Tricotism is a jazz be-bop tune written by Oscar Pettiford, one of the pioneers of the upright bass and a notable composer. It was first released in 1954 on the Bethlehem label, on the album Oscar Pettiford (also issued as Oscar Pettiford Modern Quintet). The tune is best known from Pettiford’s own Modern Quintet, though early versions appeared on Lucky Thompson meets Oscar Pettiford, and Ray Brown later recorded it on cello, helping broaden its reach. The melody is built from brisk eighth notes with well placed triplets and features tri-tone substitutions, notably a color move to A7 in bar seven. It sits in a relatively unusual key for a bass feature, D-flat major (five flats), which gives it a distinctive sonority. The composition showcases core be-bop elements such as motivic development and call-and-response, and it remains a compact example of Pettiford’s sophisticated tune writing.
