“Dat Dere” was composed by pianist Bobby Timmons and recorded around 1960 by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Oscar Brown Jr. later added lyrics. Like Timmons’s “Moanin’,” it has a gospel-tinged, soulful feel.
The tune has a churchy, soulful groove with chord changes that move through ii-Vs and bluesy chords. The melody is playful and catchy.
For improvisation, use blues inflections and outline the ii-Vs with guide tones. Keep it soulful and rhythmic.
Practice with a medium swing play-along. Learn the melody by ear.
Section by section: in the A sections, use the call-and-response feel of the melody as a model; play a short bluesy phrase, then answer it with a variation a bar later. Over the ii-V progressions, target the guide tones and add a blue note, like the flat third or flat fifth, right before resolving. In the bridge, brighten your lines with more chord tones and less blues scale, then return to the earthy sound when the A section comes back. Keep the gospel feel by placing accents on the off-beats and using short, punchy phrases.
Practice tip: sing the melody with Oscar Brown Jr.’s lyrics; the words tell the story of a child asking questions, and they shape the phrasing. Pianists should practice gospel-style “amen” chord movements (IV to I) as fills between phrases, which fit this tune perfectly.
Memorizing the Dat Dere Lead Sheet PDF: learn the form in sections, not all at once. Play the first eight bars until you can do them with your eyes closed, then add the next section. Within a week or two you won’t need the page at all, which is the real goal of any lead sheet.
Is it hard to play? It’s intermediate. Recordings to study: Cannonball Adderley’s Them Dirty Blues. Learn more about the composer on Bobby Timmons’s Wikipedia page, and find more soul jazz lead sheets on Minedit.