Freedom Blog (Quotation Blog)
Miles Davis Autobiography By Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe Pages 140-220
Going into this quote, Miles is talking about a tour that he did with Milt Jackson, the vibraphone player, and his band. Due to the size of Jackson's vibes, they did not go on tour with a piano player. This, for most musicians, would have been a problem as the piano is essential when it comes to an accompanying instrument. An accompanying instrument is one that provides a foundation and the chords for the improvisor to base his solo off. Miles on the other hand saw this as an opportunity to try something new.
"Playing without the piano freed up the music. I found out on this tour that sometimes a piano got in the way, that you didn't need it when you wanted to get a looser, freer sound." (Miles 158)
Miles found that without a piano, he was able to get a looser, freer sound. This discovery was a huge influence on a lot of his future music, as well as a lot of other musicians. I think the largest piece of information that Miles gained from this discovery was what playing freely was like. You can find this freedom in his later pieces from his top album Kind Of Blue on songs like All Blues (This is a link). The first solo improvised by John Coltrane is put over a very simplistic bass line and quarter note swing on the ride cymbal. There is hardly any comping what so ever. Thanks to this, Coltrane is really able to express himself. Later on we can hear the same thing from Miles' solo. With a small amount of piano, there is nothing to get in the way of what the improvisor has to say as well as where he or she wants to go. Thanks to this discovery made by Miles, one can also see this appear in later pieces done in the 70s produced by bands like Pink Floyd on songs like Echoes (this is a link). This song is 22 minutes of space and does not fully have a structure. This song, I believe, is taking the whole space idea to a new level. The song lacks a groove applied by the drums and bass.
For me, I can really relate to this discovery that Miles made. Every Sunday from 12:30-3, my friend Josh Schultz and I play jazz at a restaurant called Brown Sugar By The Sea in Newburyport. Our configuration is just him on double bass and me on the Guitar. During my solos, I have to imply the chord changes as well as imply the groove. This is because we have no drummer or piano player to provide backgrounds. All I have is the bassline provided by Josh. This lack of foundation allows me and him to do a lot of things that we would not be able to do in a normal setting. It is also significantly more difficult to play music this way, because we are completely responsible for implying a lot of things in order for the listener to be able to feel the music as if there was an accompanying musician as well as a drummer to keep time. Josh and I can take one song and morph it into another song through tempo modulation as well as modulate the key into something else. We can thank Davis' discovery for what Josh and I can do today with music!
Going into this quote, Miles is talking about a tour that he did with Milt Jackson, the vibraphone player, and his band. Due to the size of Jackson's vibes, they did not go on tour with a piano player. This, for most musicians, would have been a problem as the piano is essential when it comes to an accompanying instrument. An accompanying instrument is one that provides a foundation and the chords for the improvisor to base his solo off. Miles on the other hand saw this as an opportunity to try something new.
"Playing without the piano freed up the music. I found out on this tour that sometimes a piano got in the way, that you didn't need it when you wanted to get a looser, freer sound." (Miles 158)
Miles found that without a piano, he was able to get a looser, freer sound. This discovery was a huge influence on a lot of his future music, as well as a lot of other musicians. I think the largest piece of information that Miles gained from this discovery was what playing freely was like. You can find this freedom in his later pieces from his top album Kind Of Blue on songs like All Blues (This is a link). The first solo improvised by John Coltrane is put over a very simplistic bass line and quarter note swing on the ride cymbal. There is hardly any comping what so ever. Thanks to this, Coltrane is really able to express himself. Later on we can hear the same thing from Miles' solo. With a small amount of piano, there is nothing to get in the way of what the improvisor has to say as well as where he or she wants to go. Thanks to this discovery made by Miles, one can also see this appear in later pieces done in the 70s produced by bands like Pink Floyd on songs like Echoes (this is a link). This song is 22 minutes of space and does not fully have a structure. This song, I believe, is taking the whole space idea to a new level. The song lacks a groove applied by the drums and bass.
For me, I can really relate to this discovery that Miles made. Every Sunday from 12:30-3, my friend Josh Schultz and I play jazz at a restaurant called Brown Sugar By The Sea in Newburyport. Our configuration is just him on double bass and me on the Guitar. During my solos, I have to imply the chord changes as well as imply the groove. This is because we have no drummer or piano player to provide backgrounds. All I have is the bassline provided by Josh. This lack of foundation allows me and him to do a lot of things that we would not be able to do in a normal setting. It is also significantly more difficult to play music this way, because we are completely responsible for implying a lot of things in order for the listener to be able to feel the music as if there was an accompanying musician as well as a drummer to keep time. Josh and I can take one song and morph it into another song through tempo modulation as well as modulate the key into something else. We can thank Davis' discovery for what Josh and I can do today with music!
Does the piano have a place modern jazz? - The Real Andre Provencal
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