University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Unique Contributions of the Drum-less Trios of Nat Cole, Oscar Peterson, and Ahmad Jamal

Turner, George Michael

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Description

Title
The Unique Contributions of the Drum-less Trios of Nat Cole, Oscar Peterson, and Ahmad Jamal
Author(s)
Turner, George Michael
Issue Date
2015-04
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Professor Charles McNeill
Committee Member(s)
  • Gray, Lawrence
  • Lund, Erik
  • Solis, Gabriel
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)
  • Nat
  • Cole
  • Oscar
  • Peterson
  • Ahmad
  • Jamal
Language
en
Abstract
The piano, guitar, bass trio was a well known instrumental combination in jazz in the 1940s and 1950s. The format was first popularized by the Nat “King” Cole Trio. The Nat Cole Trio’s arrangements distilled big band swing vocabulary and classical references into a distinctive chamber-like sound featuring the interlocking voices of the guitar and the piano. The drum-less trio was adapted by many other artists in this period, including pianists Art Tatum, Lennie Tristano, Oscar Peterson, Vince Guaraldi, and Ahmad Jamal, as well as vibraphonist Red Norvo, and guitarists Tal Farlow and Jim Hall. The format has also been revisited in recent years by artists such as bassist Ron Carter, pianist/vocalist Diana Krall, and guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg. Yet virtually no scholarship on the drum-less trio as a format exists. Also, despite the fact that this instrumentation is characterized by a highly arranged style, few transcriptions of these arrangements have been published.
Type of Resource
text
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/75772

Owning Collections

Doctoral Project Theses [Option 2] - Music PRIMARY