The Db7 in Monk's "I Mean You"

Chords, scales, harmony, melody, etc.
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Hello,

The A part of Monk's I Mean You goes like this:

Fmaj % Db7 D7
Gm7 C7 Fmaj

If you had to analyse the Db7, what would you say about it?

Share your wisdom.
Thanks.

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Tritone substitution

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I'd say it's an approach chord. The Hep Cats refer to this as "bumping"

Usually when someone is bumping they bump everything and very quickly. Monk on the other hand selectively bumped

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_chord
Passing chords may be consonant or dissonant[7] and may include flat fifth substitution, scalewise substitution, dominant minor substitution, approach chords, and bass-line-directed substitution[5].

Monk used
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apparently the Db7 lasts an entire bar. I don't see how it's passing. It's an important chord in the thing.

I can't read the mind of Monk as to what got him to that chord. It's bVI, major with a minor seventh. :shrug:

If it's a b5 substitute, functionally it will be in place of IV of II of V [better yet, IV of V of V of V :scared:], which seems like a stretch. But I don't know.
I don't reckon it's so crucial to name it, academically. It's true that it 'borrows the sixth degree from parallel minor and flattens the seventh that would by default occur', but whatever.

NB: my tortured 'functional' is all about the [temporary] goal being D7 before the typical turnaround to F. Functional harmony is all about goals, and you anticipate a goal in the analysis. It is not a typical change and explanations out of typical theory will tend to be guesses such as have been made here. 'flat five sub. for ii', maybe so. I didn't buy it as more than a quick guess.

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