Great read! Thanks. Initially when I read your subtitle I thought that the article was going to be about the E natural Curtis Fuller plays on the 6th measure of his first chorus on “Blue Train”…that’s a pretty powerful note:)
This is awesome! Thanks. Different but related issues w wind playing, especially in how the decay works. Cool to see someone working through it out loud!
There's a recording of the Czech Philharmonic playing Mathis der Maler, conducted by Danon, which was released in 1980 but sounds like something from 1880. In the ending chorale, I don't think the trumpets tongue once... air start every note, crescendo and brighten, then WIDE vibrato.
All this stuff is disappearing. As Alessi notes in the NYPHIL podcast, the advent of internationally touring American brass teachers means less regional styles and more uniformly US approaches to brass playing.
Thanks for this insightful education in brass playing. Loved it. (Coda: My chapter about Curtis in Jazz from Detroit opens with an analysis of the Blue Train solo ...)
I've never thought of a wind instrument sound as envelope, thanks for making that connection. And thanks for sharing your detailed insights into Jazz history, there is always more to learn. I've always thought that one can recognize a great player by hearing a single long tone. I take this article as scientific proof of that suspicion ;-)
Love this! So few analyses of note shape compared to, say, harmony. (As you note.) But so important. A wonderful read.
Also interesting to think about how note shape affects rhythmic feel. One great Hal Galper-ism is that swing feel isn't really about attack; it's about decay. “Ta" and "Mwshwah," when repeated over and over, produce different senses of time!
1) the 1944 Woody 'n You is not the first bebop recordings; there are others from around and before that time, including Bud Powell with Cootie Williams small group in '44; Dodo Marmarosa from 1943, The Moose; Charlie Parker with Jay McShann from 1941 or so, Swingmatism and Hootie Blues. The reality is that the recording ban obscures exactly who was doing what and when, but there were a lot of players working in this style; also Budd Johnson and Benny Harris in 1944. Not trying to be a wonk, but you have to be cautious with such generalizations;
2) Curtis Fuller and Lee Morgan, brilliant as they were, did not make "harmonic, melodic, rhythmic innovations." From this aspect Fuller was very much a straight bopper with a fine but unchallengeing sense of time and harmony; Morgan was a more significant player, but harmonically he was very much out of Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown, and very much an "inside" player. He was great, but is known more for his brilliantly aggressive, smart, approach, and beautiful tone, a major influence in this way and something of the next generation of post-bebop players. But nothing he did harmonically was really new. Trane, however, was a whole other thing.
What a sumptuous tour through this overlooked terrain — thank you Jacob. Curious how you’d conceptualize dexter gordon in terms of influence(é/r) placement given his telltale envelope + vibrato too btw!
Definitely an innovator in the use of the straight tone. He was following in the footsteps of Bird who broke from the swing style and streamlined attacks for the sax.
he was really more in the line of Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins, in my opinion. Gordon's time, from the 1940s, was really a canny fusion of swing and bebop. But Lester Young was really the key; and don't forget Wardell Gray. Once again, not trying to be a wonk but these musical ties are significant.
Yeah Jacob! Passionate erudition grounded in experience. Looking forward to more!
Great read! Thanks. Initially when I read your subtitle I thought that the article was going to be about the E natural Curtis Fuller plays on the 6th measure of his first chorus on “Blue Train”…that’s a pretty powerful note:)
That's a good note. Perhaps a topic of a future essay.
So great! I feel so smart now. Thanks, Jacob.
Great read, Jacob! A fantastic example of why it’s essential to keep studying the basics with increasing fidelity.
Hi Paul! thanks!
So happy you are here!!!
This is thought provoking and wonderfully written - thanks for doing it!
This is great, I love this.
This is awesome! Thanks. Different but related issues w wind playing, especially in how the decay works. Cool to see someone working through it out loud!
Excellent read! Thank you
There's a recording of the Czech Philharmonic playing Mathis der Maler, conducted by Danon, which was released in 1980 but sounds like something from 1880. In the ending chorale, I don't think the trumpets tongue once... air start every note, crescendo and brighten, then WIDE vibrato.
Wow, cool. Some discussion here about Soviet and Yugoslav brass styles...
https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php?t=39166
All this stuff is disappearing. As Alessi notes in the NYPHIL podcast, the advent of internationally touring American brass teachers means less regional styles and more uniformly US approaches to brass playing.
Thanks for this insightful education in brass playing. Loved it. (Coda: My chapter about Curtis in Jazz from Detroit opens with an analysis of the Blue Train solo ...)
I've never thought of a wind instrument sound as envelope, thanks for making that connection. And thanks for sharing your detailed insights into Jazz history, there is always more to learn. I've always thought that one can recognize a great player by hearing a single long tone. I take this article as scientific proof of that suspicion ;-)
Love this! So few analyses of note shape compared to, say, harmony. (As you note.) But so important. A wonderful read.
Also interesting to think about how note shape affects rhythmic feel. One great Hal Galper-ism is that swing feel isn't really about attack; it's about decay. “Ta" and "Mwshwah," when repeated over and over, produce different senses of time!
Nice piece; however -
1) the 1944 Woody 'n You is not the first bebop recordings; there are others from around and before that time, including Bud Powell with Cootie Williams small group in '44; Dodo Marmarosa from 1943, The Moose; Charlie Parker with Jay McShann from 1941 or so, Swingmatism and Hootie Blues. The reality is that the recording ban obscures exactly who was doing what and when, but there were a lot of players working in this style; also Budd Johnson and Benny Harris in 1944. Not trying to be a wonk, but you have to be cautious with such generalizations;
2) Curtis Fuller and Lee Morgan, brilliant as they were, did not make "harmonic, melodic, rhythmic innovations." From this aspect Fuller was very much a straight bopper with a fine but unchallengeing sense of time and harmony; Morgan was a more significant player, but harmonically he was very much out of Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown, and very much an "inside" player. He was great, but is known more for his brilliantly aggressive, smart, approach, and beautiful tone, a major influence in this way and something of the next generation of post-bebop players. But nothing he did harmonically was really new. Trane, however, was a whole other thing.
What a sumptuous tour through this overlooked terrain — thank you Jacob. Curious how you’d conceptualize dexter gordon in terms of influence(é/r) placement given his telltale envelope + vibrato too btw!
Definitely an innovator in the use of the straight tone. He was following in the footsteps of Bird who broke from the swing style and streamlined attacks for the sax.
he was really more in the line of Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins, in my opinion. Gordon's time, from the 1940s, was really a canny fusion of swing and bebop. But Lester Young was really the key; and don't forget Wardell Gray. Once again, not trying to be a wonk but these musical ties are significant.