Rush Free Jazz, Harmolodics and Ornette Coleman

Erscheinungsjahr 2016
ISBN: 978-1-317-30324-4
Verlag: CRC Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 318 Seiten

Free Jazz, Harmolodics and Ornette Coleman discusses Ornette Coleman’s theory of improvisation, called "Harmolodics," an improvisational system deeply inspired by the civil rights movement. As Harmolodics falls under the guise of "free jazz," it can be difficult to understand. This book offers a thorough and clear answer to this system, and highlights Ornette’s position as a developer of a logical and historically important system of jazz improvisation. The author includes detailed transcriptions with musical analyses.

More than twenty interviews with Ornette explore the deeper issues behind improvisation, especially issues of race, class and poverty. In this series of conversations it becomes clear that the principle of human equality is central to any explanation of his life and music. Harmolodics becomes understandable when viewed in its essential form as both a theory of improvisation, and an artistic expression of racial and human equality.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rush, Stephen

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikwissenschaft Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1 - Introduction The introduction places Ornette Coleman in the historical context of a) the mid-development of Jazz, making the leap from Bebop to Free Jazz, and b) in the midst of the civil rights movement – including a table that marks critical moments in his life mapped chronologically against critical moments of the movement.

Chapter 2 - Definition of Harmolodics Ornette’s theory with traditional musical terminology is explained. Anyone with a basic understanding of scales and intervals could comprehend. It is not complex - a beginning jazz student should certainly be able to understand it - and at the same time will be useful to a serious researcher of post-Bebop Jazz theories.

Chapter 3 – Getting to Know Ornette A short chapter on how the author proceeded to extrapolate material from the research of his first book into this larger discussion on Harmolodics. This section is important in that the book is very much a discussion between two older Jazz musicians who have respect for each other and share a common vision about music and society.

Chapter 4 - Interviews This chapter includes 20-25 interviews with Ornette Coleman, organized according to topics.