Level: 2
Tuning: Standard

Sax player/bandleader Don Redman composed the bluesy "Gee Baby" in 1929, with lyrics by Andy Razaf of "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose" fame. He made it a hit that year, but it didn't generate many cover versions until the Nat Cole Trio recorded it in 1944. Now it's a well-known standard. This key-of-C version has an AABA structure that starts on the VI chord (A7). If you look at the lead sheet that omits some of the jazzy chord substitutions of the instrumental version, you'll see circle-of-fifths movement: E7, (Bb9b5, a substitution for E7), A7, D9, G7, C. There's a lot of strumming in this one! As with all chord/melody arrangements, familiarize yourself with the chords, as written on the lead sheet, before attempting the instrumental arrangement.