Alternate the lane's minor 7ths with passing dominants a half step below each and the bass becomes a chromatic escalator: 3, b3, 2, b2, 1. Each dominant is the tritone sub of the fifth-wise chord it replaces — the whole jazz-ending industry in one line.
hear it in jazz ballad endings · Ellington-school outros
Lead-in — how players set it upFrom 4Δ7 stepping down into the 3-⁷ that starts the slide.Or from 1Δ7 — leave home just to slide back chromatically.Or from 6-⁷, joining the escalator one floor down.Follow — where it usually goes1Δ7 lands like silk — tag 6-⁷ and the tune breathes on.Tag it: 3-⁷ picks the lane back up and the form loops.Or halt on b2⁷ — hang the sub like a held breath, then land.
The melody is the bass a tenth up: sing the chromatic guide line 3, ♭3, 2, ♭2, 1 and the chords escort you down.Target tones (in C)Em7 — lean on G (b3) · D (b7)Eb7 — lean on G (3) · Db (b7)Dm7 — lean on F (b3) · C (b7)Db7 — lean on F (3) · B (b7)Cmaj7 — lean on E (3) · B (7)Half-step wiresE ↘ Eb · B ↘ Bb · Eb ↘ D · Bb ↘ A · D ↘ Db · A ↘ Ab