Woods alto saxophone	236 BPM	F-maj	1961-11-15

Historic 78 rpm recordings

"CRAZY RHYTHM." Alan Nash and His Orchestra · Johnny Bamford · Neville Maddison ·… archive.org ↗
CRAZY RHYTHM COLEMAN HAWKINS & his all-star "Jam" band · COLEMAN HAWKINS & ALIX… · 1937 archive.org ↗
CRAZY RHYTHM HARRY PARRY AND HIS RADIO RHYTHM CLUB SEXTET · Meyer · Kahn · 1942 archive.org ↗
CRAZY RHYTHM COLEMAN HAWKINS SWING FOUR · Coleman Hawkins · Eddie Heywood · Oscar… · 1943 archive.org ↗
CRAZY RHYTHM COLEMAN HAWKINS SWING FOUR · Eddie Heywood · Coleman Hawkins · Oscar… · 1943 archive.org ↗
CRAZY RHYTHM HARRY JAMES AND HIS ORCH. · Caesar · Meyer · Kahn · 1945 archive.org ↗
CRAZY RHYTHM PAGE CAVANAUGH TRIO · Page Cavanaugh · Al Viola · Lloyd Pratt ·… · 1946 archive.org ↗
CRAZY RHYTHM (Part 2, Vol. 3) Al Killian · Lester Young · Charlie Parker · John Birks · Joe… · 1949 archive.org ↗

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

Title	Composer	Key	Form	Groove
Broadway 39%	William-Henri-Woode	B♭ major	AABA · 32	Medium-up swing
Dewey Square 38%	Charlie Parker	E♭ major	AABA · 32	Medium-up swing
Cheers 33%	Howard McGhee	B♭ major	AABA · 32	Medium swing
Take The A Train 33%	Billy Strayhorn	C major	AABA · 32	Medium-up swing
Undecided 33%	Charlie Shavers	C major	AABA · 32	Medium-up swing
Struttin' With Some Barbecue 32%	Lillian Armstrong	F major	AB · 32	Medium swing
After You've Gone 31%	Henry Creamer	B♭ major	ABAC · 40	Up-tempo swing
The Lady's In Love With You 31%	Burton Lane	G major	AABA · 32	Medium swing

Frequently asked questions

What key is Crazy Rhythm in?

Crazy Rhythm is usually played in F major. For B♭ instruments that is G major, for E♭ instruments D major.

Who wrote Crazy Rhythm?

Crazy Rhythm was written by Wolfe-Kahn-Meyer (1928).

What is the form of Crazy Rhythm?

Crazy Rhythm has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.

How fast is Crazy Rhythm played?

The usual groove is Up-tempo swing. Transcribed solos in our data were played at 277 BPM, 288 BPM and 236 BPM.

What are the chord changes to Crazy Rhythm?

The opening bars are F6 | F6 | F6 | D7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.