Ishmael Beckford Tongs

Exploring cultural influences on John Coltrane's music John Coltrane's legacy tends to be defined by a combination of his manual pyrotechnics and the polarisation caused by his 1960's departure from bop into freer less restrained forms. The broad extent of his musical reach is rarely discussed however. Coltrane's pancultural philosophy is crucial to arriving at a real appreciation of his work as it defined at least 2/3 of it. Just as importantly critical literature neglects to explore how his panculturalism expressed itself musically. How did his perusal of western and non western theorists express itself through Coltranes musical language?

Fig 11 Ching Fan's sixty tone spiral Coltrane approach to modal jazz went far beyond the usual heptatonic Greek mainstays. There is much evidence that he perused the cyclically oriented ancient Chinese literature. Fig 1 illustrates Fans cyclic representation of an ancient Chinese tonal system. It cycles through whole tones, semitones, and Pythagorean commas to reach near agreement with the reference tone after 53 consecutive operations," 2. This system bears striking similarity to a similar system devised by Coltrane. These intervallic considerations discussed above could themselves be said to have a sort of twin heritage emerging from and adapting the 11 interval traditions, a prescriptive 3 tradition drawing from the same process as dodecaphonic music.

Fig 1.1 Coltrane's diagram4

1 2 3 4

Modirzadeh, Hafez, Ching Fan's sixty tone spiral ( Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1 Spring 2001) pp. 85 Unattributed article, Ethnomusicology XIII (Wesleyan University Press 1979) pp. 217 Slonimsky,Thesaurus Of Scales And Melodic Patterns (Music Sales America; First Edition edition 1975) pp. 3 Lateef A Yusef, Coltrane's diagram (Fana Music,1981) pp. 1

Ishmael Beckford Tongs

The interrelationships codify the fundamentals of Coltrane's style serving as a system of intervallic abstraction leaving him to invent his own motivic patterns5. Consider the m3rd dyads spaced a whole tone apart clockwise and a semitone anticlockwise. Augmented triads emerge out of the clockwise progression in both outer and inner rings. There is a strong case for this being the beginning of Coltrane's movement from the linear (or scalar) to the non-linear (or cyclic)6

Fig 1.1a So What 7 Coltrane implements a total of three main motifs in this excerpt. Each of these bar the last is defined by a compass no wider than a 3rd.The notable exceptions either being octave displaced prefixed with an acciaccatura on the 3rd. They are also succeeded (perhaps one could say resolved) by a 3rd interval. Coltrane's metrical scheme highlights the characteristic of the Chinese system in much the same way as quartal and dominant movement is a basic principle of the western system. 3rd additionally. Finally each motivic idea consists of three phrases translating into three separate transformations of the original motif. The predominance of triadic movement with semi/whole tonal movement is a fundamental

Fig 1.1 a i Giant Steps8 Coltrane employs this same cyclic system in the above changes. The following breakdown highlights the underlying chord matrix informing its structure. C# E7 A C7 F B7 E7 C7F G #7C # Gm7 C7 F Bm7 E7 A Here Coltrane produces a synthesis of eastern and western styles. Minor 3rd dyads alternate with quartal dyads/triads. These move up/down in fifths/fourths. Coltrane studiously avoids explicitly stating a tonal centre in the first 2 phrases. The triadic movement creates a cyclic effect which renders a tonal centre moot. The final 2 phrases have a more traditional hierarchy Coltrane eschews a tonal centre by augmenting the interval as he did in the first phrase. This creates 2 layers of symmetry. The first is the B-E-A triad which is transformed in the last. The second is the tritone interval which augments the triadic relationships prevalent throughout, further frustrating any sense of a tonal hierarchy.

5 6

Modirzadeh, Hafez, Aural Archetypes and Cyclic Perspectives in the Work of John Coltrane and Ancient ChineseMusic Theory ( Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1) page 92 Modirzadeh, Hafez, Aural Archetypes and Cyclic Perspectives in the Work of John Coltrane and Ancient Chinese Music Theory ( Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1) page 87 Porter Lewis,So What (Jazz Horn Music 1959) bb.26-39 Coltrane John, Giant Steps (saxsolos.com/giantsteps.pdf 2013) bb. 1-12

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Ishmael Beckford Tongs

Fig 2 On a misty night9 Slonimsky has been posited as being the link between Coltrane's more exotic bent and the 19th century classical tradition. 10 Bb 51 displays Coltrane's subdivision of the octave into minor 3rd with an augmented interval to form the dim. Chord structure. He employs interpolation in the form of a mordant (figure derived from Baroque practise). Alternatively and more closely aligned with Slonimsky's specifications it can be seen as a descending tritonal subdivision with a modified inter infra polated structure. Coltrane's structural conceptions can also be extended vertically to include the upper partials which form the basis of his notorious sheets of sound technique.

Fig 2.1 Well's Fargo11 Much of Coltrane's vaunted atonality and wanton chaos is the result of the extension of a principle which comes to govern the generative processes of the entire improvisation. The previous figure used scalar motion as its organising principle. Coltrane varies the intervallic distances however sometimes employing scalar motion by thirds whole tones or establishing dyadic and quadratic motifs which can be extended wholesale. In the above case there is a strong semi tonal movement particularly in bar 4 where a quartal figure is actually resolved by semitone (D# G# > G...D) This movement culminates with the outline of a sidestepping figure (F# > F). It is effectively presaged by Coltrane's extensive use of sidestepping and chromatic passing notes in the preceding passages.

Indian Classical music constitutes perhaps Coltrane's most profound cultural inspiration The Indian raga functioned not only as a formal

9 10

Mcneal, Charles,On a misty night (http://www.charlesmcneal.com/uploads/-OnAMistyNight_Coltrane_.pdf 2012) bb.50-57 Bair,jeff, cyclic patterns in john coltranes melodic vocabulary as influenced by nicolas slonimskys thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns: an analysis of selected improvisations (university of north texas 2003) 11 Mcneal Charles,Well's Fargo (http://www.charlesmcneal.com/uploads/-WellsFargo_JohnColtrane_.pdf) bb.1-7

Ishmael Beckford Tongs

system within which musical thought could be codified and given unified expression but as an aesthetic system of inexhaustible depths.

Fig 2.1 a Song of praise12 Coltrane's improvisation on Song of praise is to all intents and purposes an extended Indian Alaap 13. The Alaap traces out the music aesthetic essence of the rag in free time. There are some parallels with Berendt's coinage el improvisieren 14. This refers to the interaction between a musician's immediate expression and an emergent structural architecture. Coltrane's re-synthesis and synthesis of western oriental elements led to the evolution of a new musical structural paradigm. The increased note density and frequency15 of the second section paradoxically creates a measure of stability drawing the ear towards the rag's tonic through constant tonic dominant repetition. This balance is emphasised by the symmetry of the Alaap with the second section merely adding Coltrane moreover employs some of the tala rhythmic transformational techniques outlined in Messiaen's technique de Mon langage musicale. The second section can be seen as a sort of variation on a theme. Added values and points are employed; non retrogradable rhythms, dissolution and condensation (fragmentation and consolidation) and augmentation and dissolution 16 are all applied. These are incidentally the prime means of rhythmic variation in the Indian repertoire Having charted the presence of three distinct musical traditions within several key works throughout his output it is clear that he embraced pan-culturalism not merely as an intellectual exercise but as a musical aesthetic and discipline. He himself is noted as having stated: Its this universal aspect of music that interests me17. Coltrane not only hoped to subsume as many styles as possible into his revolutionary language, but to make a cultural statement by rejecting the supremacy of western art music. Coltrane successfully hybridised oriental and western musical styles and left behind an astonishingly complex and sublime body of work.

Bibliography

12 13 14

Coltrane John, Song of praise (Institute for Studies In American Music 2007) bb.1-15 Clemens, Carl, Indian Concepts in the Music of John Coltrane (Institute for Studies In American Music 2007) Blume ,Gernot, tracing the Influence of North Indian Classical Music in Keith Jarrett'sSolo Piano Improvisations ( Popular Music, Vol. 22, No. 2) pp. 123 15 Blume, Gernot, tracing the Influence of North Indian Classical Music in Keith Jarrett's Solo Piano Improvisations ( Popular Music, Vol. 22, No. 2) pp. 125

16

Marja, imunda , Messiaen's Rhythmical Organisation and Classical Indian Theory of Rhythm (Croatian musicological society 1987) pp. 118 17 Kirchner, Bill, Oxford companion to jazz (Oxford University Press 2005)

Ishmael Beckford Tongs

Bair, Jeff, cyclic patterns in john coltranes melodic vocabulary as influenced by nicolas slonimskys thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns: an analysis of selected improvisations (university of north texas 2003) Blume ,Gernot, tracing the Influence of North Indian Classical Music in Keith Jarrett's Solo Piano Improvisations ( Popular Music, Vol. 22, No. 2) Blume, Gernot, tracing the Influence of North Indian Classical Music in Keith Jarrett's Solo Piano Improvisations ( Popular Music, Vol. 22, No. 2) Clemens, Carl, Indian Concepts in the Music of John Coltrane (Institute for Studies In American Music 2007) Kirchner, Bill Oxford companion to jazz (Oxford University Press 2005) Lateef A Yusef, Coltrane's diagram (Fana Music,1981) Lochead, Judy, hearing chaos (American Music, Vol. 19, No. 2 , 2001) Mcneal, Charles,On a misty night (http://www.charlesmcneal.com/uploads/-OnAMistyNight_Coltrane_.pdf 2012) Mcneal, Charles,Well's Fargo (http://www.charlesmcneal.com/uploads/-WellsFargo_JohnColtrane_.pdf) Marja, imunda , Messiaen's Rhythmical Organisation and Classical Indian Theory of Rhythm (Croatian musicological society 1987) Messiaen, Olivier,Technique de mon langage musicale (A. Leduc, Modirzadeh, Hafez, Aural Archetypes and Cyclic Perspectives in the Work of John Coltrane and Ancient Chinese Music Theory ( Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1) Modirzadeh, Hafez, Aural Archetypes and Cyclic Perspectives in the Work of John Coltrane and Ancient Chinese Music Theory ( Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1) Modirzadeh, Hafez, Ching Fan's sixty tone spiral, ( Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1 Spring 2001 Nisenson , Eric, Ascension:John Coltrane and his quest ( Notes, Second Series, Vol. 52, No. 1 1995) Postif, Francois, interview ( Porter 1961) Ruhlman William, biography (Allmusic 2013) URL available online at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-coltrane-mn0000175553 , last accessed 24/06/2013 Samuelson Sam, Sun ship (Allmusuc 2013) URL available online at http://www.allmusic.com/album/sun-ship-mw0000201309 last accessed 24/06/2013 Nicolas, Slonimsky,Thesaurus Of Scales And Melodic Patterns (Music Sales America; First Edition edition 1975) Unattributed article, Ethnomusicology XIII (Wesleyan University Press 1979)