Jazz travels : a portfolio of jazz compositions and arrangements of African inspiration.
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Date
2010
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Abstract
The pieces presented in this portfolio are in some ways a synthesis of my own musical history
up to this point in time. Though I was scarcely aware as a child, I now know that the diverse
strains of modem African American music and their largely non-African American
inspirations originate from the larger, older branches of Jazz and Blues.
Nevertheless, the music that forms the lion's share of my early musical memories-African
American and African American inspired music- is still quite distinct from its West African
ancestral music that I would later come to learn and love so much. After being inspired
primarily by Rhythm and Blues, Rock, Blues and Jazz through the pre-teen and teenage
years, I discovered Latin music of Cuban origin. Soon after that I began to explore traditional
Afro-Cuban and West African music. These new musics resonated strongly with me, and I
began to learn and play them not long after that first exposure.
A probable reason for the aforementioned resonance lies in the 'rhythmic priming' provided
by my early exposure to African American music. This state of rhythmic awareness was
excited by the complex rhythmic interplay subsequently heard between West African
musicians and between Afro-Cuban musicians, hinted at but rarely as fully developed in the
African American music I was used to. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense that this
rhythmic sensibility, developed through exposure to American music, would be stimulated
and fulfilled by traditional West African percussion music.
As much as I came to enjoy that type of polyrhythmic, percussion based music, however, in
time I also began to wonder at the possibility of creating a similar music but with more
harmonic movement, perhaps even modulation to different keys. This would require different
instruments, and it would require mastery of another musical world: that of western, and in
particular for my sensibilities, Jazz harmony. This pursuit-the attempt to combine at once
an African rhythmic sensibility with a Jazz harmonic sensibility-is one that will no doubt
occupy me for some time into the future. It is also a major source of inspiration, sometimes
obvious and at other times more subtle, in the creation of this portfolio.
The aforementioned fusion of African rhythm and Western harmony, in conceptual terms, is
not something altogether new. That rhythmic, melodic and harmonic complexities co-exist in
the Jazz tradition is no secret. What's more, much of the music referred to as 'Latin' is
named as such because it has already absorbed and incorporated the rhythmic vitality of the
African origins of much of the populace, and their predisposition to Afro-Latin (Afro-Cuban,
Afro-Dominican, Afro-Puerto Rican, Afro-Brazilian, etc.) folkloric music with its direct link
to the percussive music of West Africa.
However, composition and arrangement are processes of the individual. I don't claim to be
the first one to attempt the stated objective combination of African and European elements;
what I can say is that I am the first one to do it in my own particular way. Thus this portfolio
presents a combination, not only of different styles, but of underlying objectives as well.
These objectives have been in mind throughout the creative process. In addition to the
aforementioned objective of blending African and Jazz elements (1), it has been my intent to
demonstrate proficiency in more traditional Jazz, Latin and even orchestral arranging
frameworks (2), hopefully achieving a balance that allows my own voice to shine subtly
through (3).
Description
Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, 2010.
Keywords
Jazz--Scores., Jazz--South Africa., Theses--Music.