Talk:Kind of Blue/GA1

GA Reassessment
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A. George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept really has nothing to do with harmony used in jazz. B. His concept was that the IV chord was the 'real' tonic, not that songs could be based on modes. C. Modal music goes back to the middle ages and predated chords. D. Most of the tunes on 'Kind of Blue' are not modal. E. 'So What' the major modal tune was most likely derived from a light classical piece call Pavanne which was covered by Ahmad Jahmal a few years earlier.

From HalGalper.com

"Davis's infatuation with Jamal may have even been the catalyst for jazz's modal revolution. On October 25, 1955, Jamal recorded an arrangement of Morton Gould's "Pavanne" (available on the 1989 CBS/Portrait reissue Poinciana). In the middle of the arrangement is a brief interlude in which Jamal plays a D minor 7 vamp, then modulates the vamp up to E-flat minor 7. The vamp bears a striking similarity to Davis's "So What," which uses that same progression. Jamal's "Pavanne" predates "So What" by three and a half years.

Plus, as Jamal vamps, Crawford plays a melody that is note for note the same as John Coltrane's on "Impressions." Crawford's melody predates "Impressions" by six years.

Considered one of the most revolutionary pieces in jazz history, "So What," which appeared on Davis's 1959 landmark album Kind of Blue (which itself featured Coltrane), popularized the concept of modal jazz, in which songs and improvisations are based on modes/scales instead of chord changes. This concept would be thoroughly embraced by Coltrane and other pioneers of the '60s.

While there is a difference between Jamal's interlude and the melody of "So What," it's probable Davis pulled the concept for "So What," consciously or subconsciously, from Jamal's "Pavanne." "Impressions," another jazz standard and important modal tune, is a different story. While the accepted history is that Coltrane created "Impressions" as an extension of "So What," the tale sounds suspect when you compare Coltrane's melody to Crawford's interlude