I a COMPARATIVE STUDY of the JAZZ TRUMPET STYLES of CLIFFORD BROWN, DONALD BYRD, and FREDDIE HUBBARD an EXAMINATION of IMPROVISA
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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE JAZZ TRUMPET STYLES OF CLIFFORD BROWN, DONALD BYRD, AND FREDDIE HUBBARD AN EXAMINATION OF IMPROVISATIONAL STYLE FROM 1953-1964 by JAMES HARRISON MOORE Bachelor of Music, West Virginia University, 2003 Master of Music, University of the Arts, 2006 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2012 i UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences This dissertation was presented by James Harrison Moore It was defended on March 29, 2012 Committee Members: Dean L. Root, Professor, Music Mathew Rosenblum, Professor, Music Lawrence Glasco, Professor, History Dissertation Advisor: Nathan T. Davis, Professor, Music ii Copyright © by James Harrison Moore 2012 iii Nathan T. Davis, PhD A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE JAZZ TRUMPET STYLES OF CLIFFORD BROWN, DONALD BYRD, AND FREDDIE HUBBARD: AN EXAMINATION OF IMPROVISATIONAL STYE FROM 1953-1964. James Harrison Moore, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2012 This study is a comparative examination of the musical lives and improvisational styles of jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown, and two prominent jazz trumpeters whom historians assert were influenced by Brown—Donald Byrd and Freddie Hubbard. Though Brown died in 1956 at the age of 25, the reverence among the jazz community for his improvisational style was so great that generations of modern jazz trumpeters were affected by his playing. It is widely said that Brown remains one of the most influential modern jazz trumpeters of all time. In the case of Donald Byrd, exposure to Brown’s style was significant, but the extent to which Brown’s playing was foundational or transformative has not been examined. With regards to Hubbard, assertions of his affinity for Brown’s playing during his formative years are well founded, but how much of Brown’s influence was retained by Hubbard as he developed his own personal style has been unexamined. This study examines the early life, musical training, significant professional experiences, and musical influences of Clifford Brown, Donald Byrd, and Freddie Hubbard to assist in forming a more complete picture of the evolution of their respective improvisational styles. In order to call into question the extent of Brown’s influence upon Byrd iv and Hubbard I scrutinize the playing of these three men in a comparative manner, focusing on traditionally analyzed elements such as melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic tendencies as well as performance elements specific to the trumpet. When one jazz musician is influenced by the improvisational style of another many of the aforementioned elements may be transferred and adopted in the formation of style. Therefore, by identifying the elements that make up Clifford Brown’s modern jazz trumpet style and looking for commonalities and differences among the three trumpeters, a more complete and accurate understanding of the interrelationships between Brown, Byrd, and Hubbard is achieved. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 AIMS OF THIS STUDY ..................................................................................... 4 1.2 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 10 1.2.1 Biography..................................................................................................... 10 1.2.2 Analysis ........................................................................................................ 11 2.0 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES ............................................................................... 16 2.1 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF CLIFFORD BROWN ............................... 18 2.1.1 Early Life ..................................................................................................... 18 2.1.2 Educational Experiences ............................................................................ 20 2.1.2.1 Philadelphia ......................................................................................... 26 2.1.3 Significant professional experiences .......................................................... 29 2.1.4 Musical Influences ...................................................................................... 32 2.1.5 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 34 2.2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DONALD BYRD ....................................... 35 2.2.1 Early Life ..................................................................................................... 38 2.2.2 Educational Experiences ............................................................................ 39 2.2.2.1 Detroit .................................................................................................. 43 2.2.2.2 Military Service and New York City ................................................. 47 vi 2.2.2.3 Paris ...................................................................................................... 52 2.2.3 Significant Professional Experiences......................................................... 54 2.2.4 Musical Influences ...................................................................................... 58 2.2.5 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 60 2.3 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF FREDDIE HUBBARD ............................. 61 2.3.1 Early Life ..................................................................................................... 63 2.3.2 Educational Experiences ............................................................................ 65 2.3.2.1 Indianapolis ......................................................................................... 69 2.3.2.2 New York City ..................................................................................... 73 2.3.3 Significant Professional Experiences......................................................... 75 2.3.4 Musical Influences ...................................................................................... 79 2.3.5 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 83 3.0 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS .................................................................................. 85 3.1 ARTICULATION TENDENCIES ................................................................... 87 3.1.1 Adherence to Prevailing Jazz Articulation Model ................................... 88 3.1.2 Articulation Variation .............................................................................. 101 3.1.3 Successively tongued pitches in eighth-note-based lines ....................... 105 3.1.4 Slurred and tongued pitches in lines that cross register breaks ........... 112 3.1.5 Utilization of “ghost” notes ...................................................................... 121 3.2 RHYTHMIC TENDENCIES ......................................................................... 124 3.2.1 Prevalence of eighth-note-based lines ..................................................... 125 3.2.2 Use of quarter notes .................................................................................. 128 3.2.3 Sustained pitches ....................................................................................... 132 vii 3.2.4 Syncopations .............................................................................................. 137 3.2.5 Eighth-note triplet turns........................................................................... 143 3.2.6 Eighth-sixteenth-note turns...................................................................... 147 3.2.7 Sixteenth note turns .................................................................................. 149 3.2.8 Sixteenth-note-triplet turns ...................................................................... 151 3.2.9 Grace notes ................................................................................................ 153 3.2.10 Half-Valve Grace Notes ............................................................................ 155 3.2.11 Plops ........................................................................................................... 157 3.2.12 Alternate fingerings .................................................................................. 158 3.3 HARMONIC LANGUAGE ............................................................................ 163 3.3.1 Chromaticism ............................................................................................ 164 3.3.1.1 Enclosure figures ............................................................................... 164 3.3.2 Major scales and derivates ....................................................................... 177 3.3.3 Bebop Dominant Scales ............................................................................ 181 3.3.3.1 Chromatic scale ................................................................................. 188 3.3.4 Non-harmonic tones and diminished-scale fragments........................... 189 3.3.4.1 Blues scale .......................................................................................... 195 3.3.4.2 3 to flat-9 ............................................................................................ 196 3.3.4.3 Recurring patterns ...........................................................................