MIDTERM 2 - LISTENING

Question 1

Koko - Charlie Parker

Answer 1

• short melody played with Max Roach drum accompaniment
• first and last part composed - played in unison
• virtuosic improv shows Parker’s influence of Lester Young
• light, buoyant sax sound
• laid back swinging quality
• blues laced melodic lines

bebop

Question 2

Shaw Nuff - Dizzy Gillespie

Answer 2

• Opening tom tom & piano introduction provides the springboard for startling unison playing between Charlie Parker and Gillespie
• The melody line sounds like an improvisation

bebop

Question 3

Just Friends - Charlie Parker

Answer 3

• Considered by musicians and critics as one of his greatest recordings
• His solo flows effortlessly between melodic paraphrasing and complex bebop lines
• Sound of violins and harp

bebop

Question 4

Long Tall Dexter - Dexter Gordon

Answer 4

• Dexter Gordon on tenor sax
• opens with a drum solo
• trumpet and sax playing intertwined

bebop

Question 5

Criss Cross - Thelonious Monk

Answer 5

• Melody built on the standard 32 bar AABA structure
• Does not sound like the melody is based on four equal 8 bars but that is because of the syncopated accents
• B melody very similar to A

bebop

Question 6

Misterioso - Thelonious Monk

Answer 6

• 12 bar blues
• Melody is based on beginning piano student exercise
• Melody does not swing
• Vibraphone solo - Milt Jackson

bebop

Question 7

Wail - Bud Powell

Answer 7

-opens with an upbeat piano solo, then everyone joins in

bebop

Question 8

Manteca - Dizzy Gillespie

Answer 8

• Constructed in layers of sound with groups of instruments building on top of each other
• Opening bass and conga tumbao
• Brass and saxophone “shout” sections

-bebop

Question 9

Subconscious-Lee - Lee Konitz

Answer 9

• 32 bar form - four similar but different 8 bar melodies (ABCD)
• Features several solos by Tristano’s students
• All sound similar: light sound, smooth lines, reflective character
• Made a conscious effort not to sound like Charlie Parker

cool jazz

Question 10

Boplicity - Miles Davis Nonet

Answer 10

• Use of compex chords
• Cross-section voicing
• Use of composed counterpoint (simultaneous multiple melodies)

cool jazz

Question 11

Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Answer 11

• Based on 5 beats per measure
• Repeated piano ostinato or vamp throughout the piece

cool jazz

Question 12

Blue Rondo A La Turk - The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Answer 12

• Based on 9 beats per measure
• The piece was structured like a classical rondo: ABACADAE
• Recurring “A” melody played by the alto sax
• The solo section was played in a standard 4 beat 12 bar blues format

cool jazz

Question 13

Sketch for Jazz Quartet and String Quartet - The Modern Jazz Quartet

Answer 13

• The string quartet was not required to play in the jazz idiom
• Lewis wanted to ensure that jazz and classical were being performed simultaneously without compromise to either style

cool jazz

Question 14

Blue Seven - Sonny Rollins

Answer 14

• Traditional 12 bar blues with a nontraditional melody
• Contains several tritones or flatted 5ths
• Used two principal rhythm themes: a triplet motif and a drum roll
• Played his solo like a horn emphasizing low to high pitched sounds rather than executing complex rhythms

cool jazz

Question 15

Sister Sadie - Horace Silver

Answer 15

• Music is characterized by an infusion of R&B flavorings
• Strong drum backbeat on beats 2 and 4 - characteristic of R&B
• Background riffs played behind soloists
• Climatic point: a shout chorus built around repeated blues riffs

hard bop

Question 16

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - Julian Cannonball Adderley

Answer 16

• Written by Joe Zawinul
• Zawinul played an electric piano
• His electric piano was laced with soulful lines, projecting a thorough understanding of -Afro American gospel sensibility
• Soul jazz
• Soul jazz grew out of hard bop

hard bop

Question 17

The Sidewinder - Lee Morgan

Answer 17

• Melody was somewhat angular, although lyrical and memorable by any means
• Beat was labeled boogaloo (moving away from swing toward rock)
• Based on an extended blues form
• Each phrase was 8 bars long instead of 4 = 24 bar blues instead of 12

hard bop

Question 18

Back at the Chicken Shack - Jimmy Smith

Answer 18

• opens with the organ
• joined by bass, drums, guitar

hard bop

Question 19

Moanin’ - Art Blakely

Answer 19

• opens with piano with short melodies from the horn section and drums
• switches to the horn section playing a majority of the music and the piano playing the short sections

hard bop

Question 20

So What - Miles Davis

Answer 20

• AABA based upon two modes
• A sections - D Dorian
• B section - Eb Dorian
• Harmony does not move but the voicings suggest chordal movement
• Cluster chords: chords with notes bunched closely together

Question 21

Orbits - Miles Davis Quintet

Answer 21

• Melody is quite abstract and non-lyrical
• Roughly two parts to the melody
• Part one is played in and out of tempo
• Part two contains a repeated riff played in tempo

Question 22

‘Round Midnight - Miles Davis

Answer 22

• Miles Davis
• weird, intense, at 30 seconds in, haunting noise
• composed by thelonious monk
• one of the very beautiful monk melodies
• deep, soulful phrases
• vocalist with a horn
• used a harmon mute to create a more haunting reflective mood

Question 23

Summertime - Miles Davis

Answer 23

• Miles Davis
• Miles Davis Classic Quintet
• annoying sound in the beginning, screechy horn, ouch
• arranged by Gil Evans
• complex substitute chords
• beautiful cross section voicing
• Harmon mute for haunting sound
• solo was a plaintive cry of the blues