: Chromatic approaching dominant I'm having a little trouble analyzing this blues-y cadence. I've called the dominant chord a G9 even though there is no third (B) at the end of the bar. I think this makes sense, since it

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The first chord looks a bit like an E-minor with an added ninth; it lacks the characteristic seventh for a true ninth (though it would not be wrong to analyze it as such.) The second chord (with the 3 flats) is an Eb minor (a passing motion between the E and the ensuing chord). The third chord is a D minor (which is the top three notes of a G ninth). The G in the bass acts like a pedal point (or an organ point depending on which book you look at.) A pedal point is a sustained note (usually the tonic or dominant) with a bunch of stuff above it which may be consonant or dissonant.
The most important pattern seems to be the (partially) chromatic descent in the melody: G-Gb-F-E. At least, classically speaking, this is rather common; a scale-like passage (chromatic or diatonic) may give rise to chords that are hard to analyze.
Personally (opinion here), I think of "functional" chords as having (at least) four functions: tonic, dominant, predominant (aka subdominant), and passing. Passing chords add harmonic and melodic color to a phrase: they need not have a nice analytical description. Compare with the "wedge" or "omnibus" progressions where a chord exchanges the 3 and 5 positions through chromatic motion. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnibus_progression