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Expressive musical process: exploring contemporary jazz musicians’ views on the use of expressivity in compositional practice Jorge Pallarés Catalán Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Reid School of Music, Edinburgh College of Art June 2020 Acknowledgements I would like to recognize the invaluable assistance of my wife Ana for her effort in every moment of this PhD by being very supportive and understanding. It really meant a lot to me. I wish to show my gratitude to my beloved father because without him this PhD could not have been possible. All the dedication and love given by him has been and will always be infinite. His advice has offered me the opportunity to really make the most of my talents and love for music. Likewise, I would like to pay my special regards to my mother and my adored family for their unconditional love and all the support that they always offer and how important this has been to me as I have completed this project. I am very pleased for having had the opportunity to study a PhD at The University of Edinburgh, who successfully offer a very sophisticated plan of action for new researchers. I want to thank my supervisors Raymond MacDonald and Gareth Williams for being very empathetic at all moments. I cannot get to measure how much I have learnt from these two very respected academics. I am really delighted to have known and worked with scholars like Professor Peter Nelson, Dr Dee Isaacs, Dr Evangelos Himonides, Dr Tom Wagner and Dr Graeme Williams among other music academics that I have had the pleasure to meet in universities like the University of Bangor or the university El Liceu in Barcelona, while presenting my PhD project. I am also grateful for the admirable advise by Jack Walker through the writing process of this document. I do not want to forget to name one of the most important pillars of this research, without whom this project would not have had the same meaning and impact: the musicians who, alongside me, helped to create the sonic part of this investigation. In one hand, the two other members of the experimental jazz trio: Javi Castillo Catalán and Javier Álvarez. And in the other hand, the other musicians for the two first experiments of this PhD: Graeme Wilson, Diljeet Kaur Bhachu, Garry Hall and William Tanton. Finally, I am indebted to my interviewed participants: Dario Cortese, Ernest Llorens, Fabian Barraza, Phil Capone, Bil Fultone, Mayte Alguacil, Jaume Vilaseca, Joan Fonfria, Dee Byrne, Mike Hatchard, Issie Barrat, Kevin Mackencie, Kai Hoffman, Manolo Diaz, Felicity Gorst, Gonzalo Del Val and Kate Williams, who are much recognised and experienced musicians. They have successfully contributed to the elaboration of this thesis by expressing their opinions and giving their theories based on their unequivocal wide experience about this topic of musical expressivity in contemporary jazz. II III Table of contents Table of contents…………………………………………………………………………………..IV Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………….VIII • Chapter 1 – Introduction…………………………………..……………………..1 1.1 Research aims………………………………………….………………………………….1 1.2 Research questions………………………………….……………………………………2 1.3 Research methods …………………………………………….………………………….3 1.4 Expressivity…………………….………………………………………………………….6 1.5 Filling a gap………………………………………………………………………………8 1.6 Thesis structure ……………………………………………………..............................8 1.7 Limitations of this research ……………………………………………………………10 1.8 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..11 • Chapter 2 – Literature review…………………..………………………………13 2.1 Musical expressivity………………………………………………………………………….13 2.2 Expressivity through communication ……………………………………………………..16 2.2.1 Expressivity as communication ……………………….………………………………16 2.2.2 Expressivity and personal language ………………………….………………………16 2.3 Expressivity and improvisation …………………………………………………………..18 2.3.1 Philosophical stances on the solo……………………………………………………..18 2.3.2 Fluent expressivity ……………………………………………………………………...19 2.3.3 Expressivity and the ideal improvised solo ………………………………………….20 2.4 Expressivity through instrumentation and modal composition ………………………22 2.4.1 The use of instrumentation …………………………………………………………….22 2.4.2 Expressivity in contemporary modal composition ………………………………….23 2.5 Literature review summary………………………………………………………………..25 • Chapter 3 – Methodology………………….……………………………………26 3.1 What are the aims of this research?.............................................................................26 3.2 Why choosing Semi Structured interview to collect the data and Thematic Networks as data analysis method………………..………………………………………...26 3.3 Qualitative Methodologies…………………………………………………………………...29 3.3.1 Thematic Networks: an analytic tool for qualitative research…………………......30 3.3.2 Analytic stage A………………………..…………………………………………………31 IV 3.3.3 Analytic stage B……………………………..……………………………………….……32 3.3.4 Analytic stage C………………………………………..…………………………….…...32 3.4 Semi-structured interview……………………………………..………………………...……32 • Chapter 4 – Methods……………………………………………………………..34 4.1 The process of recruiting to interview……………………………..………………………..34 4.2 Consent to do a doctoral research……………………..……………………………………35 4.3 Data collection………………….……………………………………………………………...35 4.4 Interviews transcription………..……………………………………………………………..35 4.5 The reading……………………………..………………………………………………………36 4.6 Compositional methods…………………………..…………………………………………...36 4.7 Conclusion………………………..…………………………………………………………….38 • Chapter 5 - Expressing communication………………………………………….34 5.1 Defining communication in contemporary jazz……………………………………..……..39 - Musical work: Musical Experiment I: Se Fue La Tormenta o Translation: The storm Is Gone 5.1.1 Where does the interest for this topic come from?......................................................39 5.1.2 What works define expressivity through communication?..........................................39 5.1.3 Gap to be filled with this section………………………………………………………...…40 5.1.4 Discussion structure of this section “Defining expressivity through communication” ………………………………………………………………………………………………...41 5.1.5 Other relevant literature……………………….………………………………………..…..41 5.1.6 Discussion with the participants and illustrative musical experiment I …………...…41 5.1.7 Conclusion……….………………………………………………………………………….. .47 5.2 Development of the personal language and its communicative features ………………..48 - Musical piece: Recuerdos o Translation: Memories 5.2.1 Aims………………………….………………………………………………………………...48 5.2.2 Impact of this research……………………………………………….……………………...49 5.2.3 Participants’ discussion structure ………………………………………………………....49 5.2.4 Relevant related literature……………………………………………………………….….49 5.2.5 Discussion with participants and musical experiment II………………………………..50 5.2.6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….…....57 V Chapter 6: Expressivity through improvisation ………………………………….……….59 - Musical work: Musical experiment III: Blindly 6.1 Risk and dynamism……………………………………………..……………………….…...59 6.1.1 What is the aim of this section?...............................................................................59 6.1.1 Gap to be covered with this section and how am I going to fill it?............................59 6.1.2 Structure of this unit……………………………….…………………………………….….60 6.1.3 Literature Review on Risk and Dynamism……………………………………….…..…..60 6.1.4 Discussion with participants and music experiment III………………………………...62 6.1.5 Conclusion………………………………………….…………………………………….…..71 6.2 An improvised idiom .………………………………………………………………………..73 6.2.1 What has attracted my interest to carry out this investigation?.................................73 6.2.2 What is the gap and how it will be filled with this section?........……………………...73 6.2.3 Discussion structure of the unit: defining the jazz idiom ……………………………...73 6.2.4 Relating current literature definitions of jazz idiom………………………………..…..74 6.2.5 Discussion about definitions of contemporary jazz idiom and musical experiment III…..……………………………………..……………………………………75 6.2.6 Summary….……………………………………………………………..………………….....77 6.3 The expressive features of an ideal improvised solo ………….…………………….……..85 6.3.1 Existing gap and how it will be remedied ………………………………………………..85 6.3.2 Structure of this section………………………………………………..……………………85 6.3.3 Related literature …………………………………………………………………..….........86 6.3.4 Discussion with participants and musical experiment III…………………………..…..87 6.3.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..…………..97 Chapter 7: Expressivity through composition ………………………………..…………..99 7.1 The use of expressivity through instrumentation …………………………………………..99 - Musical work: Musical Experiment IV: o Formed by three musical pieces: • En Mí Sonarás (You