Cannonball 🎷 blends bebop with modes over Flamenco Sketches 💃🏼

Reader,

Flamenco Sketches is the final track on Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. The tune is without a pre-defined form. Instead, the musicians agreed on a sequence of 5 modes. These selected modes were not prescribed rhythmic changes, instead the current soloist would cue the change to the rest while playing.

The modes were: C ionian, Ab mixolydian, Bb ionian, D phrygian, and G dorian. The D phrygian scale, is traditionally used in in Spanish flamenco music, hence the name.

Today's 2-5-1

I share 2 transcribed phrases, 5 ideas observed from 1 featured jazz recording.

Here are my observations about Cannonball's legendary performance:

1. Modal exploration: Kind of Blue in whole is an iconic album exploring modal harmony. Cannonball’s solo explores all 5 of the selected modes. These two selected lines are a couple of my favorites, from the C Ionian, and D Phrygian (”flamenco”) changes.
2. Bebop inspiration: Unlike the others soloing on this tune, Cannonball stands out by blending bebop ideas as he blows over the modes. Listen to his solo vs. Coltrane before him to hear the stylistic difference.
3. Phrasing and space: Cannonball’s flows freely rhythmically over the changes. Rhythmically, it was difficult to accurately transcribe. Rather than try to read these rhythms, listen to it a few times and try to sing along. Pay close attention to the amount of “space” in between the phrases.
4. Dynamics and articulation: Listen to all of the solo’s in this recording. Each of them has such incredible musicality and mastery of their instrument to control dynamics and articulation so perfectly.
5. Restraint: Cannonball has all the skills necessary to play complex, fast lines. But he exercises restraint here as to not distract from the melodic phrases or ruin what the kids today would call his “chill vibe.”

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