Bill Evans, Kind of Blue
The "So What" Voicing
Three fourths plus a major third on top. One grip, planed across all three chords.
All 12 keys
C major
Dm11 – G7sus(♯9) – Cmaj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
D♭ major (C♯)
E♭m11 – A♭7sus(♯9) – D♭maj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
D major
Em11 – A7sus(♯9) – Dmaj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
E♭ major
Fm11 – B♭7sus(♯9) – E♭maj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
E major
F♯m11 – B7sus(♯9) – Emaj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
F major
Gm11 – C7sus(♯9) – Fmaj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
G♭ major (F♯)
A♭m11 – D♭7sus(♯9) – G♭maj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
G major
Am11 – D7sus(♯9) – Gmaj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
A♭ major
B♭m11 – E♭7sus(♯9) – A♭maj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
A major
Bm11 – E7sus(♯9) – Amaj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
B♭ major
Cm11 – F7sus(♯9) – B♭maj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
B major
C♯m11 – F♯7sus(♯9) – Bmaj13
0 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 15 semitones
The story
Two chords into Kind of Blue, Bill Evans answers the bass with a five-note structure — three perfect fourths capped with a major third — and jazz piano acquires its most famous single voicing. The genius of the grip is that it's portable: plant it on the ii root and you get a luminous m11; plant it on the V root and the fourths read as a suspended dominant with a dark ♭3-as-♯9 shadow in it (the same color Herbie Hancock later floated through "Maiden Voyage"); plant it on the 3rd of the I chord and the identical shape becomes a rootless maj13. One hand position, three functions — modal harmony's whole thesis in miniature. Notice the top line: it rises a fourth, then settles down a minor third, a real melody made of nothing but the voicing itself. Let every note ring; this structure is about resonance, not punch.
Listen: Miles Davis — "So What" (Evans behind the theme); Herbie Hancock — "Maiden Voyage".