Appendix 2.05 Experimental listening Hawkins (^3)
Experimental listening 12 Oct 2011. LCB and EC
Coleman Hawkins, Saxophone: Body and Soul
Recorded 11 Oct 1939
EC asks questions or indicates listening tasks. LCB provides observations and comments, which
EC notates. In some cases, EC includes his own observations, ideas, and reflections.
1st and 2nd listening: Open listenings (two choruses) open
EC: Continuity. ”Body”: deep, vibrating, intimate. ”Soul”: high, heavenly.
Focused attention. Compare Ihde (2007): attention on the speaking voice
New questions: Tone bending? On what tones does he linger? Light and darkness?
LCB: A treasure from the past. Crackling noise, the sound of an old recording.
The good old days, cosiness: Lean back and relax.
Piano clear in the intro, then it recedes into the background, like playing in a cardboard box
Saxophone: Retro sound, steady drive, ”mannered” vibrato – can’t he skip it at least once?
Improvisation in defined sections according to fixed chord progressions. Subdued accompaniment.
3rd-5th listening: Listen for form (two choruses) foc
Intro AABA AABA, 8-bar periods. Is the last section different from the first A sections?
(EC: I don’t think so)
EC’s reflection: 3rd listening: I can also hear the ”retro” character of the improvisation. We face
the problem of divergent interpretations. EC hears the music as an expressive love song. LCB
hears the music as outdated, on the verge of provoking laughter.
EC decides: To avoid embarassing disagreements, we will postpone questions
which invite interpretation, and stick to ”technical” focusing questions for some time.
6th listening: What happens in the background? foc
Bass plays on 1 and 3, provides harmonic reference points. Skips: fourths, fiths, sixths, few
connecting tones. Piano in the middle between bass and percussion, plays on all 4 beats.
7th listening: Percussion? foc
Percussion plays on all 4 beats, accentuates 2 and 4, the sound is ”stopped”
Appendix 2.04 Experimental listening Hawkins
nancy kaufman
(Nancy Kaufman)
#1