An analysis of the music of Gil Evans (and others)
This post is a continuation from the last one which is focusing on instrumental combinations of three instruments. The Duke - backings in the solo section Behind Miles improvisation is a nice combination of alto sax, bass clarinet and trombone. In this case there are two trombones in octaves. The unison octaves are very silky … Continue reading Orchestration #9 – Trios B
It is quite common in ensemble jazz music to harmonize a melody or backing chords in 3-part harmony. In this post I have picked out some of these moments in Gil's music. I'll be discussing different instrumental combinations and how they have been orchestrated to sound interesting and stand out from any backgrounds. Trumpet (flugelhorn), … Continue reading Orchestration #9 – Trios A
This will be the final post concerning the opening of Moon Dreams. This post will look more closely at the the specific voicings and orchestration that Gil has utilized in the first few phrases of this classic arrangement. Bars 1-4 The general outlay of the voicings was discussed in the previous post. As can be … Continue reading Orchestration #8B – Moon Dreams
Continuing on with the Moon Dreams analysis, the next two posts will be looking at the orchestration of the opening of Moons Dreams. This post will focus on voicing, density and other general characteristics. General Observations Instrumentation: Reeds: Alto & baritone Sax Brass: French Horn, trumpet, trombone & tuba Rhythm Section: Bass & drums Note … Continue reading Orchestration #8A – Moon Dreams
This post is the second part of a series looking at the opening of Moon Dreams. For the first post in the series which focused on harmony, click here. I have purposely not included the harmonic information throughout the post. This is to allow us to focus on the counterpoint without the distraction of worrying … Continue reading Counterpoint #5 – Moon Dreams
Hi all, just a short post plugging this awesome podcast about Gil Evans. Check it out. There are several other Gil Evans podcasts on this page at NPR as well. More posts about Moon Dreams will be coming soon.
In the next couple of posts I'll be looking at the opening of the Birth of the Cool classic Moon Dreams. For my harmonic definitions have a look at a previous post. Bars 1-4 The chords above the bass are the ones that are included in the original score. The chords above the staves are … Continue reading Harmony #7A – Moon Dreams
