Stomp progression

In music and jazz harmony, the Stomp progression is an eight-bar chord progression named for its use in the "stomp" section of the composition "King Porter Stomp" (1923) by Jelly Roll Morton. The composition was later arranged by Fletcher Henderson, adding greater emphasis on the Trio section, containing a highly similar harmonic loop to that found in the Stomp section. It was one of the most popular tunes of the swing era, and the Stomp progression was often used. Magee (2014) describes a two measure three chord harmonic loop: F-F#dim7 C7-C7.  Play 

The progression ( Play ) is based on the last section of the piece, bars 57-64 in the original sheet music for piano or the Fake Book lead sheet, where the chords for the last 10 bars of the piece are:

Gb / Gdim / | Db7/Ab / Db7 / | Gb / Gdim / | Db7/Ab / Db7 / | Gb7 / Gdim / |Db/Ab Adim Bbm Db/Ab | Gdim / Gb / | Db/F Bbm Adim Db/Ab | Gdim Gb6 Db/F Ab | Db9 / / / ǁ

In pieces where the progression is repeated, this becomes something like:

||: Gb7 Gdim7 | Db7/Ab Db7 | Gb7 Gdim7 | Db7/Ab Db7 | Gb7 Gdim7 | Db7/Ab Bb7 | Eb7 | Ab7 Db7 :ǁ

which is, ignoring the temporary tonicization of G♭, and treating the key as that of the trio and stomp sections, D♭:

||: IV⁷ #ivdim⁷ | I⁷/5 I⁷ | IV⁷ #ivdim⁷ | I⁷/5 I⁷ | IV⁷ #ivdim⁷ | I⁷/5 VI⁷ | II⁷ | V⁷ I⁷ :ǁ

The last two measures contain the ragtime progression.

Many bands and composers have used the Stomp chord progression to write new compositions, writing new head tunes or melodies, but using the chord changes to, as Morton phrased it, "make great tunes of themselves". Examples include Benny Carter's "Everybody Shuffle" (1934). See contrafact.

Other examples include:

Larry Clinton and Bunny Berigan's "Study in Brown"

Fats Waller's "Soothin' Syrup Stomp"

Cab Calloway's "At the Clambake Carnival"

Harry James's "Jump Town" and "Call the Porter"

Benny Goodman's "Slipped Disc"

Duke Ellington's "Bojangles (A Portrait of Bill Robinson)" (1940) chorus riff

Sy Oliver's "Well, Git It!" for Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra(1942)

Willie Bryant Orchestra's 1935 recording of George Gershwin's "Liza", eight-bar tag ending