Thinking in Jazz
Page 80
McCoy Tyner’s block chord accompaniment (a2) places voicings higher in the piano’s range than Garland’s accompaniment and emphasizes quartal harmony, sometimes omitting the chord root or relegating it to other voices than the bass (bars 1–5). Indicating the piece’s structure, Tyner performs a recurring rhythmic structural marker (bar 1) or its syncopated variant (bars 4–5) at the beginning of four-bar phrases. Like Garland, Tyner emphasizes off-beat punches within phrases, but he distinguishes his accompaniment through increased rhythmic density, a greater diversity of rhythmic values, and a predilection for tying figures over the barlines. Marking off the chorus’s final cadence (bars 31–32), Tyner performs rhythmically dense off-beat figures and especially high, expansive six-element chords, whose tension he resolves with a sustained chord on the downbeat of the new chorus. To highlight the form further, Tyner adopts a different harmonic approach for the composition’s major components. As illustrated by the large score segment (ex. 13.24), he typically simplifies the A section’s standard progression by emphasizing C or Cm11 chords voiced in fourths (bars 1–8) but elaborates the progression of the bridge (bars 17–24) with occasional substitutions. Moreover, he gives the bridge a unique color by diversifying his quartal voicings with comparatively conservative tertian voicings. The latter feature stacks of thirds in the left hand, rather than the sevenths characteristic of Garland’s accompaniment.
b. Design characterized by diverse textural effects and dramatic changes in time-feeling Herbie Hancock accompaniment, “I Thought about You”
Differing markedly from Garland’s and Tyner’s performances is Herbie Hancock’s diverse “pianistic” or “orchestral” accompaniment, created initially at a slow ballad tempo. Overall, Hancock’s voicings are higher in range than those of the other pianists, with his right hand periodically venturing nearly an octave higher than Tyner’s voicings for dramatic effect (bars 53–55). Additionally, Hancock does not outline the form with repeating structural markers but generates a constantly changing accompaniment in which he develops his ideas organically and responds to the musical events taking place in the other parts. Hancock’s performance encompasses a tremendous range of colors, gestures, and textural effects. At one moment, he adopts the conventional block chord approach (bars 41–43); at another, he creates a soloistic melodic phrase (bars 10, 12), or a subtle inner voice melody (bar 6), or an unusually wide leap (bar 32), or he suddenly rests for a measure or two (bars 23–24). His formulations range from simple close-voiced dyads (bar 18), stacks of thirds (bar 39), and blues-ornamented structures (bar 11) to complex clusters (bar 35) and characteristically hard-biting, six- and seven-note voicings with octaves on top (bars 53–55). Throughout, Hancock varies the rhythmic values of his comping figures and their registral placement as well. He enjoys exploring the extremes.
Example 13.1 Rhythmic tension among the accompanying parts McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, and Elvin Jones, “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise” (all excerpts= 104–108)
Example 13.2 Balancing expressions of freedom and constraint between bass player and drummer Ron Carter and Tony Williams accompaniment, “I Thought about You”
a. Bass player intensifies activity while drummer limits activity
b. Drummer intensifies activity while bass player limits activity
Example 13.3 Exchanging patterns between drummer and pianist
Example 13.4 Intensified interplay between drummer and pianist
a. Increasing density of coordinated punches Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner accompaniment, “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise”
b. Developing ostinato shout patterns “Philly” Joe Jones and Red Garland accompaniment, “Blues by Five” (Ih=hi-hat played with left-hand stick)
Example 13.5 Composite representation of chord by bass player and pianist
The bass player and pianist sometimes create, in musical time and space, a composite interpretation of a progression that is close to a conventional lead sheet representation. Performing simultaneously on the downbeat of the chord change, the bass player may articulate the root and fifth of the chord, while the pianist performs a selection of chord tones and extensions, perhaps sustaining the structure for a few beats (a). As often, the pianist anticipates the chord change by half a beat, while the bass player leads a line toward the root (or other chord tones) on the subsequent downbeat (b). Taking slightly greater liberties, the pianist may sustain a chord through the downbeat of the next chord’s area, mixing the sound of the first chord with the new root articulated by the bass player before changing chords and resolving the dissonant effects (cl, c2). The pianist can also create varied colors by altering the harmonic quality of a chord, for example, from a dominant quality to a minor quality, while the bass player maintains the root (d).
a. Simultaneous downbeat performance of chord Reggie Workman and McCoy Tyner accompaniment, “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise”
b. Pianist anticipates chord changes while bass player sounds chord tones on downbeats Paul Chambers and Red Garland accompaniment, “Bye Bye, Blackbird”
c. Pianist sustains previous chord color while bass player sounds new root
d. Pianist alters chord quality while bass player sounds root Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock accompaniment, “I Thought about You”
Example 13.6 Bass player and pianist interrelating different harmonic pathways
The bass player and pianist commonly interrelate different harmonic pathways to vary their mutual representation of form, contributing diversity to the music’s changing composite harmony. In a, while the bass player subtly alters the conventional progression through his line’s ii–V–ii downbeat emphasis, the pianist plays chord substitutions that initially complement the bass part, then deviate from it. The parts converge harmonically on the next downbeat. In b1, the musicians begin by representing the progression faithfully; then they create dissonant effects, which they subsequently resolve. In b2, the pianist remains close to the progression while the bass player adopts an unexpected course, emphasizing the upper tensions of chords and playing fifths on the downbeat of chord changes, before returning to root performance. The musicians can both take harmonic liberties at times, creating unique colors and playful ambiguity in their portrayal of form. In c, as the bass player largely avoids performing roots on downbeats, the pianist embellishes the progression with substitute chords. Shortly after, the musicians converge on the form. Finally, d illustrates another common device for creating diverse colors: pedal point technique. Typically, one instrument sustains or reiterates the tonic or fifth of the key—sometimes with imaginative rhythmic motion—amid changing harmonic features in its own part or the other part.
a. Harmonic liberties on piano Paul Chambers and Red Garland accompaniment, “Bye Bye, Blackbird”
b. Harmonic liberties on bass
c. Harmonic liberties on bass and piano Paul Chambers and Red Garland accompaniment, “Blues by Five”
d. Pedal point effects
Example 13.7 Exchanging melodic-harmonic ideas between bass player and pianist
Paul Chambers and Red Garland accompaniment, “Blues by Five” (all excerpts = 176)
Within the accompaniment’s multilayered musical fabric, the bass player and pianist commonly respond to each other’s suggestions. In a, the bass player’s insistent performance of a pitch outside the piece’s form prompts the pianist to transform the progression with a related chord substitution. In b, the pianist takes the lead in altering the form with chord substitutions, concluding with a tritone substitution that influences the bass player’s choice of pitches. Artists’ exchanges can also involve melodic gestures. In c1, the pianist introduces a fragment of a common blues figure, while the bass player performs an independent idea; subsequently, in c2, the artists perform the figure together, and in c3, they develop it motivically.
a. Responding to the bass player’s suggestions
b. Responding to the pianist’s suggestions
c. Setting up ideas for mutual perform
ance
Example 13.8 Melodic-rhythmic interplay between bass player and pianist
In a, the bass player departs momentarily from walking bass patterns to reinforce an off-beat fragment of the pianist’s comping patterns, and in b, the bass player engages in imitative call and and response with the pianist. As illustrated in c, artists can alternate such diverse operations with creating interlocking figures or contrapuntal patterns that converge on the downbeat to delineate the form.
Example 13.9 Interplay between bass player and drummer
In a, the bass player momentarily abandons his walking bass line to reinforce two drum kicks, then imitates a third immediately after hearing it. In response, the drummer plays on-beat punches that reinforce the bass player’s return to a walking bass pattern. One part’s subtle phrasing shift, for example, from an even quarter-note and eighth-note feeling to a triplet swing feeling, can result in a near simultaneous fleeting shift in the other part, or, as in b, initiate subtle call and response exchanges between players. In c, an intensified feeling of swing in the drummer’s part leads to comparable intensification in the bass part that progresses from straight to swing patterns and, finally, to triplet figures.
Example 13.10 Interplay between soloist and drummer
In a1, the drummer responds to the soloist’s leap by creating analogous leaps from the snare drum to the hi-hat, filling in the backbeats between the soloist’s pitches with accented cymbal colors. In a2, the soloist plays a rapid rhythmic passage, then rests while the drummer answers him with an intense drum fill. In bl, the drummer’s on-beat quarter-note kicks inspire the soloist to begin his performance with a simple quarter-note pattern, which he develops as a motive. In b2, the soloist’s creation of a metrically displaced hemiola-like pattern invites the drummer to adopt a comparable idea for his part. In c1, the drummer rests after accenting the first beat of the rhythm section break at the close of the initial melody rendition. Then, on the basis of recurring elements in the soloist’s break passage, he returns to reinforce its concluding pitch with him. As illustrated in c2, a drummer accompanying a melody rendition sometimes highlights important phrase components with kicks; in c3, the drummer applies the same procedure to the solo line, successfully predicting its important features, in effect playing the soloist’s line together with him.
a. Filling open beats in solo part
b. Exchanging precise rhythmic ideas
c. Reinforcing rhythmic features of melody rendition and solo part
Example 13.11 Melodic interplay between soloist and pianist
As illustrated in a1–a2, the top voice of the pianist’s block chord accompaniment or any of the inner voices can potentially perform a subtle melodic function, suggesting discrete pitches for the soloist’s adoption. Conversely, the pianist can adopt prominent pitches from the solo for chord voicings. Melodic interaction is commonly more extensive. In b, the pianist helps maintain the performance’s momentum and supports the soloist by filling the spaces between his phrases with independent figures. Such procedures can lead to imitative call and response exchanges. In cl, while the soloist rests, the pianist feeds him an idea in the form of a four-bar vamp pattern. The soloist immediately performs a transposed version of the pattern, then rests again, before conceiving a contrasting idea for the solo’s continuation. In c2, the pianist answers a soloist’s phrase with a harmonized variant, prompting the soloist to answer, in return, by performing his own variation on the pianist’s version before extending it in another direction. Finally, there are exceptional moments of near-simultaneous conceptualizing of figures between soloist and pianist shown in d1 and d2. The intimate knowledge players have of each other’s improvisational styles and precise vocabulary patterns enhances such events. The soloist’s descending phrase in d1, for example, appears to be a precomposed melody variant, whose periodic recurrence assists the pianist in predicting its performance. (A comparable phrase appears later in the first chorus, as shown in ex. 13.19b, and in the final statement of the melody on the recording.) In d2, the pianist may have set up the possibility of their coordinated interplay by feeding the soloist a transposed version of the same phrase, one of the soloist’s own signature patterns, as an earlier melodic fill (see b above, bars 30–31).
a. Interrelating through block chord accompaniment
Miles Davis and “Philly” Joe Jones accompaniment, “Blues by Five” (all excerpts=176)
b. Adding melodic figures between solo phrases
Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, “I Thought about You”
c. Imitative exchanges
d. Near simultaneous conceptualizing of figures
Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, “I Thought about You”
Example 13.12 Rhythmic interplay between soloist and pianist
In a1, amid his accompaniment’s short eighth-note punches, the pianist fleetingly imitates the longer rhythmic values of the soloist’s gesture. In a2, the pianist suggests a figure to the soloist for their mutual development. Rhythmic interplay does not only consist of exchanging specific patterns. At times, it involves regulating general features of parts like rhythmic density to create similar or complementary designs. In b, the soloist initially improvises short lyrical phrases accompanied by sustained piano patterns, but when the pianist shifts to rhythmically dense melodic commentary, it prompts the soloist to follow suit, improvising intricate linear patterns, to which the accompanist, in tum, responds by simplifying his part. Rhythmic reinforcement is another form of interaction. In c1, the pianist predicts the soloist’s off-beat accentuation scheme, creating a satisfying routine that the players re-create later in the performance in c2.
a. Imitative exchanges
b. Alternating schemes of rhythmic density
Booker Little and Jaki Byard,“Ode to Charlie Parker”
c. Reinforcing rhythmic features of solo part
Miles Davis and Red Garland, “Bye Bye, Blackbird” (all excerpts =1l6–120)
Example 13.13 Harmonic interrelationships among pianist, bass player, and soloist
In a, the pianist and bass player portray a segment of a composition’s structure explicitly, while the soloist, adopting a comparable approach, arpeggiates the underlying chord. More typically, as illustrated in b, the soloist creates ideas comprising imaginative mixtures of chord tones and non-chord tones, while the accompanists embellish the progression. Should the soloist emphasize non-chord tones or ignore a particular chord change within the progression—as in c, by remaining on the initial chord of the blues form—the bass player and pianist may follow suit, continuing their own performance of the initial chord through the next chord’s area. In other cases, such as d, artists strive to create polychordal effects. The pianist performs a highly altered version of the progression’s chords, while the soloist improvises from the materials of a Cm69 chord and the bass player walks generally in the key of C minor. Alternatively, as illustrated in e, when the solo becomes highly chromatic and harmonically ambiguous, the pianist may choose to rest temporarily while the bass player performs the roots of the progression, creating an open musical texture for the soloist. After sizing up the soloist’s gesture, the pianist supports its ending with a comparable harmonically ambiguous chord. In f, musicians create imitative patterns of melodic-harmonic tension and release. As the soloist embellishes the melody with affective chromatic slides, the bass player and pianist respond, in part, with a series of chromatic gestures of their own. At the same time, they exchange harmonic ideas with a tritone emphasis. The accompanists replace the progression’s D 7 chord with a tritone substitution, the soloist concludes his phrase with a pitch a tritone away from the Cm7 chord root, and the accompanists replace the following chord with another tritone substitution.
a. Mutual reinforcement of chord
Miles Davis, Red Garland, and Paul Chambers, “Bye Bye, Blackbird”
b. Soloist mixes chord and non-chord tones while accompanists remain close to harmony Miles Davis, Red Garland, and Paul C
hambers, “Blues by Five”
c. Accompanists follow soloist in simplifying progression
Miles Davis, Red Garland, and Paul Chambers, “Blues by Five”
d. Group members create polychordal effects
John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, and Reggie Workman, “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise”
e. Pianist rests while soloist plays harmonically ambiguous gesture
Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Ron Carter, “I Thought about You”
f. Alternating melodic-harmonic tension and release Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Ron Carter, “I Thought about You”
Example 13.14 Melodic-rhythmic interplay between soloist and bass player
In a1, the soloist adopts the rhythm and gestural shape of the bass player’s figure to embellish the solo’s sequential idea, and in tum, the bass player performs a slight variation on his original gesture. In a2, the accompanist departs from walking bass patterns to respond to the soloist’s extended triplet passage, then returns to his former groove. There are also moments of near-simultaneous conceptualization between soloist and bass player. In b, the bass player’s prediction of the soloist’s idea likely reflects familiarity with the gesture as a precomposed melody variant. (The soloist repeats the gesture on the recording’s final melody statement.)