Saturday, 9:00 am–10:30 am
Monroe 216
Scholars often describe the musical frameworks of blues schemes simply by length in bars and harmonic structure, an approach suggesting that musicians fix upon the same components for every scheme. I propose that the components fixed upon by musicians vary from scheme to scheme, resulting in five types of musical framework, and present five short schemes as representatives of each type.
In blues schemes, the rhythmic structure is usually among the most consistent components, after which either the harmonic or melodic structure may be more consistent, creating two broad categories: those in which the rhythmic and harmonic structures are most consistent and the discant displays more variance and substitution, and those in which the rhythmic and melodic structures are more consistent and the harmony displays more variance and substitution. In both cases, the structure of the more consistent component generally informs the choices for substitution in the less consistent.
Schemes in which the rhythm and harmony are more consistent account for three types of framework: those that support one, two, or several discants.
Schemes in which the rhythm and melody are more consistent account for two more types of framework: those in which the harmonic progression displays considerable variance and substitution, but performers nonetheless fix upon certain general requirements for it; and those in which performers do not fix upon many general requirements for the harmonic structure, but instead take their cues from the melodic structure.
Bill Evans Plays the Standards: Reharmonizationa and Reconception
Of all the compliments paid to the jazz pianist Bill Evans, perhaps the greatest was by Julian “Cannonball” Adderly, who commented that “Bill Evans has rare originality and taste and the even rarer ability to make his conception of a number seem the definitive way to play it.” This study is an attempt to explain this phenomenon by concentrating on Evans’s recordings of three standards: Bricusse’s “Who Can I Turn To?” and Young’s “My Foolish Heart,” both recorded on the live 1962 album “Bill Evans at Town Hall”; and Jenkins’s “Goodbye,” from the 1966 album “Empathy.”
Evans’s adaptations of these tunes have obvious ramifications for their harmonic structures, especially since his harmonic rhythm is never slower than that of his original and is frequently two to four times as rapid. In spite of these changes, Evans’s version of “Who Can I Turn To?” is remarkably faithful to the original. The same cannot be said of “My Foolish Heart” and “Goodbye.” Evans’s reharmonization is not only radical but also impacts the underlying structure of the shared melody. This is accomplished through the tight control of harmonic support for the melody, moving frequently from a dissonant harmonization of a given note to a consonant one.
While Evans’s renowned gifts as a pianist and improviser, as well as his unique chordal voicings, all play a role in the popularity of his recordings, this study focuses on the process of reharmonization to highlight the changes between Evans’s recordings and the originals.