University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

GUITARIST JOHN SCOFIELD’S IMPROVISATIONAL CONCEPTS IN SELECTED PIANO LESS QUARTETS

Burns, Timothy William

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Description

Title
GUITARIST JOHN SCOFIELD’S IMPROVISATIONAL CONCEPTS IN SELECTED PIANO LESS QUARTETS
Author(s)
Burns, Timothy William
Issue Date
2016
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Associate Professor Lawrence Gray
Committee Member(s)
  • Professor Jeffrey Magee
  • Professor Charles McNeill
  • Professor Heinrich Taube
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)
  • John
  • Scofield
  • guitar
  • music
  • improvisation
  • jazz
Language
en
Abstract
John Scofield has created a very distinctive guitar sound and style over a long and impressive recording career spanning 40 years. He has played and recorded with many legendary musicians throughout this time. He has been both sideman and leader on recordings encompassing a wide variety of styles and instrumentation including periods with both Miles Davis and Joe Henderson’s bands. His improvisational style bridges the period between early pioneers of guitar from the 1940’s & 50’s based in Swing and Bebop, and more modern approaches which incorporate elements of modality, advanced harmonies and rock/pop musical influences. To date, little scholarly research has been done on Scofield. This thesis will explore and analyze the improvisational style of John Scofield in the context of a piano-less quartet. It will focus on his playing with three different piano-less quartets comprised of; guitar, saxophone, bass, and drums. This instrumentation puts the guitar in the dual performance role of soloist and main harmonic accompanist. This is a significant variance from the 1920’s - 60’s more common reliance on the piano as primary harmonic instrument in the ensemble.
Type of Resource
text
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90986

Owning Collections

Doctoral Project Theses [Option 2] - Music PRIMARY