Help on some theory

[buckshead]

I'm working thru the Ted Pease book on Modern Jazz Voicings. In one of the exercises I'm asked to identify the reharmonization. In a sequence of quavers each of five parts in a bar labelled Eb7 and following F9 and preceding Eb9 are the following five notes (root first) E nat,A flat,D nat, G flat, B flat.
The obvious chord here is E 9 flat 5 but does the replacement of G# with A flat and F# with G flat alter this OR are the flats acceptable because the melody (and the harmony beneath it) are falling

I know its a bit esoteric but it would be nice to know, thanks.

[psenior]

I don't think this is a music theory question as much as it is a music notation question. I am not a great reader so my answer may be totally wrong but if I had to read this E9b5 chord on the staff, I'd want to see sharps instead of flats. I think it'd be a little bit easier to read that way. I'm sure that part of the score would look like fly feces but I'd get it eventually.

[geroyannis]

The obvious chord here is E 9 flat 5 but does the replacement of G# with A flat and F# with G flat alter this OR are the flats acceptable because the melody (and the harmony beneath it) are falling

That's how I would interpret it. It clearly gives you the idea that the individual voices are falling in a step-wise motion.