The next couple of posts will be about Gil’s use of the triad (major and minor). Evans was known for his rich and lush harmonies, but he often used a simple triad for harmonization or a simple musical idea.
Prelude to So What
Not everyone knows that this introduction was written by Gil. It’s a beautiful calm opening to the album Kind of Blue.
The prelude is almost entirely constructed from triads over various bass notes. Gil side-shifts triads over pedal points and riffs and never quite lands on a resolution. He does this by avoiding the root note of any of the triads in the bass.
Sunken Treasure
This piece from the album Out of the Cool is very colourful and evocative. The piece is almost entirely constructed from triads. Again, non-diatonic triads are utilized to create the atmosphere of the piece. Gil provides interest by playing with our harmonic expectations and utilizing rhythm and texture effectively.
The triads used are: Ebmin, Ab, Emin
Later in the piece, the trombones enter with:
Sunken Treasure reminds me of one of Debussy’s preludes, Canope. Debussy constructs the opening of the prelude with triads.
Zee Zee
This composition from the album Svengali is similar to the So What prelude. It is entirely constructed from side-slipping triads over harmonically independent bass notes. The rhythm of the bass almost always follows the triads which lends a slightly dissonant and tense sound. Interestingly, Gil employs both Eb minor and Eb major triads in this example.
This type of bass line reminds me of Gil’s use of counterpoint in the bass which I covered in a previous post.
Gil Evans: Inside Out 