When Discussing the Development of Music Over the Course of the 20Th
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When discussing the development of music over the course of the 20th century, it is impossible to forego the mention of Miles Davis’ quintessential 1959 album, Kind of Blue. Commonly referred to as the greatest jazz record of all time, Kind of Blue revolutionized jazz as both a genre, and a culture in America. The collaboration of famous jazz musicians, the trademark style of each player’s improvisational lines, the complexity of the harmonies and the modality of sonorities throughout the album establish an innovation look into jazz history. It is because of these unique traits of the improvisation and modality throughout the album that Kind of Blue has solidified itself into the Western musical canon. Miles Davis was born into a wealthy black family in East St. Louis in 1926. His family’s affluence allowed him to explore his musical talents from an early age, and began trumpet studies. By the time he was 16, Davis was a member of the music society, and played professionally at the Elks Club. In 1944, when Davis was 19, the Billy Eckstine band visited his home town. Famous jazz musicians, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were members of the band, and brought Davis on as third trumpet temporarily while their regular player was out sick. This opportunity exposed Davis’ talent by leading him to mentors who had a profound influence on his career.1 Davis attended Julliard in 1945 less than a year before he dropped out to learn from Charlie Parker. Later that same year, Parker hired him for his quintet. Though he had solos on a few of the tunes, his skills were outmatched by the talents of Gillespie and Parker. Davis found himself faced with the dilemma how to develop his own style while remaining in the shadow of his idols. His style was seen as very introverted, preferring the middle register, slower, longer 1 Peter Burkholder, Norton Anthology of Western Music (New York City: WW Norton & Company, 2015). Accessed March, 2015. http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/jazz/ch/14/outline.aspx notes and timbres rather than quickly moving solo lines. His sound began to develop and was characterized by his restraint rather than flamboyance. After nearly ten years of honing his skills, Davis finally recorded an album of his own. In 1955, Davis signed with Columbia Records, and composed and produced Round About Midnight which brought together Davis’ first great quintet: John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Joe Jones on drums. His work with Coltrane and Chambers particularly would prove to be fortuitous as the two of them would join him later on Kind of Blue, his most famous collaborative album. Coltrane’s particular style varied greatly from Davis’. While Davis remained reserved, Coltrane preferred demonstrative virtuosity in his solo lines. This pairing would prove to be a potent combination on the Kind of Blue album of 19592. Kind of Blue brought together seven legendary Jazz musicians in the heat of their career: tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderly, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb, and the mastermind behind the compositions, trumpeter Miles Davis. Davis’ trumpet stylings had been slowly gathering a following in the years before the album, and by 1958, Davis was world-renowned, and his playing set the standard for jazz musicians of the time. Davis scoured for new talent to join him in his compositions, and in the mid-1950s, he found just that in pianist, Bill Evans. Davis had been experimenting with the idea of “modal jazz,” or the idea of keeping the background of a tune simple while soloists played melodies using “modes” or scales instead of chord progressions for several years prior to meeting Evans. Evans introduced Davis to classical 2 Burkholder, Norton Anthology of Western Music. composers like Maurice Ravel, and Bela Bartok, who were well known for using modalities in their pieces3. This new knowledge, in addition to his prior insights into modal qualities in blues music, allowed Davis to transform compositions using modality rather than harmonic progression. Modal jazz went in the opposite direction of popular Bop music by decreasing harmonic density, and making the melody the focus. The compositions of Kind of Blue suited Davis’ mid-range lyrical approach while still providing a vehicle for Coltrane’s exuberance. Davis brought on Adderly’s drummer, Jimmy Cobb, rather than Joe Jones, for his mutual use of restraint in their musical style. The whole of the album was recorded over two separate days. The first track off the album is its most famous, “So What.” According to Bill Evans’ program notes, “So What” is a simple figure based on 16 measures of one scale, 8 of another and 8 more of the first. This track is characterized by Evans’ opening chords and introduction. Harmonically, it is based on two Dorian scales, D and E-flat arranged in a standard AABA pattern. The opening chords can be described as sus chords, particularly Emin7sus and Dmin7sus. These chords are formatted into a call-and-response type structure with the bass. This bass line serves as a melody and also has a foundation for the modal sonority, with D as the tonal center. The following in figure one excerpt is a chart of the chords of the tune: 3 Samuel Barrett. “Classical Music, Modal Jazz and the Making of Kind of Blue.” Dutch Journal of Music Theory 16, no. 1 (2011): 53-63. Accessed April, 2015. http://upers.kuleuven.be/sites/upers.kuleuven.be/files/page/files/2011_1_7.pdf 4 The harmonic scheme of this pieces abandons with quick harmonic rhythm normally associated with other forms of jazz. Bebop for example, commonly had two or more harmonies per measure. This is not the case with “So What.” This tune slows down the rate of harmonic rhythm dramatically, so that a single chord lasts for eight to as many as sixteen bars. The modality of the tune changes, however, when each performer does their solo. In every case, the soloists play outside of the Dorian collection, even chromatically altering lines as they please. Though at first listen, the style of playing may seem simplistic, the harmonic structure is extraordinarily complex. Another point of significance is the tunes lack of cadences. Cadential structure is a feature of tonal jazz rather than modal. Though there are a few in “So What,” there are not nearly as many popular jazz standards, in which cadences fall at the ends of 8 to 16 measure phrases. Eastman School of Music doctorate, Jason Titus had this to say in his 2010 dissertation: “Whereas tonal jazz is, for the most part, driven by functional progressions, modal jazz seems to employ a more linear basis for its construction. Furthermore, tonal jazz, particularly bop, 4 Samuel Barrett. "Kind of Blue and the Economy of Modal Jazz." Popular Music 25, no. 2 (2006): 185-200. Accessed April, 2015. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/236978/CUP kind of blue.pdf?sequence=1. emphasizes a relatively tight harmonic integration between the soloist and the underlying accompaniment. Modal jazz, on the other hand, favors a looser coordination…between each player’s expression of the local key center5.” This distinction between tonal and modal jazz is very important to remember when listening to Kind of Blue. An ear used to the tonality of western music comes to expect melodies and harmonies to progress in a certain way. Modal jazz does not always bolster this expectation. This is especially the case during this particular album. Old ideas of jazz are transformed and tonality does not always come first. This idea is exemplified in “So What” through its harmonic structure and solo lines. “Freddie Freeloader,” is known as the most traditionally bluesy track off the album. Davis builds a solo out of the familiar blues from the Bb blues. However, the timbre of the melody is painted through the introduction of points of tension and release. Davis chooses to deliberately and repeatedly rest of the flattened seventh degree of the chord scale all three choruses of the 12 bar phrase. The color of the bVII in the solo melody complements the harmonic shift to the dominant at the end of progression. Wynton Kelly, the other pianist collaborator on the album, steps in Evans’ place on this track only, lending his blues talents to the track. Bill Evans’ trademark melancholic style would not have been appropriate for this particular tune. The tune’s namesake Fred Tolbert, was a Philadelphia bartender whose business card read “Freddie the Freeloader.” Tolbert was also described by Davis’ wife Frances as a 5 Titus, Jason. “Miles Davis’ ‘So What’ as Modal Jazz Case Study.” Doctoral thesis, Eastman School of Music, 2010. Accessed March, 2015. file:///C:/Users/Jessica/Downloads/Titus%20Diss.pdf “harmless kook.6” Because of the tune’s playful nature, Kelly’s style of playing was deemed more suited to the tune than Evans’. Kelly’s playing, as with Evans’, lends character to the piece from its introduction, light piano dances behind the minimalist theme set up by Davis, Coltrane and Adderly. His lead off solo transforms the theme into the epitome of what blues piano embodied; upbeat, elegant, visceral. Davis’ solo follows close behind. “The long tones, deliberate phrasing, and perfect note selection are as authentic in their way as Robert Johnson’s midnight deals with the Delta Devil,” said jazz critic Alan Kurtz. Following Davis, Coltrane begins with his own unmistakable sound, almost interrupting Davis with his typical virtuosic licks.