“Blue Bossa” was written by trumpeter Kenny Dorham and first recorded on Joe Henderson’s 1963 album Page One. It’s a 16-bar Latin tune that mixes a bossa nova groove with hard bop phrasing, and it’s one of the most popular “first tunes” for students learning to improvise over minor ii-V progressions.
The form is just 16 bars, in C minor. It opens on Cm7 for two bars, then moves to Fm7, a minor ii-V (Dø, G7) and back to Cm7. In the second half, the tune makes a surprise move up to Db major with Ebm7, Ab7 and Dbmaj7, then drops back into a minor ii-V-i in C minor. That key change is the whole personality of the tune, and it’s what you need to nail when you solo.
For improvisation, C Dorian or C natural minor works great over the first eight bars. Over Dø to G7, use C harmonic minor so you hit the B natural that pulls into C minor. When the Db major section arrives, switch to the Db major scale, and make your switch obvious by landing on F (the third of Dbmaj7) or the C (the seventh). Practicing just that four-bar transition, back and forth, will make your solo sound intentional instead of lost.
Rhythm section tip: bassists should play a two-feel bossa pattern (root and fifth), and guitarists can comp with a simple syncopated bossa rhythm. Keep the volume down so the melody floats on top. A common jam-session ending is to repeat the last four bars three times before stopping.
Play it with a bossa nova backing track first, keeping eighth notes straight, not swung. Memorize the melody, which is basically a lesson in motif development, and borrow its rhythms in your solo. Joe Henderson’s original recording is the model. Learn more about the composer on Kenny Dorham’s Wikipedia page, and find more Latin jazz lead sheets on Minedit.