New York 1959 modal jazz, album 'Kind of Blue' Davis- trumpet. Adderley- alto. Coltrane- tenor. Evans- piano. Chambers- bass. Cobb- drums. Transcription. 12 bar blues heard 19 times.
Trumpet- harmon mute, ghost and grace notes, fall off, leader. Alto- 4 solos and riffs, virtuosic, chromatic. Tenor- more mellow, riffs, 4 solo choruses, gets more virtuosic, dissonances.
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All Blues Texture
Mainly melody-dominated harmony. Texture builds as instruments are added. Riff 1 keeps going (bass). Starts with drum, bass and piano. Sax riff builds texture. Thin in links.
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All Blues Dynamic
Soft in head passages with expressive moments of (de)cresc. Mute gives more gentle sound. Trumpet solos- mute comes out, dynamics warmer then loud. Solos- range of dynamics, often v. loud. Ends softly, fades out. Accents and articulation.
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All Blues Rhythm and Metre
6/4- duple compound feel, fast jazz waltz. Swung quavers, syncopation, polyrhythms, rhythmic displacement, complex rhythmic patters in solos, triplets, longer notes in Head.
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All Blues Tonality
G major key signature (F naturals could be seen as blue notes), but Mixolydian mode on G. Modal jazz.
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All Blues Harmony
Modal, based on 12 bar blues repeated 19 times. Many 7ths and extended chords. Altered chords where he uses chromatic notes. Dissonance. Lack of conventional cadences.
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All Blues Melody
Main melody called the head- mostly slow and conjunct, characterised by rising 6th, mordent and grace notes. Head develops each time. Improvised solos including fast scales and arpeggios, chromatics creating dissonance, angular leaps, greater ranges.
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All Blues Structure
Head arrangment with variations based on 12-bar blues progression. Has introduction and outro. Head returns after solos. 4 bar riff introduces each of the main sections. Links give feeling of unity. 12 bar blues heard 19 times.
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