MUS262 Final Presentation:Unconventional Instruments in Jazz

Zachary Stier

April 29, 2019

Examples we’ve seen so far

(a) Charlie Parker (b) Ornette Coleman (c) Don Cherry

Outline

Today, I will discuss the following instruments not often seen injazz, and yet that have exponents who record on them:

I saxophones, both huge and tiny

I the harp

I bagpipes (!)

Saxophones

I sopranissimo/soprillo (B[)

I sopranino (E[)

I soprano (B[)

I alto (E[)

I tenor (B[)

I baritone (E[)

I contrabass (B[)

I subcontrabass (E[)

Saxophones

(a) soprillo (b) subcontrabass

Harp

I Noted performers include Dorothy Ashby (1932–1986) andAlice Coltrane (1937–2007)

I Both learned the harp at Cass Technical High School, Detroit,MI (one of the few HS harp ensembles in the country)

I Contemporary jazz harpists include Brandee Younger (1983–)and Zeena Parkins (1956–)

(a) Dorothy Ashby (b) Alice Coltrane

Alice Coltrane

I Coltrane’s early style featured gospel and traditional Christianelements

I Later, she studied Bud Powell’s brand of bebop

I Her later style, as with her husband’s, was greatly influencedby Indian thought and music

I She took a Sanskrit name, Turiyasangitananda, and entitledmuch of her music in the language

Dorothy Ashby

I Ashby was influenced by her father, a jazz guitarist, but alsoincluded African and Latin styles

I Her most notable album was Afro-Harping, 1968

I She can also be heard on Stevie Wonder’s “If It’s Magic,”1976

I Her approach to the harp–making it sound like a guitar andpiano at once while being its own instrument, was innovative

Bagpipes

I Rufus Harley (1936–2006) started out on saxophone and flute

I First heard bagpipes on JFK’s funeral broadcast, 1963

I Within six months, became a self-taught professional jazzbagpipe player

I First album: Bagpipe Blues, 1965

I Harley continually toured and recorded throughout the rest ofhis life

I Performed with many artists including Sonny Rollins and TheRoots

Harley with Sonny Rollins

Harley’s debut album cover

Textual sources

I Dorothy Ashby: Red Bull Music Academy,https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2018/05/

dorothy-ashby-detroit-harp-pioneer

I Alice Coltrane: Red Bull Music Academy,https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2016/05/

universal-consciousness

I Rufus Harley: Atlas Obscura, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/meet-rufus-harley

Image sourcesI Charlie Parker: Toronto Star, https:

//www.thestar.com/entertainment/2011/07/08/toronto_

pop_chronicles_the_greatest_jazz_concert_ever.html

I Ornette Coleman: The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/11/ornette-coleman

I Don Cherry: Wikipedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Cherry_(trumpeter)

I Soprillo: University of Idaho,https://webpages.uidaho.edu/sax/pictures.html

I Subcontrabass: Wikipedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcontrabass_saxophone

I Dorothy Ashby: Discogs,https://www.discogs.com/artist/91960-Dorothy-Ashby

I Alice Coltrane: YouTube,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUMuDWDVd20

I Rufus Harley and Sonny Rollins: Atlas Obscura, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/meet-rufus-harley

I Bagpipe Blues: Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Bagpipe-Blues-RUFUS-HARLEY/dp/B004WDPXRQ