Posted on 07/29/2017 8:56:03 AM PDT by HLPhat
So What" is the first track on the 1959 album Kind of Blue by American trumpeter Miles Davis.
It is one of the best known examples of modal jazz, set in the Dorian mode and consisting of 16 bars of D Dorian, followed by eight bars of E♭ Dorian and another eight of D Dorian.[1]
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
I saw The Dave Brubeck Trio play the 1993 Montreaux-Detroit Jazz Festival at Hart Plaza. It was a small crowd of maybe 1,000 people. The guy playing the upright bass had such a grip on the fingerboard I thought he might snap it right off. The show went on from the evening and into the night. You could tell right away that these guys were seasoned veterans. Cool!...not “Kewl”.
So......what? (Is he agreeing with me or being sarcastic about my dislike of it??)
At a certain point in college in the early 70s.....you weren’t cool if you didn’t ‘discover ‘ jazz. People I know who (I believe)hated it, felt that they had to buck up and sit there and force themselves to enjoy music they hated.
I fostered no such self delusion.
I like many types of music. But not Jazz from the late 40s on.
At the risk of sounding patronizing...
This is not a big deal.
And it is very possible for people to both love and admire the great talents of both Rock and Roll and Modern Jazz.
Jazz is an acquired taste. You are in the majority. It’s a treasure hidden in a field. I can assure you those who love it are not faking it.
I was trying to explain ad libbing to my Dad.
He said,
“It sounds like they’re just making up shirt as they go along.”
Well, yeah.
My brother plays base with his BIL. Jazz.
When I go over for holidays he play that stuff constantly. It grates on me like nails on a chalk board. I causes me to want to leave early.
ok fair enough
Improvisation over chord changes.
Santana, Grateful Dead, Allman Bros...
Lots of “Rock” has Jazz Influences.
Influence. And sometimes that’s too much and sometimes a little is ok
I’m not a rock fan so as a music fan. As far as jazz, anything before the late fourties, is interesting to me.
http://www.google.com/search?q=improvisation+over+chord+changes
That’s an essential element of jazz borrowed by other musical styles.
Different styles, different tastes... it’s all good - and as American as apple pie.
I’ve recently discovered the greatness of Bill Evans.
And Miles Davis took it around and circled it the other way - giving the mainstream jazz artists the “right” to flaunt their rock influences. It was called fusion - later smooth jazz and it’s Father was Miles Davis.
There is a nice youtube video with Miles Davis playing hoops with John Lennon. Neither of them could score a point. : )
>>It was called fusion - later smooth jazz and it’s Father was Miles Davis.
Miles certainly was in the nexus where rock fusion was born - but the key element in fusion, and jazz, and blues.. is the improvisational freedom in the context of a group of mutually supportive, but individual, musicians.
The history of improvisation preceded Miles:
http://scaruffi.com/history/jazz1.html
To me, the significance of “So What” is in the relative simplicity in form that it represents when compared to the preceding bebop era - which was characterized by more changes, with more notes, with more complexity... for what?
So What demonstrated the essence of what jazz could be without all that pretentiousness.
"Reach up while reaching down,
Grow while helping others"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPFXC3q1tTg&feature=youtu.be&t=30m52s
“So What” is certainly a classic. For an excellent up tempo version, watch Larry Carlton’s interpretation on YouTube. A few weeks after “Kind of Blue” was recorded, John Coltrane and the boys put down “Giant Steps” which was just as stunning a record. The title track is a great exercise for you six-stringers. Greg Howe just slays it on YouTube.
Although Miles most always chose the minimalist approach,
I highly doubt that he considered all bop reharmonization pretentious.
Certainly Miles respected everything that Monk, Bud and Bird contributed.
Miles was mentored by Bird. The interviews I have seen reflect the reverence of the student to jazz master relationship.
“So What” reaches the highest levels not only because of the modal approach but also because of the rhythm and phrasing wrapped up in what I would call the “perfectionist approach”.
These fellows were not messing around - anybody can play modally. Although they were introducing the style. They were also playing at the top of their game... highly focused as well as spiritually connected and devoted to making music
Miles - John Coltrane - Bill Evans - Cannonball Adderly - Paul Chambers - Philly Joe Jones...
My goodness and man alive... ha ha ha
And in the end of it all So What
“Why play so many notes instead of just choosing the most beautiful?”
http://classicacts.blogspot.com/2012/01/miles-davis-kind-of-blue.html
That’s what I love about listening to Bird and Miles...
Bird is the Bird of Paradise. Absolutely killing it with hundreds of notes and not one is wasted.
Then in comes Miles, slowing it all down and showing you can do the exact same thing with just a few.
: )
Just checked out that link... ha ha ha - that was so much fun to listen to Mr. Hancock tell it like it was...
"Parker worked tirelessly on his craft, practicing the saxophone day and night, often fueled by Benzedrine. Parker was a speed and heroin user from then until the end of his life."
http://nypost.com/2017/02/05/charlie-parkers-heroin-addiction-helped-make-him-a-genius/
That's the dark side of the music culture's bidness model... killing it.
"They worshiped and served created things, and because of this..."
--Romans Chapter 1
But, OTOH:
https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Groove-Composing-Jazz-Shaped-Faith/dp/0692371303
I personally don’t believe for a minute that Bird’s addiction to heroine or his use of benzedrine fueled his creativity at all. If anything it got quite in the way. In Sonny’s own words: Bird scolded him when he heard he had been using.
I believe that if Charlie Parker was an exercise and health nut the chances are quite high that we would still be hearing him play today and a lot of other great musicians would have gotten on that kick as well.
The New York Post is just guessing...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.