Confirmation and Take the A Train

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Now that we are listening to Jazz, there are many new developments as well as connections the music has to past pieces we have reviewed. For this post, I will focus on “Confirmation” by Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train”. The two greatest similarities these pieces have with those we have studied are its organization and thematic reoccurrence.  Like the string quartets, these jazz ensembles are set up like conversations, only between spirited individuals rather than reasonable individuals. Like the sonatas and endless pieces we have observed, jazz pieces usually start with a main theme and build off of it in solos and developments. Take the A Train develops the main theme, and Charlie Parker solos off of his.

More than anything, jazz brings an intense focus on the players themselves rather than the composition. The emphasis is not on the composer or even the composition, but the player’s take on the pieces, and the band itself. Without a conductor, the connection between the player’s is integral to the development of the piece. The bass and piano dictate the chord structure, which builds a foundation which the melody, solo, or harmony build off of. The percussion maintains the feel and tempo of the beat, and cues major musical occurrences (starting a soloing, repeating a bar, switching movement). The piece is not about music itself, or symbolizing anything, but muses on the feel of the interaction of the ensemble.

Finally, jazz is not about the composition, but the player’s take. A jazz standard is a standard not because of how impressive it is, but because it memorably solidifies the audience into a chord structure. What is really important about jazz is the ability for players to express their musical ideologies within the chord structure, as is evident in Parker’s solo and the trumpet solo at 0:50 in Take the A train. We are not awed by the chord structure or themes, but the talent and improvisation of the actual players. The focus is on the individual skill, not the musical composition. It’s a conversation where everyone shows off!

 

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