Annual Review of Jazz Studies 9, 1997-98 (review)

Annual Review of Jazz Studies 9, 1997-98. Edited by Edward Berger, David Cayer, Henry Martin, and Dan Morgenstern. (Studies in Jazz.) Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2000. [viii, 416 p. ISBN 0-8108-3771-4. $69.50.]

The ninth volume of the Annual Review of Jazz Studies is a double issue covering the years 1997 and 1998. The first part of the volume features the publication of the proceedings of a jazz analysis symposium held at the joint meeting of the American Musicological Society and the Society for Music Theory on October 30, 1997. Revisions of the seven papers, along with Allen Forte's response, are presented here. All of the papers examined jazz performances of the standard tune, Stella by Starlight by Victor Young.

Cynthia Folio looks at interpretations of Stella by Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, and Rufus Reid to demonstrate the importance of the tune or melody, as opposed to the chord structure, in jazz improvisation. J. Kent Williams defines paraphrase in jazz as a recognizable alteration of an existing theme, examining this technique at work in a 1965 recording of the song by Oscar Peterson. Steve Larson's contribution is a consideration of Bill Evan's triple-tracked recording, revealing how the pianist's use of cross rhythms and layers of motivic repetition bring all three tracks to a unified whole. The last two papers in this section both look at the work of Miles Davis. Steve Lindeman addresses two different recordings of the tune by groups led by Davis in 1958 and 1964, uncovering an evolution that shows the influence of free jazz. An excellent discography of the two Davis ensembles is appended. Henry Martin's analysis of a live 1965 Miles Davis performance examines a group improvisational technique that ranges from paraphrase to variation to recomposition. In his response, Forte acknowledges the contributions of the papers, commenting, "jazz performers would do well to know something about the original setting of a song, so that reharmonizations do not simply recycle familiar paradigms" (p. 97). Forte also points out the value of the excellent transcriptions included in the preceding papers.

While the first section is unified by its exploration of a single tune and the analytical nature of all the papers, the chapters comprising the remainder of the volume are more varied in approach. Max Harrison presents an historical overview of the career of Algerian pianist Martial Solal. His analysis is limited to comments such as "urgently communicative" (p. 119) or "numerous colors and textures" (p. 124). Harrison's point, of course, is that Solal is an artist whose work provides many opportunities for further exploration. Mark S. Haywood uses the chorale from Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata No. 140 as a model of musical order to facilitate an exploration of musical order in the improvisation of Charlie Parker; George Russell's The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization for Improvisation (New York: Concept, 1959) serves as a reference for musical chaos in the improvisation of John Coltrane. Royal Hartigan's article on the drummer Guy Warren of Ghana, known as Ghanaba, includes a biographical sketch, discography and bibliography and is one of the first perusals of African music in a jazz context. Another first is Randy Sandke's lengthy (at ninety-five pages) analytical appraisal of the playing of Bix Beiderbecke. Sandke finds the salient features of Beiderbecke's style to be the use of bent and grace (or ghost) notes, triplets, half time, double time, irregular rhythms, and utilization of the half valve. Eric Charry analyzes two recordings by free jazz leader Ornette Coleman. In Peace and Congeniality, both from The Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic 1317, 1959?), he demonstrates how the bass playing of Charlie Hayden provides important elements of structure, while giving the illusion of complete freedom. Terry Monaghan traces the background of the creation of the most significant monograph on jazz dance (Marshall and Jean Stearns, Jazz Dance: the Story...