tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056468613032447619.post4512910896971760747..comments2023-11-29T20:57:42.082-08:00Comments on GODARD MONTAGE: Godard and Jazz ImprovisationJLGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15570026741533761456noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056468613032447619.post-40701956413261361042010-10-17T20:17:27.095-07:002010-10-17T20:17:27.095-07:00Chris,
Sorry it took me so long to respond! You&#...Chris,<br /><br />Sorry it took me so long to respond! You're absolutely right in pointing out the similarity in directing style between Davis and Godard. Coincidentally, I am planning a paper on the need to understand the idea of the auteur in the context of jazz, using Miles Davis' 3 great quintets (or sextet, in this case) as examples. Jazz is often misunderstood as an artform in which 5 or 6 musicians assemble and with no direction, begin playing. Fair enough, this does happen-but as you know, an album like "Kind Of Blue" is more than a chance encounter, it is lead by an a singular creative force, even if the ideas employed are abstract. The same goes for the albums Davis will record in the 1960s-especially "In A Silent Way," which Sam noted as being one of the first examples of the cinematic idea of "post-production" as applied to jazz music. <br /><br />Also, "Kind Of Blue" is the quintessential modal jazz album (excluding "Freddie Freeloader," which while classic is not strictly a modal blues piece-although one can't imagine the album without it.) I hesitated to explain modal jazz in the post as I didn't want to bog down further an already abstract concept to understand. "So What" in specific is an example of modal jazz par excellence as it has literally only two tonal centers for the entire 32-bar form. Jazz musicians of the period (and today) refer to modal improvising as being more "vertical," and standard repertoire as more "horizontal," as the latter's emphasis on a series of passing chords asks the improviser to acknowledge these frequent cadential changes-which seem to have a forward momentum.<br /><br />-----------<br /><br />Sam,<br /><br />As I mentioned in response to Chris, you're right in pointing out that jazz recording of the period did not have the same extensive post production period that cinema did. However, while not entirely the same thing, jazz musicians still had the option of using different "takes" of a given composition, thus enabling a bandleader to select the take they think best showcased the performances of band. It's interesting here to listen to the numerous CD reissues of with included extra takes and try to find out why a given performance was deemed unusable or undesirable.<br /><br />This does change with producer Teo Macero becoming de facto "editor" for Davis when he begins recording voluminous amounts of tape during marathon recording sessions. In fact, as jazz moves into the 1970s, the post production process will become more and more important as studio albums begin to be recorded autonomous from the music's live counterpart. The band Weather Report (co-led by Davis alum Wayne Shorter) was exemplary of this shift.Ian Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16424361875359654968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056468613032447619.post-5016461628689328742010-10-13T00:44:14.258-07:002010-10-13T00:44:14.258-07:00Ian,
I was really intrigued with your comments in ...Ian,<br />I was really intrigued with your comments in class on the parallels between jazz and Godard and am glad you continued it in the blog. Question for you, "Kind of Blue" has always fallen under the description as modal jazz. What you are describing sounds like modalism (mode instead of chord based music). Is it the same? <br /><br />Anyway, this is the oft repeated story about the album but it bears resemblance to Godard's on set approach to actors that Miles did not call for rehearsal and the musicians had little idea what they were to record until just before the tape was rolling. <br /><br />Two days, Six musicians recording onto three track tape machines yielding five great stereo songs. Amazing.<br /><br />ChrisJLGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570026741533761456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056468613032447619.post-51370046416768029412010-10-04T11:53:28.444-07:002010-10-04T11:53:28.444-07:00Terrific post, Ian. It's even better when you ...Terrific post, Ian. It's even better when you play the Davis' piece as one scrolls down the entry, especially the frame grabs (which go quite well with the music). I think the analogy between free jazz and Godard is a good one. Of course, someone might object that the difference is that however spontaneously Godard shoots his films there is the postproduction stage where the piece is assembled, and where order is restored. They would be right to point this out but we should not forget – I'm sure you will remind us – that jazz also has its "postproduction" phase. Here I think in particular of the collage-like structure of Davis' In a Silent Way, one of my all-time faves. In both cases (Davis and Godard), structure and improvisation are made to function like two sides of the same coin. <br /><br />SamSaishigohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16405468612378045542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056468613032447619.post-7785792374845875192010-10-03T18:10:00.618-07:002010-10-03T18:10:00.618-07:00I apologize for the low quality stills-the version...I apologize for the low quality stills-the version of "Breathless" I own is a really bad transfer, sub-Criterion.JLGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570026741533761456noreply@blogger.com