Smithsonian_Jazz

Record from Smithsonian jazz. Disc 5 track 3 Recorded on: March 2nd April 22nd 1959 Album: kind of blue Title: so what Personnel: Miles Davis, Trumpet Callonball Adderley, Alto sax John Coltrane, tenor sax Wynton Kelly, Piano Paul chambers, bass Jimmy cobb, percussionist The song chosen was titled “So What” which was recorded on the album “Kind Of Blue” by Trumpeter Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley on the Alto Saxophone, John Coltrane on the Tenor Saxophone, Wynton Kelly on the Piano, Paul Chambers played bass, and Jimmy Cobb served as the percussionist. “So What” is performed in the modal form of AABA. In the form AABA, there are 32 bars and two different patterns of chords throughout the piece. The A part of the tune will be played with one pattern, or in the case of modal jazz as seen on this recording, one set chord. The following A section will be played with the same pattern as the first A set. The B section acts as an adhesive by binding the A sections of the song together, this section is called a bridge. This is the part of the head that illustrates the changes and gives the tension in the piece. The last A is the same as the first two and is usually where the musician will end his rhythm to decide if they should start another chorus or end their solo. 0’00” Introduction: Wynton Kelly opens up first on the chart. The pianist’s intro does not stick to the changes in the head; however, Paul Chambers breaks in playing the bass very lightly, which most likely means that the intro was planned out to some extent and very little improvisation was done to the piece. 0’35”: The head of the melody comes in at this point; it is uncommon in jazz guidelines to have a head played on the bass because it is seen as a softer and less projective instrument. The first 8 bars are played with the piano accompaniment and drums playing lightly in the background. The second A section is shown at once with Jimmy Cobb playing on the 2 and 4 beats quite vociferously on his high hat. The musical phrase played by the piano is accompanied by the bass line that is now played. 1’33”: Miles Davis opens up with the first solo on his trumpet. His style of playing is very smooth and rich; it was very easy to listen to because of his silky technique. Miles plays simple melodic phrases while the piano fills in the rest of the holes when Miles isn’t playing. Jimmy Cobb is playing at a steady pace that grooves the song in forward succession. At this point Miles Davis refrains from moving through fast notes and stays with more simple smooth melodic ideas. He plays his way through his solo and builds up the intensity of the song by playing higher notes and leaving less open space. The drummer, Jimmy Cobb, and pianist, Wynton Kelly, follow by adding more noise. Miles Davis ends his solo suddenly on a minor chord it almost sounds like it is left hanging only until John Coltrane comes in and picks up the next solo. 3’27”: The end of Miles’ solo is shown by the entrance of John Coltrane on the tenor saxophone. He follows the style of Miles Davis, which was playing very smooth, and melodic, yet very simple. Personally I feel that once Davis’s style becomes boring for Coltrane he starts to play more like his own style rather than Davis’s. He associates fast moving phrases with notes that go beyond through the chord rather stay and within it. In a few circumstances he plays the same phrase several times to build up the passion and intensity of their piece. John Coltrane plays a two chorus solo which is followed up by Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone. 5’17”: Cannonball and Coltrane begin to play together with subtle sounds spewing from each member. The differences between Coltrane and Cannonball’s style of playing are shocking. Cannonball plays with a lush sound that goes along with by the constant rhythm provided by the rhythm section. His combined style of improvisation can normally be clarified as being a center balance between Coltrane and Davis. His two chorus solo played in unique style would most certainly have had to entertain 7’07”: the winds play the reoccurring theme given by the song to lead out of cannonballs solo into that of a piano solo. The piano provides mostly melodic chatter rather than a solo. There is a brief time at the end where we hear the bass playing several ideas without piano before coming back in with the melody. 8’18”: at this time, the listener is given a definitive time start ofthe head melody. It starts the same was as the melody ended in the final A section and trails down and looses the winds to a trio of piano, bass, and drums. 9’07”: the melody is left with the trio until a fade out that sounds to have been done electronically.