Larson, Steve. “Schenkerian Analysis of Modern Jazz: Questions about Method.” Music Theory Spectrum, vol. 20, no. 2, [Oxford University Press, Society for Music Theory], 1998, pp. 209–41, https://doi.org/10.2307/746048.
Steve Larson explores how the traditional Schenkerian Analysis (the theoretical frameworks of Heinrich Schenker) can apply to contemporary jazz. He analyzes elements of harmonic structure and how they fit into post-modern jazz improvisation. The essay discusses how Schenkerian Analysis can be used to explain much of modern music theory and harmony, but also how post-modern jazz can transcend traditional harmonic structures and typical musical concepts.
Much of classical music theory centers around the idea of tension and release. This can be created through certain chordal patterns (Dominant-Tonic or V-I), but can also be created through the use of chordal extensions (7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths.) These extensions allow for greater tension and release because they provide more opportunity for voice leading. In many contexts, post-modern jazz embraces the tension of upper extensions, without resolving them. In addition, many of the typical cadences used in classical music or older jazz tunes (ii-V-I, IV-V-I), are used less frequently.
This analysis will aid our understanding of what it means to write contemporary or post-modern jazz. Understanding traditional harmonic concepts is incredibly important for both composition and improvisation, but understanding when and how these concepts can be altered is just as vital in creating unique and interesting music.
Bill Evans, Undercurrent, United Artists, 1962
https://open.spotify.com/album/3b2s2A8DPISbaQNxhrEsGQ?si=w2vQymCZS5anO4EnskEzQw
In 1962, Pianist Bill Evans and Guitarist Jim Hall collaborated on a duo album titled Undercurrent. The album diverged from the more typical styles of jazz at the time, as it featured neither drums nor bass. Because of this Undercurrent was able to include many of the popular and frequently recorded jazz standards, while still providing a unique perspective. Tunes like My Funny Valentine, I’m Getting Sentimental Over You, and Darn That Dream, are both grounded in the roots of their compositions as standards, while also feeling fresh and new.
Evans and Hall explore a number of musical concepts throughout Undercurrent and establish motifs that appear across different tunes that give the album a cohesive feeling. They embrace the instrumentation of the album, using the guitar and piano to account for the lack of other instruments. Throughout the album, the duo artfully organizes their playing through improvisation, switching the spotlight quickly and seamlessly to each other. The most important motif we noticed was spacing, as both Evans and Hall play sparsely throughout all the tracks.
Undercurrent will serve as a primary source of inspiration for our album. It provides insight into how to work an album as a duo, something we will need to think about; It features incredible harmonic concepts from Evans and Hall; It serves as an example of how to create a cohesive album from track to track.
GIBSON, CHRIS. “Recording Studios: Relational Spaces of Creativity in the City.” Built Environment (1978-), vol. 31, no. 3, Alexandrine Press, 2005, pp. 192–207, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23289439.
Chris Gibson shares his analysis of the intrinsic impact of the space and culture in-wich music is made on its sound. Gibson explains how recording studios have historically acted as a major influence on the recordings made in them. That the actual physical space, the people that would congregate there (artists, producers, engineers, etc), would shape the recording’s sound but beyond that, the urban space that recording studios inhabit would also inherently shape the sound of recordings.
This idea of an urban space informing the sound of the music coming out of it is especially true in New York, and beyond that, the impact of our Neighborhood (The Village) has had on the genre that we are working in (Jazz) is monumental. Recordings that were done in the village have a very specific sound and attitude that came directly from the act of recording in the milieu of the village.
This history of the impact that urban space has had on a recording is going to directly impact our process, as we are literally making an album in an urban space. Urban space is deeply important urban space to the history of jazz music. We are taking up the mantle of the producers, engineers, and artists but in we are inheriting the history and mystique of urban recording.
Garofalo, Reebee. “From Music Publishing to MP3: Music and Industry in the Twentieth Century.” American Music, vol. 17, no. 3, University of Illinois Press, 1999, pp. 318–54, https://doi.org/10.2307/3052666.
Reebee Garofalo writes a comprehensive history of methods of commercial music recording, harkening back to the days of tin-pan-alley to the introduction of MP3s and the internet. With about a hundred years covered in this brief history, there are really clear and important lines to draw about how just like with all other products music has been commodified and made widely available and easily accessible.
The idea of accessibility is something that should absolutely be on the forefront of our minds as we digitally record an album and then digitally distribute it. It is important to keep in mind that not but 30 years ago it would have been high tech and ambitious of us to just burn mixtapes and that we are in a new frontier of access to music-making/recording.
This big history of music distribution will absolutely inform our thinking about what it means to share music with an audience, what it means to distribute our music, and what it means to have our music be streamable. Garofalo writes at length about how with the advent of mediums like tapes and CDs industry standards for success (in terms of units moved) meant due to greater availability to the public. We live in an era of streaming that has redefined those margins of success anew, and we will go into the project, not with any goals related to that variety of “success” we will only benchmark ourselves by asking if we are proud of our work or not?
Yussef Dayes Trio. Welcome To The Hills, Cashmere Thoughts, Feb 26, 2021.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2o2tNVIRBR0BH4RlLm4qLO?si=wDWLXwxhSmCcCiOxa0jaVw
Welcome To The Hills is a contemporary jazz album headed by British drummer-producer Yussef Dayes. The album features Dayes on drums accompanied by bass player Rocco Palladino, and keys player Charly Stacey. The records hour and seventeen-minute runtime is a real exploration of what a live album can be. The record is recorded in front of a live audience and throughout you can hear the cheers of excited audience members, you can hear the applause, but it is by no means a “live album”. Nowhere on the record do Dayes and co explain that this is a live record, instead, you are transported to the energy of a concert through vibe alone.
The genre of the Dayes Trio is hard to pinpoint, as they proudly wear the influence of R&B, Soul, Reggae, Techno, and Disco on their sleeves, but what I would call this record is a jazz album. They talk to each other with their instruments, they find musical themes, they tell musical stories.
There are a lot of invaluable lessons to be learned from Welcome To The Hills, they are playing may not be solely playing jazz ala Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, but it is definitely Jazz. This idea is something we hope to emulate in our work.