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Route 66 (Bobby Troup)

Jazz's ultimate road song, "Route 66," was written by pianist/vocalist Bobby Troup, but first became widely known through the hit version of the great Nat "King" Cole trio—only fitting, since the South Sider Cole immortalized a song that "winds from Chicago to LA." This unlikely chart-topper is in fact based on the 12-bar blues form, with a contrasting melodic line over a bridge that repeats the same blues chord pattern (varied by stop time). Perhaps "The St. Louis Blues" is the only 12-bar piece that has been more widely played than "Route 66"—and it cheats, using a repeated 8-bar non-blues chord pattern with a rhumba rhythm for the bridge.

The Halfway to Dawn trio version features a vocal by Broadhead, trying his very best to channel Bobby Troup.

Halfway to Dawn musicians include Glenn Broadhead (tenor sax), Bill Reda (guitar), and Michael Daly (bass). The abbreviated sample presents the vocal chorus and the cuts to a few 12-bar sequences featuring the tenor sax.

Recorded in 2008 by Nick Eipers and his students at Columbia College (Chicago).