StMaryMusic

assignment for thursday, march 1:

read pp. 60 - 75 in nisenson

vocab: introspection, overt, evinced, facetiously, vociferously, ofay, patina, manifesto, eviscerate

discussion questions:
does coltrane's music sound angry? how does his response on page 63 fit his music?

compare Miles Davis' Kind of Blue album with Trane's "Giant Steps" how does Coltrane's playing differ on these two records and why? what were the different approaches? (modal vs. vertical)
tracks from Kind of blue:
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/allblues.mp3
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/sowhat.mp3

tracks from Giant Steps:
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/giantsteps.mp3
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/countdown.mp3

ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR BREAK:
hopefully you're using this time to get caught up in your reading and paper writing.
when we get back, we'll move through the coltrane biography quickly.
start thinking about ideas for a final paper. any music-related topic is fair game.

assignment for thursday, feb. 15:

read pp. 52 - 59 in nisenson

vocab: paradox, spontaneous, ubiquitious, labrynth, visceral, deride, catharsis, fascism, transcend

discussion question:
listen to "milestones" by the miles davis sextet and compare it to the earlier work of coltrane and the miles davis quintet.
how does the use of modes alter the way the performers play? (is cannonball (alto) doing the same thing as miles and train?)
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/milestones.mp3

assignment for wednesday, feb. 14 (snow and valentine's day)

read pp. 43 - 52 in nisenson

vocab: eccentric, cache, prescience, profound, persevere, pathological, heretofore,

discussion question:
on pages 45-47, nisenson expresses regret at the fact that there were only 3 recorded tracks by the monk/trane quartet and a poorly recorded live bootleg......but, last year (2005) somebody stumbled upon an entire concert by the quartet recorded in fall of '57 at carnegie hall..!!!!!!!

compare nisenson's description of the quartet and the actual performance. what would nisenson say if he heard this recording?
i have posted 4 tracks from the concert:
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/bluemonk.mp3
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/nutty.mp3
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/evidence.mp3
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/byeya.mp3

assignment for tuesday, feb. 13:

SEE BELOW FOR MISSED ASSIGNMENTS

read pp. 29 -42

vocab: burgeoning, taciturn, appellation, nascent, satyriasis, apotheosis, blanche, dogmatic, charisma

what is nisenson's opinion of the miles davis quintet (pp. 29 - 40), and what is your assessment of the group's music? (listen to the following tracks at www.hotcuprecords.com/music/roundmidnight.mp3 and www.hotcuprecords.com/music/ahleucha.mp3)

how does God enter coltrane's life and what does this tell us about coltrane's personality, character, and dedication?

assigment for thursday, feb. 8:

GET CAUGHT UP!!!!

SEE BELOW

assignment for wednesday, feb. 7:

SECOND DRAFTS OF PAPERS DUE FRIDAY!!!
FIRST SHORT PAPERS ON COLTRANE (JAN 31 POST BELOW) ARE LATE!!!
VOCAB DUE FRIDAY!!!!

read pp. 17 - 28 in nisenson

vocab: fervent, adulterated, prodigiously, endemic, febrile, incendiary, imbroglio, vortex, eccentric, vistas

NOTE:
this chapter is a bit of a chronicle of the state of jazz in the 1950's. i have posted music by some of the mentioned artists at the website.

sonny rollins with clifford brown: www.hotcuprecords.com/music/house.mp3
sonny rollins with max roach: www.hotcuprecords.com/music/surrey.mp3
thelonius monk: www.hotcuprecrods.com/music/dream.mp3


discussion questions:
compare the playing of miles davis and fats navarro. i have posted both of them playing on the same set of chord changes.
miles playing "half nelson" and fats playing "ladybird" are really the same song with different melodies.
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/halfnelson.mp3
www.hotcuprecords.com/music/ladybird.mp3

how does nisenson's opinion of "hard bop" differ from baraka's? (pp. 19-20 in nisenson, and pp. 216 - 220 in baraka)

assignment for tuesday, feb 6:

RE-DO YOUR MIDTERM PAPERS
second drafts are due by friday, feb. 9....you MUST have a bibliography!!

your first papers for the new semester were due monday (see below)

read pp. 3-16 in nisenson

vocab: ineluctably, appropriate, acolyte, vociferiosly, serendipitous, ubiquitous, asceticism, fastidious, anathema, fulcrum, taciturn