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The Afrological Soul of Jazz Organ


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Hi all,

 

I'm going to make my PhD thesis on Jazz Organ Improvisation available to forum members. This is the world's first practice-based PhD (or otherwise) into Jazz Organ.

 

I was thinking about publishing it, but that seems like a long shot at this stage and I'd have to rewrite/expand it significantly regardless. Until then, people may as well benefit from it where they can, instead of it being only available to academics and uni students with database access.

 

I did get a short article published in DownBeat that contained a rewritten snippet of my research.

 

I have deliberately written this in a style that is as free from the usual verbiage that academics are guilty of, so don't let the academic nature of my thesis put you off.

 

All you have to do is either PM me or preferably email me via my website.

I don't want to post dropbox links directly here. Don't worry I won't spam you or ask for money. Nup.

 

It's available in two formats as an e-book (preferable) and as a PDF. The e-book is a large file due to all the audio and video it contains, but is worth the download time. You will need Apple iBooks or Adobe Digital Editions to open it. Works well on iPad.

 

 

Abstract

 

This research offers a practitioners perspective of jazz performance on the Hammond organ in the areas of history, cultural location, improvisational vocabularies & performance paradigms. George E. Lewis Afrological/Eurological ideology provides a framework for understanding the function of the organ in African-American society and its relevance to the chitlin circuit. Afrological values are defined, supported by interviews with Lou Donaldson, Ben Dixon, Larry Goldings, Caesar Frazier, Nate Lucas, Radam Schwartz, Don Williams, Michael Cuscuna, Bruce Forman and Bill Heid. Beginning with the progenitors of jazz organ, analysis of detailed original transcriptions document early performance styles on the Hammond organ, revealing an inherent link to big-band arrangements and sonorities. These provide stark contrast to the paradigm shift caused by Jimmy Smiths application of hard bop and rhythm n blues styles to the organ in the mid-1950s, which creates a new musical movement within African-American culture. As the central character in this research, Smiths improvisational vocabulary is codified, exposing unique rhythmic features such as Smithtuplets, melodic features including succedent blues grace notes, and sonic considerations inherent in the Hammond organ such as harmonic foldback. Further supported by interviews with organists Dr. Lonnie Smith, Wil Blades, Mike Flanigin and Jay Denson, Smiths new performance paradigm is described in terms of groove and creative co-ordination, dispelling some myths regarding the use of bass pedals. Finally, using Afrological values as a guiding principle, Smiths vocabulary and performance paradigm is converted into a personal pedagogy. This pedagogy is documented using performance videos and transcribed examples, and is further supported by recordings of new original compositions and jazz standards in organ/guitar/drums format.

www.dazzjazz.com

PhD in Jazz Organ Improvisation.

BMus (Hons) Jazz Piano.

my YouTube is Jazz Organ Bites

1961 A100.Leslie 45 & 122. MAG P-2 Organ. Kawai K300J. Yamaha CP4. Moog Matriarch. KIWI-8P.

 

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Darren

 

In your Abstact paragraph, are you referring to Mike Flanigan or Mike Finnegan?

 

I might have to PM you about some of the other observations that I got from reading this paragraph.

 

I have lived and worked among several of the players and people you are mentioning, and I would be curious to hear a candid impression of this portion of your PhD thesis from some of them.

 

Especially the Afrological persons themselves.

 

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On another note...

 

I did have several encounters with Jimmy Smith during the course of my life. I also had quite a few chances to observe his ( sometimes) erratic behavior.

 

His longtime drummer Frank Wilson was a person that I would consider to be a friend.

 

We both spent a year in the Los Angeles City College big band.

 

Frank and myself split the duties in the drum chair in that band, and when Frank played drums I played vibes.

 

Anyway one night Frank invited me to come to hear him play with Jimmy Smith.

 

I was surpised that there were actually relatively few paying customers in the room that night. Late in the evening, it was so slow that Frank mentioned that he would ask Jimmy if he would let me sit in.

 

So, Jimmy came over to see who I was . He definitely had some attitude regarding sizing me up. He asked several questions to see if I was qualified.

 

In the end I did not play.

 

My assessment was this. I would never call Jimmy a racist - however - it seemed to me that he did have issues with white people of some sort.

 

I think the situation would have been different if I was not white.

 

My impression only.

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Yeah, he was more bitter than sweet, for sure.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Hi LX,

 

I interviewed Mike Flanagan from Texas.

 

For the record, George Lewis is African-American, and Afrological/Eurological concepts are his ideas.

www.dazzjazz.com

PhD in Jazz Organ Improvisation.

BMus (Hons) Jazz Piano.

my YouTube is Jazz Organ Bites

1961 A100.Leslie 45 & 122. MAG P-2 Organ. Kawai K300J. Yamaha CP4. Moog Matriarch. KIWI-8P.

 

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My assessment was this. I would never call Jimmy a racist - however - it seemed to me that he did have issues with white people of some sort.
I seem to recall either an interview with Keith Emerson, or an excerpt from his autobiography, in which he went to see Jimmy Smith play one evening. Emo and perhaps his driver were the only two white people in the club, and Smith pointed them out, said something to the effect of "and now, some music for the white folks" and played something totally insipid like "Tea for Two". Emerson, quite embarrassed, said the only thing a civilized man could say: "Waiter? Check please!"

 

 

-Tom Williams

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PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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...and yet, Tony Monaco and Joey D., both of whom knew him well, seemed to hold him in the highest regard. I didn't know Jimmy Smith but I did know Jack McDuff, Groove Holmes, Johnny 'Hammond' Smith, Don Patterson, et al, from working the old (Black club) Atlantic City circuit back in the day. We talked about Jimmy, who came through once a summer, but I don't remember any talk about him being racist. But maybe it just never came up. ???
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I recieved this thesis from Darren a while ago, take him up on his offer if you haven't already! Good stuff!

 

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Happy to, Darren. My memory is a little shaky as that was quite a long time ago (during my lost years). I was fresh out of the military and either teaching HS or attending grad school so I was only their during the summer months (but that's when all the action was). I'm trying to remember all the clubs back then like Gracie's Little Belmont (Wild Bill Davis used to hold court there - but his style of organ playing was fast going out of style), Club Harlem, and a few others that I'm now trying to recall. On the other side of the tracks (Pacific Ave.) were the White clubs like the 500 Club (Sinatra territory) and the clubs were absolutely segregated at the time. I remember Grover Washington, Jr. coming in (as a teenager) and being introduced to the guys by a local organ player named Que-Que (pronounced 'kay-kay'). Then there was my good friend John 'Chops' Turner who was head of the music dept. at some southern Black college and the only one of us that was 'classically trained'. He had a sustain unit on his pedals and was the only one of us that played pedals (on EVERYTHING). I also remember being in a local eatery and sitting in a booth alone (with a plate of soul food) was a young Aretha Franklin. She was likely working one of the White clubs but eating (and probably staying) over in 'our' part of town. Those were the days. I also remember Jack McDuff getting beat up by the cops, however in HIS version, HE beat up the cops :). The most admired player (for his playing skills) at the time was Johnny 'Hammond' Smith, but aside from Don Patterson, was most heavily involved in drugs.

 

Like I said, it was a long time ago and I tend to only remember 'events' rather than a steady stream of consciousness, but if I can help, I'd be happy to. PM me.

Legend Exp,NC2x,Crumar Seven,KeyB Duo MK111,Nord C1,Nord C2D,Triton Classic,Fantom G7,Motif ES,SonicCell,BK7m,PA1x pro,VP770,TC Helicon,Leslie 3300,MS Pro145,EV SXA250(2),Traynor K4,PK7a,A70,DM10 Pro.
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Very interesting, Darren. And congratulations on your thesis.

 

Will the audio work in the PDF format?

 

Edit: I don't have an iPad. I do have an iPhone, so I'm doubting what would be the best format?

Rudy

 

 

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I'm really looking forward to spending time to read this. I've been waiting for this for a while, pretty much since I knew Darren was working on it. I hope to come back to this thread and hopefully a few of us can discuss it once we've read it. :thu:

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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My assessment was this. I would never call Jimmy a racist - however - it seemed to me that he did have issues with white people of some sort.
I seem to recall either an interview with Keith Emerson, or an excerpt from his autobiography, in which he went to see Jimmy Smith play one evening. Emo and perhaps his driver were the only two white people in the club, and Smith pointed them out, said something to the effect of "and now, some music for the white folks" and played something totally insipid like "Tea for Two". Emerson, quite embarrassed, said the only thing a civilized man could say: "Waiter? Check please!"

 

 

It is my understanding that Mr. Smith was something of a curmudgeon in general. His statement and song choice were probably intended as humor for the rest of the audience and maybe a little stereotypical of what that audience may think of white people's taste in music as being less "hip" than theirs and Mr. Emerson would probably have been better served to have applauded the song and asked a waiter to bring Mr. Smith a drink.

 

I saw Mr. Smith along with Jimmy McGriff and a local organist whose name escapes me now some years ago. Mr. Smith did not seem happy to be there, made a few comments about the audience's reactions and other things and walked off stage a couple of times. The general consensus of the people sitting near me was that was just Jimmy being Jimmy.

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I cant stop reading and studying this thesis, its really great!. Thank you for doing such a great job!

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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My Jimmy Smith story -

 

I wasn't there to see him live, but was down the road 30 miles listening to a live radio broadcast when he came to Des Moines.

 

Jimmy was being interviewed by the mayor on the air, and all he was interested in was hitting on the mayor's wife and talking about how fine she was. :D

Moe

---

 

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I have received my copy of your thesis, and it is a weighty tome. It's impressive that it contains audio examples of the various concepts, and this will provide an immense amount of information. Thanks for giving me something to do for the next ten years.

Yamaha P-515, Hammond SK1, Casio PX5s, Motif ES rack, Kawai MP5, Kawai ESS110, Yamaha S03, iPad, and a bunch of stuff in the closet.

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E-mail definitely sent.

 

Congratulations to Darren there's a lot of hoops to do administratively for the doctorate, so it makes me happy one of the "good guys" made it and, I cross fingers hope, helps make more good research possible.

 

Not only that, this is a fun thread. I only saw JOS once, and he was just about like you'd expect a professional playing his thing but I like hearing all the anecdotes.

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Congratulations to Darren

Indeed.

 

I have a good friend doing a PhD at the moment (nothing to do with music) - and anyone who has the brains and tenacity to attempt and then complete such an undertaking deserves massive respect.

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Im a few chapters in, and really digging it! Its very well-written, and I love having the musical examples and transcriptions embeddded in the text. You should consider publishing it as a book, I believe theres nothing really similar on the market.

Turn up the speaker

Hop, flop, squawk

It's a keeper

-Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow

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Thanks! I would love to publish it one day, maybe after I do some more transcribing/analysis.

 

 

Im a few chapters in, and really digging it! Its very well-written, and I love having the musical examples and transcriptions embeddded in the text. You should consider publishing it as a book, I believe theres nothing really similar on the market.

www.dazzjazz.com

PhD in Jazz Organ Improvisation.

BMus (Hons) Jazz Piano.

my YouTube is Jazz Organ Bites

1961 A100.Leslie 45 & 122. MAG P-2 Organ. Kawai K300J. Yamaha CP4. Moog Matriarch. KIWI-8P.

 

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I have received my copy of your thesis, and it is a weighty tome. ... Thanks for giving me something to do for the next ten years.

 

Amen!

 

A lot of ground is covered, in a clear and systematic way, on the history, theory and practice of jazz organ, providing plenty of food for thought (and application!) I found particularly interesting and helpful the distinction between 'Afrological' (personal expression) and 'Eurological' (formal tradition) approaches to jazz, and the section on developing a personal style, drawing on Clark Terry's 3 Steps to Learning Improvisation.

 

'Imitation: can be summarised as "Listening. Learning lines by ear. Transcribing solos. Absorbing a player's feel, articulation, and time."

...

Assimilation: "means ingraining these stylistic nuances, harmonic devices, and lines that you've transcribed into your musical conception."

...

Innovation: The trick is to somehow evolve into who you are. (Caesar Frazier)

Innovation "is the direct result of hours upon hours of imitation and assimilation ...."' (pp. 138-140)

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Totally agree Paul. The 3 steps to improvisation was some of the most musically intuitive insights I've read or heard in years. Immediately jump-started my brain to rethinking my approach.

 

As to the entire thesis, great job by dazzjazz! Admittedly, I had to dust off my MBA a time or two in order to keep up, but a fantastic job throughout.

 

Thanks for the copy and for compiling such an important history for the music so many of us love dearly.

Cloner

Yamaha DX7S, Ensoniq ESQ-1, Yamaha HX-3, Clavinova CLP-300, PSR-740

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