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(note: only short portions of each song are used in the Cerego
sets)
"KoKo'" Duke Ellington Swing
"Hotter Than That" Louis Armstrong Early Jazz
"So What" Miles Davis Modal
"Giant Steps" John Coltrane
"Fables of Faubus" Charles Mingus
Since "Giant Steps" and "Fables of Faubus" do not have a
particular era associated with them, there is no question of that
type is asked in the set
How To Identify Songs On Jazz Deep Listening 2
The three methods that will help you tell these songs apart are:
1. The unique sound of the soloists: Three of jazz's "alltime
greats," Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, each
have a selection in this set. Louis Armstrong's scat singing
(wordless vocal improvisation) is easy to recognize on "Hotter
Than That." Miles Davis' use of space in the middle register of the
trumpet will tell you that you are listening to "So What." Finally,
John Coltrane's rapid playing and bright tenor saxophone sound is
an indicator of the song "Giant Steps."
2. Speed (or tempo): The two fastest songs in the set are "Hotter
Than That" and "Giant Steps." The other three selections are at
more of a medium tempo, so other methods such as sound of the
soloists and instrumentation will help you recognize that music.
3. Instrumentation: The important factor here is the large groups:
Ellington's big band on "KoKo" and Mingus' large band on
"Fables of Faubus"; versus the small groups of the other three
selections, which have four or fewer players on the recordings.
Summary
• Louis Armstrong, the first great jazz improviser, combined
groundbreaking improvisations with his charismatic
personality to popularize jazz
• Armstrong's recordings with the Hot Five and Hot Seven in the
late 1920s are his most highly regarded recordings, even
though he had a long career in music
Armstrong combined a powerful sound with rhythmic freedom and
an assured delivery to become one of the alltime great jazz
improvisers
Summary
• Hearing the difference between trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and
Miles Davis will help us recognize and understand the
features of Miles Davis' improvisaton as we go through the
upcoming Miles Davis units
• Three ways we can hear the difference between the
improvisations of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis are
register of the instrument; the speed of notes used; and space
between ideas
• Dizzy Gillespie often plays in the upper register of the trumpet;
as opposed Miles Davis's use of the middle register
• Miles Davis uses longer note values (a less technical approach)
in his improvisations; as opposed to Dizzy Gillespie's use of
rapid notes (a more technical approach)
• Miles Davis often leaves generous amounts of space between his
ideas; while Dizzy Gillespie has few pauses
Musical excerpts in this video give you an aural picture of these
differences, and exercises within this video improve your
recognition skills
Summary
• This video focuses on characteristics of Miles Davis that endured
throughout his career, despite his style changes
• Miles surrounded himself with musicians that were wellsuited to
his efforts, and often strove to capture "the spirit of
discovery" through recording with little rehearsal
• These groups include two great quintets that will be discussed in
upcoming videos, as well as collaborations with the arranger
Gil Evans and the pianist Bill Evans
• Miles was a symbol of AfricanAmerican culture, evidenced by
his dress, personality, and his love of boxing
• While Miles's innovations generally followed the evolution of
jazz eras, Miles' music did not always go in a "straightline"
stylistic progression
• The next subsection contains a summary of Miles's musical
characteristics that can be heard on the excerpt contained in
the above video
Five categories of Miles's music that we will use to organize his
output are: Cool; Hard Bop; Modal; Free/Fusion; and Post
Retirement Fusion
Summary
• Miles Davis went to New York City at a young age, and met and
played with Charlie Parker quickly after his arrival
• Miles made his first recordings with Charlie Parker at the age of
19, but Bebop was not the ideal fit for Miles's concept
• Miles Davis collaborated with the arranger Gil Evans to create
five albums we are placing in Miles's Cool category,
including Birth Of The Cool
• Gil Evans used orchestral instruments to create rich backdrops
that were perfectly suited to Miles's sound and style
Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain are two of Miles's Cool
category albums that contain moving performances
Summary
• Miles's Hard Bop category featured his "First Great Quintet",
which included tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, and made
the four albums on Prestige records discussed in Week 2 of
the course
• Miles augmented this band by adding alto saxophonist
Cannonball Adderley in 1958 on an album titled Milestones
• "Dr. Jekyll," from Milestones, features Miles's quote of "When
The Saints Go Marching In," as well as furious trading
between Cannonball and John Coltrane
• Miles's Modal category featured a change in improvisational
approach where one mode (or scale) is used for a long period
of time
One of the most famous modal compositions is "So What" off of
the iconic album Kind of Blue, discussed in the next video
Summary
• Miles Davis's album Kind of Blue is regarded as one of the
greatest jazz albums of all time
• In addition to Miles, other important musicians on the recording
were John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Cannonball Adderley
(alto saxophone), and Bill Evans (piano)
• Much of the music on the album is representative of Modal jazz,
where one chord is used for a long period of time
• One of the most famous modal compositions in jazz is "So
What," a song in AABA form where the harmony for each
section is a single minor chord
• Because harmony is minimized, the emphasis in the solos
switches to melody, motivic development, and rhythm
• Miles used different colors within his solo on this song by
carefully selecting pitches
• John Coltrane's solo on "So What" features dense arpeggios
• Another modal selection on this album is "Flamenco Sketches,"
where each improvisation goes through five different modes,
with different degrees of tension
• Since the tempo of "Flamenco Sketches" is slower, it is easier to
hear the changes of mode
Many audio examples of these characteristics are discussed in the
above video
Summary
• Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet, which featured Wayne
Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron
Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums), stretched the
boundaries of jazz in the 1960s
• The group performed mostly in the Modal category of Miles's
music and demonstrated great flexibility, especially in the
rhythm section, as heard on "Stella By Starlight"
• The compositions of Wayne Shorter, including "E.S.P.," were an
important part of the group's repertoire
The quintet played modal selections, reinterpreted standards, and
began experiments with even8th rock grooves on songs such as
"Freedom Jazz Dance"
Summary
• Miles's experiments with even8th rock rhythms in the 1960s
soon expanded to include more players, electric instruments,
and "free" sections
• This resulted in music we are placing in Miles's Free/Fusion
category
• This category took elements of Free Jazz from the 1960s and
combined those with the rock rhythms and electric
instruments of the Fusion era to create some memorable and
controversial records
• Miles was influenced by the success of rock groups of the time,
including Sly and The Family Stone, and attempted to
incorporate those elements into his recordings
• Editing was important in making these recordings, as songs and
albums were "assembled" after the recording session by
splicing portions of music together
• Albums in this category include In A Silent Way and the pinnacle
record of the category, Bitches Brew
• Reaction to this music was deeply dividedon the positive side,
Bitches Brew sold over one million copies and won a
Grammy Award
In the early 1970s, Miles endured a number of struggles that led to
his retirement from music in 1975
Summary
• Miles Davis returned to music in 1981, and remained in music
until his death in 1991, creating music we are placing in his
PostRetirement category
• The band that Miles formed during this time was a fusion band
with much less free influence than his fusion bands of the
1970s
• Miles seemed much happier and more gregarious during this time
• The song "Jean Pierre" from We Want Miles featured a smaller
band than the 1970s fusion groups, with electric bass and
electric guitar
• Miles's musical characteristics of the harmon mute and use of
space were still evident during this period
Miles's alumni have gone on to shape jazz of the last thirty years
oltrane's characteristics
• Fast, relentless playing
• Great technical ability—“sheets of sound”
• Powerful, clear sound (often in upper register)
All these features are tools that Coltrane used to create music
whose character would be described by many as energetic, or
“busy,” or “industrious,” or perhaps “forceful” or “happy.”
Coltrane’s ability was very much respected by other musicians and
listeners.
Summary
• John Coltrane worked with the pianist/composer Thelonious
Monk and with Miles Davis in the 1950s
• Coltrane used "sheets of sound" on his album Giant Steps, a
landmark jazz album from 1959
• "Sheets of sound" are rapid arpeggios played in succession to
outline harmonies, a technique pioneered by Coltrane
• The songs "Giant Steps" and "Countdown" featured rapid,
unusual chord changes that Coltrane improvised over with
authority
Coltrane also had a beautiful sound when playing ballads, as heard
on "Naima"