Music paints our emotions with a full palette of colors

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When I started to think about colors, the first tune that came to my mind was the music of the great spiritual tenor saxophonist and free jazz, Pharaoh Sanders, combined with the song and lyrics of Leon Thomas in the song “Colors:”

Mother Nature seems to love us so much
When she smiles there is a subtle glow
And with tears of joy, happiness flows
I see red and orange and purple
Yellow and blue and green
People say life is misery
But in him there is no mystery
So he sends us his rainbow of love
Red and orange and purple
Yellow and blue and green

While most jazz listeners are probably more familiar with “The creator has a master plan, taken from Sanders’ album in 1969 Karma, “Colors”, the only other track on the album, was also composed by Sanders and Thomas and is portrayed by music critic Dominik Böhmer, To Everything is noise, like:

a joyful and hopeful greeting towards each new tomorrow, a call to be open-minded to take advantage of all the little things that life has to offer every day.

When dealing with colors in art, the first thing you learn in class is that there are three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue (although that has changed in the computer age), from which you can mix further. In jazz (and of course, in blues, blue is the predominant color referenced since color is the title of the genre).

Two classic jazz albums immediately spring to mind: the 1958 release of John Coltrane Blue train and Miles Davis 1959 Kind of blue. Coltrane quit her heroin addiction in 1957 with the help of his wife, Naima, whom I wrote about last year in “John Coltrane’s favorite composition was the love song he wrote for his first wife, Naima.Miles Davis kicked him out of his group, then Trane abstained. Music blogger Seb Kirby writes:

He was finally drug free, able to focus fully on developing his music for the first time. As he later wrote when recording “A Love Supreme”: “During the year 1957, I lived by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a more life. richer, more complete and more productive. , in my gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and the privilege to make others happy through music. ” […]

A lot of people hear this in the music for “Blue Train”; the beauty that comes from open-hearted liberation sharing; blues about to transcend the oppression of the world.

The title track, “Blue Train” is based on a short minor blues theme that changes to major when John Coltrane opens with his liberating eight-chorus solo. It’s not overly simplistic to say that he captures that feeling of openness to the possibilities that his change of direction in life had brought. Iconically, it sums up all that was felt about John Coltrane as a center of black pride and optimism that oppression would be overcome; which led Miles Davis to say at the death of John Coltrane in July 1967: “The music of Trane… represented, for many black people, the fire and the passion and the rage and the anger and the rebellion and the love that ‘they felt, especially among the young black intellectuals and revolutionaries of that time. … This was also the case for many white and Asian intellectuals and revolutionaries. … Trane’s death made me very sad because not only was he a great and beautiful musician, but he was a kind, beautiful and spiritual person that I loved. . I miss him, his wit and his creative imagination. “

Lindsay Planer examined “Blue train” for AllMusic:

The record is packed with sound proof of Coltrane’s innate leadership abilities. He not only tackles the tunes at hand, but also simultaneously reinvents himself as a multi-faceted performer of hard bop as well as sensitive ballad – touching all forms in between. The staff at Blue Train are arguably as impressive as what they play. Joining Coltrane (tenor sax) are Lee Morgan (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Kenny Drew (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums). The three-brass arrangements incorporate an additional sound density which remains a unique mark both for this group and for this album. Of particular note is Fuller’s even-pitched trombone, which resonates throughout the title track as well as the frantic “Moments Notice”. Other solos include Paul Chambers’ subtly understated riffs on “Blue Train” as well as the high energy and impact of Lee Morgan and Kenny Drew’s contributions during “Locomotion”. The track also features some brief but vital contributions from Philly Joe Jones – whose efforts throughout the record are among his best personal results. Of the five sides that make up the original Blue Train, the Jerome Kern / Johnny Mercer ballad “I’m Old Fashioned” is the only standard; in terms of pure sentiment, this version is arguably untouchable. Fuller’s rich tones and Drew’s tastefully performed solos wrap neatly around Jones’ regularly languid rhythms. Without reservation, Blue Train can easily be considered one of the most important and influential entries not only in John Coltrane’s career, but in the entire genre of jazz music as well.

Miles Davis’ Kind of blue has often been considered one of the greatest jazz albums of all time. I will not dispute this assessment. In July of this year, Jazz side job “The 100 jazz albums that rocked the world“and selected Kind of blue like their best.

Ashley Kahn, author of Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, explains why it tops the list:

How to correctly assess the impact? There is no smoking crater in the case of Kind of blue, the melancholy and modal jazz masterpiece of Miles. The 1959 record didn’t come with a thunderclap, but four decades later, at the turn of the millennium, it topped all “best of” lists, putting aside so much rock, pop and hip-hop. jump records. […]

But maybe Kind of blue is best measured by the sum of the constituent parts. Five tunes, extremely simple in construction, of exceptionally deep evocative power, played by seven masters of post-bop, all at their peak. A unique formation that makes the term “all-star” inadequate: trumpeter Davis, plus saxophonists John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb.

Certainly, Kind of blue should be measured by musical influence. Ask any number of influential musicians that have existed such as Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock etc. they all agree. At a time when the music had “gotten thick” as Miles said, Kind of blue distilled modern jazz in a fresh and detached essence.

“Blue in Green” is an emotionally evocative ballad. While there is still some debate as to whether Miles wrote it down, as multiple sources claim it was written by Bill Evans– from my point of view it’s a number one track because of the way it’s played and for the ensemble that Miles put together. Thomas Ward writes for All the music:

“Blue in Green” is arguably the most beautiful piece of music on Kind of Blue. The ensemble playing reaches new levels of subtlety and transcendence, and the work benefits greatly from the introduction of pianist Bill Evans, one of Miles Davis’ greatest collaborators. Indeed, his piano part is magnificent, and his solo is a masterpiece of his unparalleled lyricism. The tempo of the song is daringly slow, and it is easy for the listener to think that it is going to crumble at any moment. This is not the case, however, due to the genius of the set. “Blue in Green” is also a very important piece; it shows that the values ​​of “cool jazz” can have enormous artistic value – it’s not just casual music for fun, it’s music of extraordinary depth of feeling.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include blues on the distaff side of today’s musical collage, so I’ll end with a woman often referred to as “Queen of the Blues” (no disrespect to Bessie Smith) Dinah washington:

Dinah Washington was one of the greatest female singers to sing jazz and popular music in the 20th century. Her style and performance were emulated by many who followed, but few had a voice to match Divine Miss D.… Fortunately, her immense talent on record has been well documented and she sounds as good today as she does. ‘she was when she made all those classic albums.

Born in Alabama, Ruth Lee Jones grew up in a loyal Baptist family in Chicago, singing and playing the piano in her local church choir and quickly becoming adept at the quirky and syncopated rhythms characteristic of gospel and curved or slippery notes. At the age of fifteen, she performed “I Can’t Face The Music” as part of a local amateur competition held at the Regal Theater in Chicago.

“She had a voice that was like the pipes of life. She could take the melody in her hand, hold it like an egg, open it, fry it, let it sizzle, put it back together, put the egg back in the box and put it back in the fridge and you would still have figured it out. every word she sang. – Quincy Jones

Washington’s signature song “Blue Gardenia”, written by Lester Lee and Bob Russell for the 1953 Hollywood film, The Blue Gardenia, was covered by a crowd of singers and singers.

As my musical brushes are always covered in blue, I don’t want to switch to other colors until I dive into blue Mondays, blue moons, blue robins… and more. So join me in the comments below and let us know: What kind of blue are you today?





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