Miles Davis: All Blues Flashcards
What’s a sextet
A group of six players
When was the album Kind of Blue released?
1959
What players make up the frontline?
Miles Davis on trumpet, Julian Adderley (cannonball) on alto sax, John Coltrane on tenor sax. It consists of instruments that play the main melody and have prominent solos.
What’s the rhythm section made of?
Bill Evans on piano, Paul chambers on bass, Jimmy Cobb on drums. The rhythm section provides the harmonic and rhythmic backing although the pianist also has a short solo.
How was the album recorded?
With no rehearsal and the musicians had no score to play from. The players knew the overall structure, basic chord sequence, main melodic idea and which mode or scale to improvise on
Describe the structure of this piece
It’s based on the 12-bar blues progression - a chord sequence that lasts for 12 bars and returns throughout the piece. One statement of the chord sequence is called a chorus. The main melody is called the head and is played by muted trumpet. It lasts for 12 bars and can be heard near the start and end of the piece. There’s a simple 4 bar riff in parallel 3rds that separate each section.
How can the piece be broken down into five sections?
The introduction is the opening four bars which is played by the rhythmic section and is followed by the riff. Then the head 1 is the head melody followed by the riff which is played twice. Then the solos which is for trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax and piano which is followed by the riff. Then the head 2 which is the head melody which is followed by the riff which is played twice. Then the coda which is a solo for muted trumpet. This structure is known as a head arrangement.
Describe the melody of this piece
The head melody is quite simple and characterised by rising 6ths (the interval from D to B). This is followed by four improvised solos: 1. Trumpet solo: lasts for 4 choruses. Mostly made of short, syncopated motifs. 2. Alto sax solo: lasts for 4 choruses. Uses quicker notes and a wider range. Adderley’s improvisation is more virtuosic than Davis’ 3. Tenor sax solo lasts for 4 choruses and it uses fast scales and quick runs also very virtuousic 4. Piano solo lasts for 2 choruses. This improvisation is calmer with a simple melody that leads into a string of parallel chords
Describe the harmony and tonality of this piece
All blues is based in the following 12-bar blues sequence : G7 x 4, Gm7 x2, G7 x 2, D7, Eb7/ D7, F/G, F/G6. A chord sequence is known by jazz musicians as the changes. We can think of All Blues as being in G major but with a flattened 7th aka blue note. This is the same as the mixolydian mode so we can also describe all blues as an example of modal jazz.
Describe the rhythm, metre and tempo of this piece
The score is notated in 6/4. The tempo is described as jazz waltz because each 6/4 sounds like a pair of bars in 3/4 time which is the metre associated with the waltz. All blues is performed with swing quavers. This means each pair of quavers is played with the first a little longer than the second. There is frequent syncopation.
Describe the instrumental techniques used in this piece
The share drum is played with brush wires at the start-it switches to sticks later on. The bass plays pizzicato throughout. The trumpet is played with a Harmon mute for the head. The piano plays a tremolo at the start of the piece. Once the solos begin, the pianist begins coming (accompanying with chords and short melodic ideas).
