Wednesday, October 30, 2013

24.) I Like You October 28, 2013


I found myself once again listening to Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, and Warne Marsh last weekend.  I love the strangeness of the lines they wrote.  So I thought why not try to use one of Messiaen's modes to compose a line over a standard progression.  I chose mode three and the progression of I Love You by Cole Porter.  I'm sure Cole Porter is rolling in his grave; I heard he hated jazz, and I'd guess he wouldn't appreciate the Messiaen forced upon his progression either.   I suppose I'm using the slightly altered jazz musician changes to boot.  Mode three has plenty of half steps which I thought could assist me in this endeavor, and it actually nicely accommodates F major and A major tonalities, which happen to be the two key centers of I Love You.

This was a nice departure from the other ways I've been using Messiaen's ideas.  I enjoyed it, and I may do another.  It's actually somewhat difficult to write in this style, trying to use strange phrasing.  The conventions of bebop keep pulling one back into the proverbial line.   Please pardon me if my playing is a little rough around the edges.

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