Miles Davis – Apparently he was just copying Jimi Hendrix. Eh, whatever. There’s no such thing as originality nowadays.

Miles Davis was born in 1926, with a blues pianist for a mother and a dentist for a father. Strangely enough, it was his father who introduced him to the musical scene by giving him a trumpet (probably purely to annoy his mother, who disliked the trumpet’s sound and would much rather her son learn piano).

 

When he was thirteen, he began taking trumpet lessons with one of his father’s patients: Elwood Buchanan Snr. Buchanan was known for his incredibly strict teaching style, especially so because he encouraged his students to play without vibrato. He was quoted as telling Miles Davis “Stop shakin’ that note. You’re going to shake enough when you get old” (Szwed, 2002) He also went against fashion by trying to get Miles to take inspiration from the laid-back sounds of musicians such as Bobby Hackett and Harold ‘Shorty’ Baker. Both of these artists were very obviously from the swing and big band eras of jazz, and completely different from the popular music of the time. Without the influence of Elwood, Miles Davis certainly would not have had his signature sound, and he was quoted as saying in his autobiography “Mr. Buchanan was the biggest influence on my life up until then. He was definitely the person who took me all the way into music at that time.” (Chambers, 1998)

 

“I prefer a round sound with no attitude in it, like a round voice with not too much tremolo and not too much bass. Just right in the middle. If I can’t get that sound I can’t play anything.” (Kahn, 2001)

Miles Davis, when compared to many other popular jazz trumpeters (or really any trumpeters) of the time has an incredibly distinct sound. The most prominent difference in his sound, as mentioned above, is his almost complete lack of vibrato. This clear tone has been likened to that of a saxophone, with an almost woody timbre unlike so much other trumpet music.

 

From 1967 onwards, Miles felt the need for a change in his distinct sound. He kept the same technique, but instead of classic blues and swing as influenced by Hackett and Baker, he opted for an electronic sound. He experimented with many electric instruments during this period, and one of his main influences was Jimi Hendrix. Probably the most prominent album from this ‘electric’ era was “Bitches Brew” released in 1970. The sound on this album is absolutely unlike any other album he had previously released, reminiscent of the space-like sounds of “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. Even though Davis was recognised as more of a ‘cool jazz’ improviser, the improvisations on this album are very different to his usual improvised sound. A good example of this is his closing improvisation on “Miles Runs The Voodoo Down”. The improvisation begins sounding like his signature ‘cool’ sound, but escalates to explosive notes, and huge runs venturing into the upper registers of the instrument. Also evident in the improvisation are loud, dissonant squeals and, at 12 minutes, a strange wailing sound created by differing air speed being blown into the trumpet.

Bitches Brew- Miles Runs the Voodoo Down     

 

Honestly Miles? I know it was the seventies, but seriously? Why did you have to abandon your gorgeous swing sound and adopt something like Hendrix? No. Not cool. Whatever, maybe it’s not my thing but it was sure someone else’s, because “Bitches Brew” hit the top of the charts. Miles Davis was also introduced to the Rock’N’Roll Hall of Fame for his performance on this, and later albums. Truly a jazz-rock pioneer.

 

Keep it tight, guys.

Bibliography

Carlson, R. (2006, 6). Miles Davis: Welcome to Jazz-Rock. Retrieved 9 28, 2013 from JazzTimes: http://jazztimes.com/articles/16919-miles-davis-welcome-to-jazz-rock

Chambers, J. (1998). Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis. Da Capo Press .

Kahn, A. (2001). Kind Of Blue. Perseus Books Group.

Macnie, J. (N.D.). Miles Davis Biography. Retrieved 9 28, 2013 from Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/miles-davis/biography

Sony Music Entertainment. (N.D.). Miles Davis Biography. Retrieved 9 28, 2013 from The Official Miles Davis Site: http://www.milesdavis.com/us/biography

Szwed, J. (2002). So What: The Life of Miles Davis. Simon & Schuster.

The Biography Channel. (N.D.). Miles Davis – Biography on Bio. Retrieved 9 28, 2013 from The Biography Channel: http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/miles-davis.html

Jazz Rock – Because jazz artists are stubborn as hell

Jazz Rock Fusion is a style combining the fluid sound of jazz with the (then) quite experimental sounds created by rock. The use of electronic instruments was introduced, as well as the dissolution of musical boundaries that earlier jazz styles had. Many jazz styles developed from jazz rock fusion because of the freedom that disintegrated musical boundaries gave, such as free funk, new wave, and no wave.

Jazz rock fusion really came to prominence during the 1970s with the growing popularity of pop rock groups such as the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. For many jazz musicians, it was a choice between popularity or staying with the traditional jazz sound. Jazz musicians being jazz musicians, however, many chose to refuse to conform to society’s expectations that jazz would disappear as pop rock grew more popular, and the stubborn people created fusion.

Already, rock musicians had been incorporating jazz elements into their works. For example, the band Fifth Dimension created guitar solos that were supposed to be inspired by John Coltane’s signature sound. The introduction of electronic sounds to pop rock groups paved the way for jazz musicians to use synthesisers, and electric guitar sounds. This new technique was explored by many fusion groups, in particular Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea.

Not only did fusion introduce the use of electronic instruments, but it also trended towards elements of European romantic chamber music. With this, the drums and bass were dispensed and either soloists or duos played unaccompanied by the rhythm section. They delivered the romanticised jazz with tremendous expressiveness that had become expected from jazz musicians, but “as an American critic put it, jazz was being ‘beautified’” (Berendt & Huesmann)

Fusion also gave way for a comeback of swing and bebop styles of jazz. Many young musicians appeared to be playing rock music, but were in fact making sound reminiscent of the great masters of the swing age. Dexter Gordon, the great saxophonist, sparked the bebop return. This was the third time bebop attempted to reappear, following original bebop and hard bop. The new bebop took into account all that had happened in between hard bop and jazz fusion, and incorporated many fusion elements with classic bebop themes.

Basically, jazz rock fusion is badass, bravely venturing where no jazz musician had dared go, electronic sounds. Bam. Post one of this assignment. Done.

Bibliography

Berendt, J.-E., & Huesmann, G. (n.d.). The Jazz Book: From Ragtime to the 21st Century. Chicago Review Press.

(2000). In J. Coryell, & L. Friedman, Jazz-rock fusion: the people, the music. Hal Leonard Corporatio.

Garcia, A. (n.d.). A History of Jazz Rock Fusion. Retrieved 9 16, 2013, from Lira Productions: http://www.liraproductions.com/jazzrock/htdocs/histhome.htm

Jazz Music Makers. (n.d.). Jazz Fusion. Retrieved 9 16, 2013, from Jazz Music Makers: http://www.jazz-music-makers.com/jazz-fusion.html

(1998). In J. Newey, & S. Nicholson, Jazz Rock: A History. Schirmer Books.

Cause jazz musicians are too hipster to play piano with their hands