Another Pedantic Question on a Tasty Chord

[AROIOS]

A recent post from Steve led me to dig up a demo tune Jerry did for Ensoniq in the 90's. I've always loved the Gm11-Cm11 progression at the beginning, in particular, the tasty chord (B-bA-B-bE-G) in between.
 

I've always played that chord with its root raised to bD, making it a bD9b5. But I've been wondering how to best notate the original chord to communicate its harmonic function and intent to others.

bD9b5/B would be a start, #GmMaj7/B, B6#5 also look like valid candidates. How would you name that tasty chord (B-bA-B-bE-G) between Gm11 and Cm11?

  

groovn.mid

[dazzjazz]

i think the parent scale for that chord is Bmajor 6th diminished .

that is, B major with an added b6.

 

Chord symbol? B6 #5

 

[jerrythek]

As I wrote in the other post, I was thinking of a G7b9b13... A rather predictable lead-in to the Cm11. The bass line covered the root... I just never hit the F that would have completed it. Sloppiness on my part...

[MathOfInsects]

13 minutes ago, jerrythek said:

As I wrote in the other post, I was thinking of a G7b9b13... A rather predictable lead-in to the Cm11. The bass line covered the root... I just never hit the F that would have completed it. Sloppiness on my part...

This is how I interpret it—majoring the G on the way up to the C chord.

[AROIOS]

3 hours ago, jerrythek said:

As I wrote in the other post, I was thinking of a G7b9b13... A rather predictable lead-in to the Cm11. The bass line covered the root... I just never hit the F that would have completed it. Sloppiness on my part...

G7b9b13 perfectly captures the Super Locrian sound I hear. Thanks Jerry!

[AROIOS]

3 hours ago, dazzjazz said:

i think the parent scale for that chord is Bmajor 6th diminished .

that is, B major with an added b6.

 

Chord symbol? B6 #5

 

I think we were both hearing the B Lydian Augmented sound from this angle, which makes perfect sense since it shares the same notes with G Super Locrian as Jerry originally intended. And both of them are just different modes of the G# melodic minor scale.

[stoken6]

I was going to go in with a AbmMaj7 1st inversion - but of course Jerry is correct, it's a 7b9b13 with the root on top.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[jerrythek]

6 minutes ago, stoken6 said:

I was going to go in with a AbmMaj7 1st inversion - but of course Jerry is correct, it's a 7b9b13 with the root on top.

 

Cheers, Mike.

You've got to consider the bass part... I hit the G, then jump up to the B, and my voicing is somewhat nebulous. So being equally pedantic as our author, you could call it AbmMaj7/G, then as you suggest. But that's not what I was thinking...Back then I would get something I liked and didn't sweat the small flubs or micro-manage every note. It was more "in the moment". Who knew this little soundcard demo would even resurface after all these years?

 

If you want to search for the true skeleton in my closet, try to find the promotional record for the Casio CT-301... it was an Evatone floppy soundsheet that was bound into magazines back in 1981. Absolute crap. 

[stoken6]

1 minute ago, jerrythek said:

You've got to consider the bass part... I hit the G, then jump up to the B, and my voicing is somewhat nebulous. So being equally pedantic as our author, you could call it AbmMaj7/G, then as you suggest. But that's not what I was thinking...

Agreed - it's an altered dominant, without a doubt.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[dazzjazz]

Most chord spellings from the root up, and no one else has thought about it from that perspective. The root is B. I didn’t realise there’s a bass player on the track. I just referenced the chart. 

 

many ways to skin this cat, I know!

[CyberGene]

It’s just a fancier way to spell a G7alt but without the 7th and with the third in the bass, so it sounds vague-ish. And naturally it’s the dominant to the Cm7/11. Thus, the scale that you can play is Ab melodic minor: Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F G.