1959: The Greatest Year in

Instructor: Jeff Denson OLLI Summer 2018

This week course will examine six of the most significant jazz recorded in the pivotal year of 1959, arguably some of the top jazz recordings of all time: ’ “,” ’s “Time Out,” ’ “Ah Um,” ’ “,” ’s “” and ’s “The Shape of Jazz to Come.”

These six master recordings display a wide variety in musical styles and esthetic experimentation and forecast the ever-expanding definition of what jazz is to this day. From the modal, melody-focused style of Miles Davis' “Kind of Blue;” to the vast harmonic exploration and dazzling displays of virtuosity found in John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps;” to the gospel and soaked “Ah Um” by one of jazz’s greatest bassists and composers, Charles Mingus; to the odd meters and Eastern European influences of Dave Brubeck’s “Time Out;” to the new heights of trio interaction and improvised counterpoint of Bill Evans’ “Portrait in Jazz;” to the questioning of what “freedom” in music means in the explorations of Ornette Coleman’s “The Shape of Jazz to Come,” the world of music would never be the same!

This course will include a great deal of listening and explanation of musical devices, concepts and approaches by the instructor as well as live performances by the instructor and other expert visiting jazz musicians.

Week 1 Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue," John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” and Bill Evans’ “Portrait in Jazz" - Birds of a Feather Yet Worlds Apart

Week 2 Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue," John Coltrane “Giant Steps,” and Bill Evans “Portrait in Jazz” continued - Plus live performance and demonstration/discussion

Week 3 Charles Mingus’ “Ah Um,” Dave Brubeck “Time Out," and Ornette Coleman “The Shape of Jazz to Come” - Home, Abroad and Beyond

Week 4 Charles Mingus’ “Ah Um,” Dave Brubeck’s “Time Out," and Ornette Coleman’s “The Shape of Jazz to Come” - Plus live performance and demonstration/discussion