"The Cure" - Trombone Shorty

SONG: “The Cure” (PDF)
ALBUM: Backatown
YEAR: 2010
LABEL: Verve Forecast

Special thanks to reader Jesse Kovarovics for their contribution!

The overall harmony is B minor, a somewhat unusual key for the trombone.  In the middle of the "melody," it shifts slightly to the key of A minor, and uses the A harmonic minor scale during the second "melody."  A is the leading tone to B, and I sometimes believe that key shifts like these are used, not to get away from the overall harmony, but to build up the anticipation for the return back to B minor.

The solo is crazy ridiculous, as usual.  It's based around the B blues scale, with a #13 (G#) acting as the melodic minor.  And Shorty ends the solo by whistling up to a uber-high F#.

Here is a YouTube video of Trombone Shorty jamming at The Grammys with The Roots on The Meters’ “Cissy Strut” and Chuck Brown’s “Bustin’ Loose”: