jlee
April 16th, 2004, 01:56 PM
When I read legacy13's thread and the great discussion that followed his or her original query about differentiating Trane and Cannonball's solos on KOB, I thought about responding with my own suggestion for *all* interested in this album, especially those without jazz/significant ear-training, and particularly for reviewers of music. So, I'll start a new, more appropriate thread for the topic.
There's a great note-for-note transcription of the whole album, all parts, published by Hal Leonard, I think. Even those who don't read music but who enjoy the sounds from a layman's perspective should think about finding transcriptions or at least lead sheets (or making their own, although this requires some basic learning), in order to make some sense of what must be a confusing set of structures to a non-adept. You don't need to read music to be able to follow a score *visually* (even consider the notion of the "listening score," a non-musically-notated set of temporally-arranged color-impressions of the music!; or, for example, the performance scores created by sound poets like The Four Horsemen) And it will help you to get a grip on the flow of the music as it is structured in larger units (solos, exchanges, chases, etc.)
Just a thought. Find a score, or make your own, using standard notation or using whatever notation you can *invent*, and a lot of answers may be found. Whatever you do, don't rely on "information" provided by random liner notes or by (in)famous "jazz writers" -- a lot of it's sheer crud anyway. Cf. that Pepper Adams/Donald Byrd live double album, with notes written by...Leonard Feather, I believe. Supposedly some kind of pianist, but the "technical insights" complete with musical notation are absurdly meaningless and pretentious. Do it good, not like that.
There's a great note-for-note transcription of the whole album, all parts, published by Hal Leonard, I think. Even those who don't read music but who enjoy the sounds from a layman's perspective should think about finding transcriptions or at least lead sheets (or making their own, although this requires some basic learning), in order to make some sense of what must be a confusing set of structures to a non-adept. You don't need to read music to be able to follow a score *visually* (even consider the notion of the "listening score," a non-musically-notated set of temporally-arranged color-impressions of the music!; or, for example, the performance scores created by sound poets like The Four Horsemen) And it will help you to get a grip on the flow of the music as it is structured in larger units (solos, exchanges, chases, etc.)
Just a thought. Find a score, or make your own, using standard notation or using whatever notation you can *invent*, and a lot of answers may be found. Whatever you do, don't rely on "information" provided by random liner notes or by (in)famous "jazz writers" -- a lot of it's sheer crud anyway. Cf. that Pepper Adams/Donald Byrd live double album, with notes written by...Leonard Feather, I believe. Supposedly some kind of pianist, but the "technical insights" complete with musical notation are absurdly meaningless and pretentious. Do it good, not like that.