Modal

Style · theory 1953, practice 1958-1965 · New York · Modern jazz (1940-1970)

The pivot of the diagram. George Russell's theory dates from 1953; Kind of Blue (rec. March 2 and April 22, 1959, released August 17, 1959) engenders three lineages: Davis toward fusion, Coltrane toward the spiritual, Evans toward chamber lyricism.

How to recognize it by ear

• Slow harmony: instead of a new chord every two measures, the soloist improvises on a scale (a mode) that lasts a long time.
• Very few chords: So What spends almost its whole length on two modes, D Dorian and then E-flat Dorian for the middle section.
• Space: often medium or slow tempos, silences, simple melodies.
• A new freedom: without rapid chord changes, the soloist can sing, stretch a phrase, or play in colors.
• An idea that travels: the same principle feeds Coltrane's spiritual jazz, Bill Evans's chamber lyricism and, later, fusion.

Where to start

• So What — Miles Davis (1959, Easy): The track that opens Kind of Blue: a dialogue between bass and piano, then very airy solos.
• Blue in Green — Miles Davis (1959, Classic): The ballad from the same record. Authorship of the theme is contested by Bill Evans.
• Alabama — John Coltrane (1963, Classic): Recorded in November 1963, after the Birmingham church bombing: modal jazz as mourning.
• Acknowledgement (A Love Supreme) — John Coltrane (1965, Classic): The first movement of A Love Supreme, built on a four-note motif.
• In a Silent Way — Miles Davis (1969, Classic): Modal jazz goes electric and opens the way to fusion.

Modal jazz and hard bop

Hard bop strings chords together and relies on the groove of the blues. Modal jazz lets things breathe: fewer chords, more time for each idea. The two styles coexist in the late 1950s, sometimes in the same quintet.

What is still debated

"Blue in Green": Bill Evans disputes the authorship.

Where it comes from

• Cool (Birth of the Cool)
• Hard bop
• Bossa nova, jazz samba

What it gave rise to or influenced

• Spiritual jazz
• Free jazz
• Fusion, jazz-rock, jazz-funk
• Neoclassicism, Young Lions
• ECM and European jazz
• Ethio-jazz
• Nordic jazz
• Polish jazz
• Indo-jazz
• Flamenco jazz
• Turkish and Anatolian jazz

Artists

• Miles Davis (1926–1991, trumpet)
• John Coltrane (1926–1967, tenor and soprano saxophones)
• Bill Evans (1929–1980, piano)
• Herbie Hancock (1940, keyboards)
• Wayne Shorter (1933–2023, tenor and soprano saxophones)
• Krzysztof Komeda (1931–1969, piano, composition)
• Stan Tracey (1926–2013, piano, vibraphone)

Sources

• EN : Modal jazz

Facts checked against these pages (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA). Method and licenses

The editorial sections of this page (how to listen, where to start, landmarks) are written by Jazzency and are being proofread.