TUNE UP - Free Jazz Leadsheet

“tune up” is a jazz standard composed by Miles Davis in the 1950s. It became one of his most enduring contrafact pieces, building on the chord changes of older songs, which made it a favorite for improvisation. The first recording attributed to it is by Davis himself on the album *Relaxin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet*, recorded in 1956.

The tune has since been widely recorded by jazz musicians such as John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Cannonball Adderley. Lyrically irrelevant in its original form (as an instrumental), the piece emphasizes harmonic sophistication: it follows a sequence of ii–V–I progressions in multiple keys, making it ideal for soloists to explore melodic ideas across changing tonal centres.