Great,

It’s a format used in a book that everyone in Belgium, Netherlands, France, maybe Germany... seems to use for dixieland, New Orleans and Swing. People call it “the Baudouin”. Nobody really knows where it comes from, but it has almost every tune in the older jazz idiom. It even circulates on the www in PDF format.

Much as I dig the book, it’s often very confusing with different aaba or abca- tunes... it’s easy to get lost in the first, second repeats or codas. Ithas a system for that with arrows and brackets.

It’s also quite limited. Almost every chord is a 7th chord, as Matt pointed out, not much in the extension department. So, either for people who stick to chord tones, play mostly by ear or people who can thoroughly analyse on the fly. This last option is made difficult by the lack of melody.

On the other hand, it is so compact and readable, it can save you on gigs playing older jazz and in the low lands every musician seems to have a copy..

An odd format, but even though I seem to struggle with it, it’s widely used and appreciated.

Don’t know if this is a format we should be using, but definitely worth a try.

Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums.
Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com