Jazz History Chapter 11 Study Guide
(Q016) John Coltrane signaled his interest in modal jazz by recording a 15-minute version of the following Broadway tune, reducing its harmony to a few chords over a pedal point:
"My Favorite Things."
(Q006) This pianist on Miles Davis's recording of "So What" helped to establish the tune's modal flavor:
Bill Evans.
(Q005) At age nineteen, Miles Davis was hired to play with
Charlie Parker.
(Q022) The theme of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme was
Coltrane's profound religious experience.
(Q028) During the years Miles Davis recorded Kind of Blue, Porgy and Bess, and E.S.P., he was addicted to heroin.
False
(Q023) In addition to Miles Davis, the album Kind of Blue featured all of the following players, except:
Gil Evans.
(Q014) What was unusual about Bill Evans's piano trio?
The bassist was freed from keeping time to play strong melodic ideas.
(Q027) Miles Davis grew up in a wealthy black family.
True
(Q021) In his second quintet in the 1960s, Miles Davis relied on the composing talents of this tenor saxophonist:
Wayne Shorter.
The saxophonist on this recording of "E.S.P.," who is also the tune's composer, came to this group from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers:
Wayne Shorter.
(Q009) Miles Davis was fond of altering his timbre with
a Harmon mute.
The style of "Acknowledgement" is
avant-garde.
(Q008) Miles Davis's 1954 recordings with Horace Silver and Kenny Clarke helped to establish
hard bop.
(Q012) Miles Davis's interest in modal jazz was sparked by
improvising for the score of a French film.
(Q004) Modal jazz is characterized by
improvising with scales over very few chords.
(Q018) John Coltrane's A Love Supreme is unusual in that it
is divided into four "movements" with abstract titles (e.g., "Acknowledgement").
The style of improvisation heard in "So What," is
modal improvisation.
The saxophonist in "Acknowledgement" improvises by manipulating short fragments of melody. Each of these short fragments is known as a(n)
motive.
(Q017) "Chasin' the Trane," John Coltrane's first foray into the avant-garde, makes relentless use of the following technique:
multiphonics.
The pianist performing in "Acknowledgement"
plays chromatic chords and "comps" only.
(Q020) The style of music on Miles Davis's 1960s albums like E.S.P., which expressed a balance between the conventions of modern jazz and the free-wheeling jazz avant-garde, is known as
postbop.
The style of "E.S.P." is
postbop.
The first two chords of "So What," built on the interval of the fourth, are known as
quartal chords.
(Q013) Bill Evans was especially influential in his pioneering of
quartal harmony.
Toward the end of this excerpt from "E.S.P.," the trumpet player
shifts unexpectedly to the upper register.
(Q007) Some critics feel that compared to Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis had a shortcoming as a trumpet player in his
speed, virtuosity, and use of the upper range of the trumpet.
(Q015) John Coltrane played the _____ saxophone.
tenor
(Q001) Among Miles Davis's nicknames was
the Sorcerer.
In the opening of "So What,"
the pianist plays a pair of chords in a rhythm that evokes the title of the tune.
(Q026) In jazz, "chord voicings" refers to
the way notes or instruments are combined to construct a harmony, such as stacking a chord with various chord tones on the bottom.
At the very end of this excerpt of "So What," the harmony moves
up a half step.
(Q024) For his late album, Ascension, John Coltrane
used a radical free improvisatory approach, pushing further into the avant-garde.
The tenor saxophone soloist on "Acknowledgement" is
John Coltrane.
(Q002) Miles Davis's most famous album was the culmination of his experiments with modal jazz:
Kind of Blue.
(Q025) The best-selling jazz recording of the LP era was:
Kind of Blue.
The trumpet soloist in "E.S.P." is
Miles Davis.
The trumpet soloist in "So What" is
Miles Davis.
(Q010) The rhythm section of Miles Davis's 1950s quintet included
Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chambers.
(Q011) Among the orchestral albums Miles Davis created in collaboration with Gil Evans in the late 1950s were
Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain.
The harmony of "E.S.P." is
chromatic.
(Q003) Miles Davis played a major role in establishing which jazz styles?
cool, hard bop, and fusion
On the highest notes in "Acknowledgement," the saxophone soloist
distorts his timbre.
(Q019) With his 1965 album Ascension, John Coltrane made clear his adherence to
free jazz (the jazz avant-garde).
