What is "sugar plum"

n. (alternative spelling of sugar-plum English)

A sugar plum is a piece of dragée or hard candy made of hardened sugar in a small round or oval shape.

"Plum" in the name of this confection does not mean plum in the sense of the fruit of the same name, but referred to small size and spherical or oval shape. According to The Atlantic Monthly, traditional sugar plums contained no fruit, but were instead hardened sugar balls. According to the Huffington Post, these hardened sugar balls were comfits, and often surrounded a seed, nut, or spice.

"Sugar Plum" is a jazz song by American jazz pianist Bill Evans (1929–1980). It features on The Bill Evans Album (1971). Evans reportedly wrote the song for his wife Nenette Evans. The form of the song is an extension of the typical jazz standard. The song has no melody, but instead is defined by a set of 8-bar chord changes that ultimately cycles through the circle of fourths; in this case, all twelve major keys (via ii-V-I progressions). Evans creates his own improvised melodies over each chorus. It begins in G major, then C major, F major, B-flat major, E-flat major, etc. The chord progression as described by Roman numerals is as follows:

/ I / repeat / bVII / repeat / I / repeat (ii—V--) / I / (of new key)

This translates to:

'''/Gmaj7/ /Fmaj7/ /Gmaj7/ /Dm7/ /G7/ /Cmaj7/ = new key '''