Frank Evans did solo jazz guitar arrangements in the early days of Guitar Techniques magazine. His version of the Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting) contained this great chord substitution of the I chord. The key is Eb, and the first melody note is also an Eb, so opportunities for interesting harmonies seem limited. But Frank Evans started the arrangement withAm7b5: 5x554x
which is built on the b5 of the parent key, then for the second melody note, which is also an Eb but up an octave, he substituted a D7b9add13 10 x 10 11 12 11, which acts as a secondary dominant leading into the temporary key of Gm on the word 'roasting', and that kicked off a conventional iii VI ii V progression round the cycle of fifths to complete the line.
It's a great way of introducing harmonic movement into a simple melody. Tuck Andress also used it in the second verse of his solo arrangement of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow', a song which has exactly the same melody for the first three notes.
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