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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122993
Description
Title
1959: One year, two albums, jazz diversity
Author(s)
Nuccio, David
Issue Date
2024
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Stephens, John
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
McNeill, Charles
Committee Member(s)
Silvers, Michael
Carrillo, Carlos
Department of Study
School of Music
Discipline
Music
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
A.Mus.D. (doctoral)
Keyword(s)
Dave Brubeck
Charles Mingus
Mingus Ah Um
Time Out
Cool Jazz
Hard Bop
Jazz 1959
Odd-Meter Jazz
Language
eng
Abstract
A review of jazz record albums released in 1959 will indicate innovative contributions to jazz music which were being cultivated throughout the decade. Kind of Blue (Miles Davis), Time Out (The Dave Brubeck Quartet), Mingus Ah Um (Charles Mingus), The Shape of Jazz to Come (Ornette Coleman), and Giant Steps (John Coltrane) comprise a short list of significant jazz albums released in 1959. This thesis will focus on two albums: Time Out, (The Dave Brubeck Quartet), and Mingus Ah Um, (Charles Mingus), both released in 1959. What inspired the creation of these albums? Time Out emphasized odd meters and references of polytonality. Mingus Ah Um revealed an emotional Charles Mingus and a retrospective of his musical life. If Time Out was perceived as music from the brain, Mingus Ah Um may be interpreted as music from the soul. Both artists chose individual paths to create these albums as influenced by their musical backgrounds and life experiences. I will discuss the diversity of these contrasting styles of jazz coexisting in a single musical genre and era simultaneously. This was a first for jazz because early New Orleans Jazz, swing, and bebop were singularly dominant during their stylistic eras. The creative inspiration for Time Out and Mingus Ah Um was a potent desire for change,
for something new. Mingus Ah Um was released in October of 1959, Time Out was released in December of 1959, both on Columbia Records, and produced by the legendary Teo Macero. My purpose is to reveal how jazz was progressing toward new musical and artistic
concepts through the lens of these two albums. I do not intend to devote this thesis to a comparison or contrast between Time Out and Mingus Ah Um, although it will be unavoidable to some degree. My intention is to address the diversity of jazz during this era.
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