jazz dissertation

Masterproef

Jennifer El Gammal2012-2013

Jazz SaxophoneTutor: John Ruocco

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Table of contents

Part 1 - Final Concert

1.1. Line-up & programme 02

1.2. On the choice of the tunes 03

Part 2 - Portfolio

2.1. Alone Together - Paul Desmond 05

2.2. The Shadow Of Your Smile - Oliver Nelson 10

2.3. Life as it is - Toon Roos 15

2.4. Nica’s Dream - Hank Mobley 18

Part 3 - Logbook

3.1. Education 23

3.2. Personal approach to music 23

3.3. Projects 24

3.4. Sources of inspiration 25

Part 4 - Appendix: Transcriptions

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Part 1 - Final Concert

1.1. Line-up & programme

Line-up

Uživati Trio : Jennifer El Gammal: soprano saxophone

David Thomaere: piano

Mike Delaere: double bass

Programme

Romska Elegija Milan Zaklov, arr. Uživati Trio

Presque 23 + Presque 24 Jennifer El Gammal

Dream On Christophe Wallemme

As far as I can see Hadi El Gammal

Untitled David Thomaere

Bulgur Traditional, arr. Uživati Trio

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1.2. On the choice of the tunes

I decided to play this final exam with the project I started a year and a half ago: Uživati Trio. Indeed, it is my main project at the moment, and it seems to me that it reflects particularly well the results of my research as a musician these past few years. Our repertoire is a mix of original compositions and eastern european traditional tunes we arrange collectively. For this exam, I made a selection of tunes that I believe give some insight into our work as a trio, and I organised them in an order that made sense to me from a musical point of view, one leading to another in a consistent yet progressive build up.

To start the concert, I chose a festive, joyous tune, Romske Elegija. This song is emblematic of the spirit I want to instil in this project: a spirit of jubilant, convivial sharing, through a music rooted in tradition, that can hopefully touch and move just about any listener regardless of whether or not he/she is a musician. I placed this tune at the very beginning of the concert to immediately give the tone of our concert.

The second tune we are going to play is a composition of mine, Presque 23 (and its sequel, Presque 24). It is often said a tune says a lot about its composer, and I think this two-folded piece, which I composed partly during my first, partly during my second master year, says a lot about me. Its first part is a melancholic waltz that, I have been told, sounds like film music. It reflects the influence of my father’s music, as well as that of Tuur Florizoone. The second, more modal part I composed as part of the «Analysis» course we had last year.

Dream on, which we will play next, is a composition of Christophe Wallemme. Even though it is the imposed piece for this exam, I’m confident it

Jennifer El Gammal - Masterproef

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will fit quite well in our programme. Indeed, Christophe Wallemme’s music, which often mixes jazz and world music influences in a personal way, has inspired me with the development of my own project.

Fourthly, we will play a composition of my father’s, Hadi El Gammal, which Mike, David and I rearranged together in the course of our rehearsals. As far as I can see is thus a very good example of the results our joint work and research bring about: we changed the time signature and found different atmospheres for the different parts of the tune, hence turning it in a collective work.

The penultimate tune we will play on this occasion, interestingly enough entitled Untitled by its composer (David Thomaere), is one of our trio’s new tunes. It presents a nice blend of improvisation and written, contrapuntal melodies, which is one of the key features of the music I tend to listen to and develop myself.

Finally, Bulgur, is a traditional bulgarian melody in 7/8, which we superposed with a modern, more funky groove. I learned this melody years ago when playing with Gjovalin Nonaj, a Brussel-based Albanian accordion player. It stuck with me, and Uživati Trio seemed a perfect scene to try and use this material in a more personal and original manner. In this tune, I will also perform a short tap dancing interlude, thus introducing the blend of artistic forms that is central to my own artistic practice, and that I certainly plan on developing more and more over the coming years.

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Part 2 - Portfolio

2.1. Alone Together - Paul Desmond

Title: Alone Together

Album: Take Ten

Artist: Paul Desmond

Recording Company: Radio Corporation of America (RCA)

Date: 1963

Sidemen: Jim Hall (guitar)

Eugene Cherico (bass)

Connie Kay (drums)

Instrument: Alto saxophone

Tune type: AABA (Jazz standard)

Tempo: Medium/fast

Key: D minor (Concert Key: C minor)

Dramatic devices: Paul Desmond has a very gentle sound, and he plays mellifluously yet with a lot of recurring rhythmical patterns

Tessiture: Low to medium (on the soprano)

Scale preferences: Minor harmonic, Mixolydian b9b13

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Recurrent patterns & development:

Rather than using very few recurrent patterns, Paul Desmond constantly switches from one pattern to the other, playing around a little bit with each one (transposing it to the next few bars, reversing it,…). I circled in blue each time this happens in the solo.

Desmond uses often the same kind of approach (green circle), and often finishes on the upbeat. His solo quite scrupulously respects the structure (rarely playing a phrase across two choruses).

He plays melodic waves rather than «jumps», and he plays mostly diatonic lines, with a few chromaticisms, and often establishing a question/answer dynamic (red arrows).

Personal interest/gain:

The simplicity and precision of Paul Desmond’s sound and phrasing has always impressed me. Moreover, playing this solo helped me get out of my set ways while improvising on «Alone together» (and by extension, on other tunes), as it made me play new lines and in a different key.

When working with this transcription, I wrote down a couple of Desmond’s ideas and experienced with them in my own solos (see above), like the question & answer technique.


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2.2. The Shadow Of Your Smile - Oliver Nelson

Title: The Shadow Of Your Smile

Album: Sound Pieces

Artist: Oliver Nelson

Recording Company: Impulse!

Date: 1966

Sidemen: Steve Kuhn (piano)

Ron Carter (bass)

Grady Tate (drums)

Instrument: Soprano saxophone

Tune type: ABAC (Jazz standard)

Tempo: Medium

Key: F Major (Concert Key: Eb Major)

Dramatic devices: Oliver Nelson makes use of a glissando and other sound effects (orange circles). The alternating of slowish and really fast lines, as well as high pitched and lower patterns, also creates a dramatic effect.

Tessitura: Low to high

Scale preferences: Melodic minor, mixolydian b9

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Recurrent Patterns & development:

Oliver Nelson develops every pattern that comes up further than Paul Desmond did. Being an arranger himself, and the author of the book «Patterns for Improvisation»1, he constructs his solo very carefully, starting with a couple of very calm phrases and building up from there. He plays a lot with arpeggios, too, and with a very clear articulation. He also plays a little with the sound, making his soprano «sing», as they say. On several occasions, he takes a small cell and loops it for a while before resolving the phrase.

On the next pages, I circled in blue each time I spotted a pattern he played with, and used yellow boxes to emphasise scale patterns and loops (see comments on the score for the details)


This solo is, in my view, a masterpiece of turning an arguably rather «dull» piece into something thrilling and beautiful. That in itself would have been a sufficient reason for me to transcribe it. In addition to this, however, Oliver Nelson’s improvisation had the advantage of involving some work around patterns and dynamics which I found particularly interesting. The octave jumps and the long sustainment of a repeated pattern, sometimes throughout several bars, are the main gimmicks I tried to incorporate in my own playing, alongside the solo construction (building up from a very calm, spaced beginning) and his articulation.

1 NELSON Oliver, Patterns for improvisation, New York, Jamey Aerbersold Jazz, New Albany, 2010


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2.3. Life as it is - Toon Roos

Title: Life as it is

Album: Ivan Paduart - A Night At the Music Village

Artist: Toon Roos

Recording Company: Jazz ’N Pulz

Date: 2003

Sidemen: Fay Claassen (vocals)

Bert Joris (trumpet)

Toots Thielemans (harmonica)

Ivan Paduart (piano)

Stefan Lievestro (bass)

Mimi Verderame (drums)

Instrument: Soprano saxophone

Tune type: AABA (solo on AA)

Tempo: Medium (straight eights)

Key: D minor

Dramatic devices:

Tessitura: Low to high

Scale preferences:

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, and often establishing a question/answer dynamic (red arrows).


n my own solos (see above), like the question & answer technique.

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2.4. Nica’s Dream - Hank Mobley

Title: Nica’s Dream

Album: Art Blakey with the Original Jazz Messengers

Artist: Hank Mobley

Recording Company: Columbia Records

Date: 1956

Sidemen: Donald Byrd (trumpet)

Art Blakey (drums)

Horace Silver (piano)

Doug Watkins (bass)

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Tune type: AABA + 8 bar interlude (after the theme and between solos)

Tempo: Medium/fast

Key: C minor (Concert Key: Bb minor)

Dramatic devices: Not many; use

Tessitura:

Scale preferences:

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Questions/réponses, lots of space, chromaticisms, finishes often on the beat, 4 bar structure (beginning)

Beaucoup en croches mais entrecoupées,…

Rhythmically plus riche


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Part 3 - Logbook

3.1. Education (2011-2013)

Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (KCB)

Master 1 & 2 : One-to-one lessons with John Ruocco

Master 1: Ensemble with Jeroen Van Herzeele

Master 2: Ensemble with Diederik Wissels

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)

Master 1 & 2 in Sociology

(option: Action Sociale et Diversité Culturelle)

Master thesis: Cultural Activism (artivism) Today:

The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army

3.2. Personal approach to music

Over my years at the conservatory, it became clearer and clearer to me that, as important a part of my life as playing the soprano saxophone is, it is but a part of my musical personality. Indeed, I also play the trombone and the diatonic accordion, and these are also important elements of my personal approach to music. The trombone I started playing seven years ago as part of a big fanfare, Jour de Fête, then in a bigband and in an orchestra at Sussex University (UK). I also played trombone in the KCB Bigband in my first and second years of the Bachelor, and this school year. Trombone playing is to me


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a perfect complement to practicing the soprano saxophone, as the two instruments are almost perfectly opposite: high vs low register, wind vs brass, keys vs slide… Experimenting with the trombone thus opens up a new dimension of music and enables me to test a different take on the same tunes, thereby enriching my understanding of them.

The diatonic accordion, on the other hand, has been for the past five years my preferred means of exploring traditional folk music (as in folk balls), that is popular music designed for people to dance to. Traditional themes, rhythms and dances are a very important source of inspiration to me, as they are the grounds of most of today’s music. Playing the accordion made me learn about rhythms and melodies that are different from those I came across in my jazz course, and dancing to those opened up for me yet another side of what music is and/or can be: a means of joyous communication linking the aerial pleasure of listening to the physical rapture of dancing. Which leads me to my next point: not only did I come to realise, over the course of this master degree, how important it was to me to approach music from a variety of angles; it also became clear to me that I want to explore more thoroughly the ways music can intertwine with other artistic forms (mainly: dance & theatre) -and with different aspects of life.1 Hence the insertion of a short tap dancing break in my final concert program.

3.3. Main projects

Uživati Trio: My main trio and the band I am going to play with on this final concert. As mentioned above, the repertoire of this band mixes traditional music with original compositions and arrangements.

Théâtre Maât: This is a theatre company I work with. They have been putting on musical theatre shows for young audiences for the last 25 years, often working with professional musicians, indeed often including them in the theatre show itself (that is to say, giving them a character). I am currently


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playing in two of their shows: Banquise (created in 2009) which amongst other things played for a month in Montreal in April 2012, and Grimm (created in 2011).

Dyna B: Dyna B is a Haitian/Belgian dancer and soul music singer I play with occasionally. This amplified band is very different from the acoustic approach I develop in my other projects, which makes it all the more interesting.

Jour de fête: This is a 50-piece fanfare I have been playing with since the age of 14. Their repertoire includes jazz standards, film soundtracks and latino-american tunes. This is an amateur band, but the influence they had -and still have- on me as a musician is prominent. Moreover, we have a jointed concert scheduled on the 12th of September at Theatre Marni, with Uživati Trio & Jour de Fête. It represents quite a challenge to make these two worlds meet in a congruous manner, but I am confident I will find a way to put them together, through music of course, but also through the use of theatrical tools.

3.4. Sources of inspiration

There are a great number of things that have guided and inspired me over the course of the past two years. Certain things were more personal, others more directly related to music, but they all participated in my research insofar as one’s personal and musical development are in my view intimately linked. Listed below are the main concerts, CDs, books, films & discussions that inspired me as a musician during my master degree.

Courses & Encounters:

• Advanced Rhythm lessons with Stéphane Galland

• Private lesson & multiple discussions with Ben Sluijs about music

• Ensemble with Diederik Wissels: Although this year’s ensemble with


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Diederik seemed somewhat doomed, it has had a great impact on me -through the choice of the tunes, which all fitted in the style I develop myself, and thanks to Diederik’s constructive remarks throughout the year.

Concerts:

• Tricycle, Jazz Station (Brussels, Belgium), 2012

Featuring Tuur Florizoone on accordion, Philippe Laloy on soprano saxophone and Vincent Noiret on double bass, Tricycle has certainly been one of my most prominent influences in the past years. Tuur’s compositions, between folk, jazz and film-music, and Philippe Laloy’s subtle playing are an example of the kind of things I look for in music: round sounds, melodious lines & a nice mix between written parts, relatively fixed arrangements and improvisation.

• Georgi Kornazov «Horizons» Quintet, Loches en Jazz (Loches, France), August 2011

I discovered this band in the course of a Jazz Festival in a small countryside french town, and I was immediately blown, first and foremost by the compositions, mixing jazz and eastern european influences, which immediately appealed to me, and certainly influenced my repertoire choices for Uživati Trio. Secondly, I was struck by how beautifully the sounds of the soprano saxophone and the trombone blended -the quintet’s line-up has thus been an inspiration for my MA2 FYP.

• Massot-Florizoone-Horbaczewski, Muziekpublique, Théâtre Molière (Brussels, Belgium), Mai 2013

Like Tricycle, Massot-Florizoone-Horbaczewski’s music goes in the same direction as I do. The original instrumentation as well as the music, slightly more free/opened than Tricycle’s, opened up new possibilities


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for me to think about.

• Tomassenko, Théâtre Varia (Brussels, Belgium), March 2013

Olivier Thomas is a singer and an actor; he plays in trio with a guitarist and a bass clarinet player, both of them great musicians. This concert was inspiring not only on a musical level (unusual instrumentation, interesting arrangements), but also, and I would say mainly, on a staging level. Indeed, the concert was very good musically, but also excellent theatrically. This was done in a subtle way -the musicians did little more than their «regular» musician role, but they had been intelligently directed, and this really added to the show as a whole.

• Feet & Finger's sisters, Sint-Gillis Voorplein (Brussels, Belgium; org. LDH), April 2013

Marie-Sophie Talbot is a multi-instrument player and singer; in this project, she plays in duo with Joëlle Ribant, tap dancer2 (who also sings and plays the trumpet). Seeing them play and dance together has definitely confirmed my desire to incorporate tap dancing and singing in my ulterior projects, alongside my soprano saxophone playing.

CDs:

• ASTAIRE Fred & SINATRA Frank, Duets Astaire & Sinatra Vol. 2, Digital Natives, 2011

• ANDREWS Laverne, Maxine & Patty, Rhum & Coca-Cola, performed by The Andrews Sisters, Sony Music Media, 2004

I listened a great deal to Fred Astaire’s, Frank Sinatra’s and the Andrews Sisters’ songs in the past two years. This heritage from broadway musicals, characterised by its naivety and, sometimes, its cheesiness, is a big part of my musical background, and led me to learn tap dancing.


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• The Imagined Village, Bending the Dark, ECC Records, 2012

A fantastic album from a English modern folk band; a great example of how traditional folk music can be reinterpreted and adapted in a more modern manner.

• LALOY Didier, S-Tres/Version Originale, Wild Boar Music, 2004

Didier Laloy is an amazing diatonic accordion player; I discovered the belgian folk scene through this CD, and have been listening to it regularly ever since.

• Turdus Philomelos, Ici Maintenant Là Pouf!, Homerecords, 2009

• Tangram, Souffles, Mogno Music, 2011

• Klezmic Zirkus, Vitamine K, Homerecords, 2007

• WALLEMME Christophe, Time Zone, Nocturne, 2004

• TEXIER Henri, Mosaïc Man, performed by Azur Quintet (H.Texier, S.Texier, G.Ferris, B.Zulfikarpasic, T.Rabeson), Label Bleu, 1998

• GALLIANO Richard, Nino Rota, Universal Music Company, 2011

• Jethro Tull (ANDERSON Ian), Minstrel in the Gallery, Island, 1975

• Gentle Giant, Free Hand, Chrysalis, 1975

• WISSELS Diederik, Song of you, Sowarex, 2004

• Trio Grande & Matthew BOURNE, Un matin plein de promesses, De Werf, 2008

• Caravan, If I could do it all over again, I’d do it all over you, Decca, 1970

• KORNAZOV Georgi, Viara, performed by Georgi Kornazov Horizons Quintet (G.Kornazov, E.Parisien, M.Codjia, M.Buronfosse & K.Jannuska), BCM Records, 2007


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• FLORIZOONE Tuur, Orange for Tea, performed by Tricycle (T.Florizoone, P.Laloy & V.Noiret), Homerecords, 2004

• MEHLDAU Brad, The Art of the Trio, Vol. 3 - Songs, Warner, 1998

Film:

• CAILLAT Gérald, La Spira, Idéale Audience/videomante/Arte France/main d'or création, 2012

This documentary presents the work of a self-conducted orchestra, La Spira Mirabilis. The way they think about music and work on it together, discussing every little thing and sharing their experience with each other and with the public, truly impressed and inspired me.

For more information, see http://www.spiramirabilis.com/en/Spirit.aspx [Online, last accessed: 17th of May, 2013]

1 I did a research on the possible links between art and activism as part of my Sociology degree.2 Joëlle Ribant is also my tap dance teacher


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jazz dissertation

Documents

fathers music

film music

christophe wallemmes

final exam

world music influences

uivati triopresque

uivati trio31

final concert1