Improvising over Blue Bossa - A Guitarist's Guide

"Blue Bossa" is a jazz standard composed by the late American saxophonist and flutist Kenny Dorham. It was first recorded on his 1962 album "Afro-Cuban" and since then it has become a staple in jazz repertoire, often played by jazz musicians in live performances and jams.

"Blue Bossa" is significant in jazz history as it's one of the most well-known jazz compositions in the bossa nova style, a genre that emerged in the late 1950s in Brazil and gained popularity globally in the 1960s. The bossa nova style features a fusion of samba rhythms with jazz harmony and melody, and "Blue Bossa" is considered one of the most successful examples of this fusion.

The song's melody and harmony have been interpreted and covered by numerous jazz artists over the years, making it a classic and enduring piece of jazz music. It's also often used as a teaching tool for jazz students, as it provides an opportunity to practice playing over a bossa nova groove, improvising with jazz harmony, and developing a sense of melody and swing.

For example, one of the most essential chord progressions in all of jazz is the ii-V-I progression. The ii - V - I can happen in a major key or a minor key and very often this manifests itself in relative keys. For example, the jazz standard Autumn Leaves uses a ii - V - I in a major key and a minor key, both under the same key signature. What makes Blue Bossa different is it gives us a ii - V i in a minor key and aii - V - I in a major key, but in distinctly different key signatures. The song overall is the key of C minor, with a brief interlude into the key of D-flat major. 

There's so much you can do when it comes to improvisation, certainly in jazz – but the thing you want to know first is how to visualize the fretboard in any given key as a Ground Zero starting point. Here's what the guitar neck would look like in the key of C minor with three flats: B flat, E flat and A flat :

When Blue Bossa changes key to the key of D-flat major we need to be able to conceive the fretboard in that key: 

And that's just the beginning, let me run through it the most important five scale shapes, which will encompass both of these keys, as well as some essential arpeggio shapes and some really cool ways to voice the chords for Blue Bossa – including a backing track loop for you to practice Blue Bossa improvisation for yourself in real time: