Two Ed Bickert Chord Turnaround Licks (using upper pedal points)

Here are two chord turnaround licks from my favorite jazz guitarist, Ed Bickert, on my favorite of his recordings, "I'm Old Fashioned."  Both use an upper pedal point and smooth, linear descending chromatic patterns.

The first lick is straightforward.  The first chord is Am7, which contains the upper pedal of F  The next chord is an Ab7, the tritone substitution of D7 (the VI of F).  The ii-V uses G7 instead of Gm7 and C7b9 for C7.  In the lick, Bickert uses F as an upper pedal point combined with the 3rd and 7th of each chord.  Fully harmonized this sounds as Am7#5, Ab13, G7, and C7b9.  You can easily observe the 3rd and 7th descending chromatically from Ab7 through G7 to C7.  This continuity sounds logical to the ear and is the reason why G7 sounds good substituted for Gm7 (on a functional level you're treating G as the V of C instead of the ii of F).  This descending chromatic pattern, combined with the static F upper pedal point, makes this lick a great one to study and add to your vocabulary. 

The second turnaround, which immediately proceeds the previous turnaround in the recording, uses C as an upper pedal point.  The first "chord" doubles the C note for texture and adds in a G.  Functionally, this is more related to Am7 than F, since G and C are the 3rd and 7th of Am7.  The next chord is D7, the VI.  The notes played are G, B, and C, which are the 11th, 13th, and b7th of D7.  On its own this might not make the best substitution for D7, but in this context it's genius (and incredibly simple).  With the first chord as Am7, and the third chord Gm7, the D7 in this context is acting as an Abm7.  Ab is the tritone of D, and although a straight tritone substitution would be Ab7 instead of Abm7, the Ab7 is working more as a passing chord in between Am7 and Gm7.  Look at the descending pattern below. 55 to 44 to 33.  The ear locks into this pattern which makes this substitution sound great, even though it doesn't strictly follow the changes.  The next chord is Gm7, which with the C pedal becomes Gm11.  Finally, you get to the C7.  Bickert voices this chord in two different ways.  The first voicing is a basic C7, followed by a C7b9 which is tenser and more strongly leads into F at the top of the form.  On guitar, the use of the open high e string adds a wonderful texture to the chord voicing. 

It's extremely difficult to reach the five fret span for Fmaj7- but well worth it if you can get it!