In my discussion with my jazz professional, we looked at complex chords, in fact we deliberately looked for complex ones to find out how they were expressed. We found, quite amazingly that the more complex the chord got the more ambiguous its name became.
The other thing we noted is that frequently, the note which was noted in a complex chord name was part of the melody. Thus, naming it became irrelevant in the context of performing. "Begin the Beguine" is a good example. The turn is essentially repetitions of the same phrase over and over again varied slightly each time. Around bar 60, part of the melody is embellished so that the d minor 7th chord flattens the 5th (by means of the melody), then goes on to stretch the chord even further until you have (implied by the melody again) a chord that has a diminished triad on the bottom, the middle is a minor chord then a major 7th is added to that. After that, Cole Porter's melody line descends in whats alsmost a complete whole tone scale. However, the Sher "Real Standards Book" only notes the dm7th chord. Good musicians can find their way without getting overly detailed. As we found out, the more complex chords were almost always made complex by melodic means. Attempting to note all the detailed complexity destroyed the intention of what was mean to be a kind of short hand. It also cluttered the score making it harder to sight read rather than easier. Further from this note about seriously complex chords, an indication of c13th not only means that you add a thirteenth but alerts the player that some of the expected 7th and 9ths will likely be left out. As much as it is an indication of what note to play, it can also imply what not to play. You are right, the bass lead sheet is the origin of the indications for the keyboard player. In looking through much music, they are rare events (ususaly) occuring at cadence points where it was important that the keyboard and bass players knew more precisely what the other was playing. >From my observations what they most frequently do is indicate the inversion of the named chord to be used. The only tune I found with used them for extended portions of a tune was Bill Evans "Waltz for Debbie" where it is a part of a specific modulation. But again it is simply pointing out the correct inversion of the chord from the bass part. One other custom I was told about was that unlike the usual custom of placing the key signature at the beginning of each line, the correct way for jazz musicians to write a score is to note the key signature and time signatures only at the beginning of a piece or where they change. The Sher books follow this custom. However this is not really a problem for lilypond because it can be more or less easily done with methods already in Lilypond. The Sher publications I'm using are based themselves on sources that Lilypond has already noted, So it seems there is at least some general agreement that these sources are authentic and close to what is actually used. I will note one thing i observed when actaully taking a score to the piano is that the notation of em7 b5 told me more quickly which notes to change in the chord. When I came to a half dimished symbol i had to think through more steps to get to the right notes. I don't know if others have this experience, but it could answer the question of why its use began. I think all that is left to be done here is see what the programmers come up with and give it a try. Beyond this is a job for the musicology crowd. cheers, davidf
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