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The rhythmic nature of Bill Evans' melodies

University of British Columbia

Jazz composers and scholars have praised American pianist Bill (William John) Evans as a superior improviser. But oddly, considering the renown gained by Evans, his music is only recently being analyzed in any theoretical detail. An essential aspect of Evans' style, in my opinion, is his ability to satisfy the harmonic obligations of the theme and, at the same time, establish a maximum degree of rhythmic contrast with the metrical pattern of the original harmonic succession. This paper examines the rhythmic relationship of Evans' melodies to the chord changes over various timespans of the theme and its variations. A method of accent analysis is developed to describe this relation and is applied to excerpts firm two of his solos with a distinct bebop character. According to the provided criteria, this analytical method defines the strongest melodic accents ("points of emphasis") in the melodic accent pattern in relation to the different chordal accents generated by the theme's harmonic progressions and to a lesser extent by the interpolated substitutes that together constitute the hypermetrical accent pattern. In comparing these accent patterns and the accent processes of "coincidence", "synchronization", "cross-accent", and "convergence" they articulate we determine some of the techniques Evans uses to create rhythmic contrast between the theme and its variations. On the grounds of this study, one may conclude that the rhythmic structures of melody shown to be in "Peri's Scope" and "Beautiful Love" are characteristic of Evans' improvisations, especially in the early stages of his career. Hence, one may use this type of analysis to investigate the improvisational styles of Evans' predecessors: innovators such as Charlie Parker and Bud Powell, and those of some of his contemporaries, such as the pianist Red Garland. Finally, the original concepts, terms, and processes identified by this method of accent analysis may help the jazz student to recognize the possible relations of melodic pitches to underlying chords during the course of performance. It seems likely, then, that this type of analysis can form the basis for a pedagogical method that has a distinctly rhythmic-harmonic aspect, an aspect that deserves more attention in jazz education.

Text

2012-04-18

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42068

Music

University of British Columbia

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