1.1. Phrasing and Interplay

What is phrasing? The term phrasing was created to verbalize the procedure of creating a phrase. This is described as “the smallest structural unit, consisting of a number of integrated musical events,…” according to Arnold Schoenberg’s detailed definition in his book “Fundamentals of Musical Composition”. By "jazz phrasing" we mean the rhythmical displacement of the melodic phrase within the bars, the rhythmical variations in interpreting a theme or the way we articulate and phrase our musical ideas on improvisation. Phrasing is an element of music that jazz musicians use in order to create opportunities for various rhythmical approaches in interpreting a theme and in improvising on the form of a piece. It has been used in a jazz musician’s everyday practice and it is of key importance to the actual identity and recognition of being a jazz musician.

The jazz vocalist also uses phrasing in order to create rhythmical variations when singing the lyrics or the melody (theme) of a song and to build interesting rhythmical lines while improvising. On the other hand, as jazz music is constantly evolving, I have been noticing that interplay; the instant elaboration of musical ideas that are being exchanged on the spot among the members of a band is constantly increasing. It has evolved into a form of musical conversation between the instruments. When playing jazz, one should be constantly alert and ready to interact (less or more), always in relation to and respecting the musical context. Even though jazz musicians follow a certain “form” when they play a jazz standard, they are free to “comment” or accompany as they judge appropriate (within the boundaries of that particular form), in order to bring out the most interesting “course of events” that their musicality and taste can offer into the music at a particular point.

Taking into consideration that the singer has to cope with lyrics while interpreting the theme of a song, rhythmical phrasing is somehow limited in relation to how much can words and sentences be displaced within the bars; either stretched out or tightened, loosened up or syncopated, back-phrased or anticipated. When a horn, for example, is playing the theme, the notes of the melody can be displaced and interpreted with more freedom than when lyrics are involved. The singer must always keep in mind that lyrics should be phrased in such a way that words will deliver the story efficiently and this story must be perceived by the audience effortlessly. From my personal experience, I have noticed that singers tend to "stick" to a certain way that they are singing the theme. If they need to sing a particular song in a fast tempo (whereas they were used to doing it in a “medium swing” time feel) then they will probably feel uncomfortable. How then lyrics find their way into the most natural interpretation, becomes a big issue.

On the other hand, during improvisation, the singer tends to lock on the form of the piece and sometimes very “close to” its rhythmic and melodic structure, because of the fear of losing the sense of it, if the soloing phrases become more advanced rhythmically. When it comes to scat singing, due to the additional fact that singers only use their ears to navigate through the harmony, everything becomes a bit riskier. So it’s more likely to feel threatened when deciding to take more risks and experiment offering more advanced rhythmical ideas. Instrumentalists tend to get very adventurous, “messing up” with the rhythmic values or stretching the harmonic boundaries of a piece, responding to the ideas that are exchanged on the spot. I desire to be a more active participant in this creative interplay both during my improvisation and also while I’m singing the theme. I would like to offer new and interesting musical suggestions instantly and at the same time be capable of perceiving and elaborating the ones that are being offered by the other musicians of the jazz combo. 

During this research, I want to investigate in what way can the elements of phrasing become the means of being an adventurous player in the musical game of interplay, in which I will not feel inhibited to take risks and be more creative. Moreover, I believe that deepening into phrasing would be beneficial for all musicians, who are interested in finding ways to develop their ability to differentiate the way of interpreting a theme or enrich the articulation of their rhythmical ideas and phrases in improvisation. Such a quest would increase creativity and bring out originality in one’s playing the theme or improvising on the form of a piece. The idea of phrasing can be liberating and can create immense possibilities for the musician that wants to go deeper into exploring interpretation rather than just delivering the most predictable prefixed phrases over the tune's harmonic progression. In addition to that, practicing interplay or in other words, becoming more attentive and elaborate on what’s been “served” on the spot during the course of playing can only be beneficial. Such a procedure forces each musician to get out of “their own world” or comfort zone and listen to what their fellow musicians are contributing on the specific moment.

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1. Introduction

1.2. Motivation

I first encountered the term phrasing when I began studying jazz in 2001 back in my hometown Athens. My first teacher in jazz music, the saxophone player Sylvios Syrros, introduced me to the value of the phrase as a unique musical gem that needs to be cared for. So from that moment on, I began and I still try to think “in phrases” when I improvise.

There are many ways that a musician enters the world of jazz improvisation. Listening to the masters, transcribing solos, picking up the “language” and practicing timing, groove, harmonic progressions etc., are all basic steps to becoming further acquainted with jazz. In my opinion, thinking “phrase-wise” can lead one step further. Later I realized the great importance of listening closely to one another while I was playing in a jazz group. Back in 2007, I listened to Wayne Shorter’s “Beyond the sound barrier” album and even though it seemed pretty incomprehensible to my ears, I was fascinated by the nature of that conceptual musical conversation that was involved between the musicians. Especially after I watched the Wayne Shorter Quartet (with Danilo Perez on piano, John Patitucci on bass and Brian Blade on drums) performing live, the term interplay really hooked me. After having that musical experience, I understood that there are many “layers” and levels of interaction and that I needed to start investigating and analyzing this creative process step by step.

So I’m making a logical assumption: Since phrasing means creating, articulating musical sentences and interplay means the conversation and exchange of musical ideas among the members of the band, therefore if I manage to develop my phrase building skills and phrasing techniques, I will consequently be a more competent participant in the give-and-take game of interplay.

My “journey” thus begins from the first molecular element of the word phrasing. The “phrase” plays a fundamental role in the construction of a musical composition. Moreover, jazz improvisation is widely considered to be a form of instant composing; consequently, creating phrases is an undisputed process in building up an improvisational statement (a solo) in jazz. From my experience of practicing, I have noticed that the basic elements of a phrase are its length, its direction, its rhythmical character and its articulation. The same melodic phrase can be articulated in so many different ways rhythmically, that it offers the player immense possibilities of alterations and variety. This finding opens new pathways towards exploring one’s imagination and creativity. This is confirmed by Paul Berliner in his book “Thinking in Jazz”: 

Phrase length and range can themselves serve as models for evolving ideas. Lonnie Hillyer illustrates this by improvising pairs of short call and response patterns that alternate between the trumpet's upper and lower registers. "One approach is for me to think of myself as being two players. See, the upper player was one guy and the lower player was another guy. I was telling the story as if there was a dialogue going on between the two players.” (p.195)

This approach of telling a story as if there was a dialogue occurring between two players gives the idea of turning that into an exercise for practicing those “call and response” phrases. This can also find applications in developing the skill of creating stimulating responses, which we can provide on the spot when we participate in the band’s interplay.

Through a narrative story in his book “The music lesson”, Jazz bassist Viktor Wooten is suggesting that playing just a bunch of notes doesn’t mean that a good phrase is created. The musician needs to think of the feel, the shape and the purpose of the phrase so that it can really be a good one. He also introduces the element of space by saying that in order to give a phrase its “full Life” musicians need to also play the rests rather than neglect them, proceeding to the next phrase immediately.

Berliner also places a quote by Lee Konitz where he refers to rhythmic phrasing as one of the elements that musicians use, to achieve a fresh interpretation of a melody:

They vary such subtleties as accentuation, vibrato, dynamics, rhythmic phrasing, and articulation or tonguing, "striving to interpret the melody freshly, as if performing it for the first time" (LK). (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.67)

Another example of the importance of phrasing, perceived as a way to create well-articulated musical sentences, is also provided in “Thinking in Jazz:

…Miles Davis once advised Tommy Turrentine that players could "play simple and sound good; if they understood how to "phrase." Turrentine elaborates, explaining that "improvising "linear or melodic" ideas is like writing a sentence. The commas, the periods, and the exclamation points have to be very pronounced." (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.157)

Max Roach is referring to the importance of each one of the phrases a musician plays and how these phrases relate to each other and create coherence and flow in one's improvisation (solo):

After you initiate the solo, one phrase determines what the next is going to be. From the first note that you hear, you are responding to what you've just played: you just said this on your instrument, and now that’s a constant. What follows from that? And then the next phrase is a constant. What follows from that? And so on and so forth. And finally, let’s wrap it up so that everybody understands that that’s what you're doing. It’s like language: you're talking, you're speaking, you're responding to yourself. When I play, it’s like having a conversation with myself. (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.192)

Thinking about musical phrases as “musical statements” is also being suggested by Eric O'Donnell in his article at Jazz Advice; an online journal about jazz. (jazzadvice.com):

Great musical phrasing is like a conversation. Make a statement and then follow that up with an answer. It’s logical and makes sense and you can follow the development of the story. Your statement could have a rhythmic motif, or a set of intervals, or even a small piece of language that you’ve transcribed. Whatever it is, the phrase should begin with something you’re hearing.

A very important element of music that takes part in phrasing and contributes greatly to the interplay is the term space. Through using rests the soloist separates the musical phrases thus giving them substance so that they are clearly perceived. Rests also create a sort of anticipation to the listener. The term space is introduced by Berliner:

Equally important is musical space, accomplished through the use of substantive rests, the unvoiced rhythmic trailers whose irregular time spans offset those of the phrases that precede and follow them. In effect, rests introduce soft accents into the solo line as its sound subsides and the rhythm section temporarily moves to the foreground of the music. Suspended over the passing beats, a rest also invites listeners to reflect upon the soloist's most recent figure, challenging them to anticipate the entrances of subsequent figures. Musicians commonly cite Miles Davis as an inspired model for the effective use of space, which increases the potency of his phrases and heightens their dramatic quality. (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.157)

On the other hand, interplay is always present in a jazz group, either noticeable or subtle. Regarding this fact, Robert Hodson writes in his book “Interaction, Improvisation, and Interplay in Jazz”:

Even though ­standard jazz performance practice assigns certain musical roles to each member of the rhythm section (the drummer plays rhythmic ­patterns, the ­bassist “walks” a quarter-note line that defines the harmonic progression, and the pianist plays syncopated chords, or “comps”), the way that the members choose to fulfill these roles is flexible and often spontaneously negotiated in performance. In other words, all of the members of the ensemble are improvising simultaneously; the ­improvised ­saxophone melody is supported by the rhythm section’s equally ­improvised accompaniment. (p.7)

Hudson also compares jazz music to a musical texture, a fabric that is being woven by all musicians on the spot, regardless of their basic role in the band:

When one listens to jazz, one almost never hears a single improvised line, but rather a texture, a musical fabric woven by several musicians in real time. While it is often pragmatic to single out an individual solo line, it is important at all times to remember that an improvised solo is but one thread in that fabric, and it is a thread supported by, responded to, and responsive of the parts being played by the other musicians in the group. (Interaction, Improvisation and Interplay in Jazz, 2007, p.1)

Regarding the interplay, Ingrid Monson in her book “Saying something – Jazz improvisation and interaction” offers a quote from interviewing Ralph Peterson, where he refers to the musical conversation as a result of an interchangeable, collective process among the musicians:

But you see what happens is, a lot of times when you get into a musical conversation one person in the group will state an idea or the beginning of an idea and another person will complete the idea or their interpretation of the same idea, how they hear it. So the conversation happens in fragments and comes from different parts, different voices. (Peterson 1989b). (p.78)

Ingrid Monson also cites Herbie Hancock, as he speaks about his experience with Miles Davis Quintet, regarding their freedom within the musical conversation:

Herbie Hancock put it this way when talking about his experience with the Miles Davis Quintet in the early 1960s:

We were sort of walking a tightrope with the kind of experimenting that we were doing in music. Not total experimentation ... we used to call it "controlled freedom" ... just like conversation-same thing. I mean, how many times have you talked to somebody and ... you got ready to say, make a point, and then you kind of went off in another direction, but maybe you never wound up making that point but the conversation, you know, just went somewhere else and it was fine. There's nothing wrong with it. Maybe you like where you went. Well, this is the way we were dealing with music. (Obenhaus 1986). (Saying something - Jazz improvisation and interaction, 1996, p.81)

In addition to the conversational characteristics of jazz playing, Monson is referring to the great importance of listening and quickly perceiving what the fellow musicians are "saying" on the spot, in order to have a good and satisfying conversation:

Nearly every musician who talked to me mentioned the importance of listening, in good ensemble playing. Listening in an active sense, being able to respond to musical opportunities or to correct mistakes is implicit in the way that musicians use this term. It is a type of listening much like that required of participants in a conversation, who have to pay attention to what is transpiring if they expect to say things that make sense to the other participants. Listening affects what musicians decide to play at a particular moment, which is why Cecil McBee was so sure that in good jazz performance, "you're not going to play what you practised... Something else is going to happen" (McBee 1990). This spontaneity is absolutely central in the jazz improvisational aesthetic. To say that a player "doesn't listen" or sounds as though he or she is playing "something he or she practised" is a grave insult. (Saying something - Jazz improvisation and interaction, 1996, p.84)

One more factor that affects the quality and level of interaction is pointed out by Berliner: "In groups that perform together frequently, players sometimes develop a core of common patterns that they periodically reintroduce in performances to stimulate interplay." (p.364)

He also offers a quote by Curtis Fuller at this point, to emphasize the idea that groups that are kept together for years, develop a more advanced level of interplay:

In Miles Davis's band, 'Philly' Joe even learned to play little things to set Miles up for his phrases. He'd play things before and after Miles's figures. Little things like that let you know the drummer is listening. (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.364)

Berliner continues, suggesting that: "Group members can eventually develop musical signs that reveal one another's intentions." (p.365)

He offers a vivid example to reinforce the above:

In Miles Davis's quintet with Tony Williams, a dramatic leap to the trumpet's high register on a downbeat was often a signal for the group to switch from a floating rhythmic feeling or a two-beat feeling to a precise four-beat, swing feeling. (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.366)

Regarding the quality of interplay among the musicians of a band, he states that: "Rewarding interplay depends in the first place upon the improviser's keen aural skills and ability to grasp instantly the other's musical ideas." (p.362) He concludes his  argument by saying that:

Within their heightened state of empathy, improvisers not only respond supportively to their cohorts, they also stimulate one another's conception of new ideas that grow directly out of the group's unique conversational interplay. Jazz musicians interact and learn from one another as they perform. That's what jazz is. (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.390)

Apart from the above, there has been no previous research connecting the two terms and exploring how phrasing can lead the way in order to develop interplay. Nor has been prior reference regarding how singers can use phrasing in order to become more elaborate, adventurous and thus participate more in the group’s musical interaction.

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1.3. Research questions

How can phrasing be the tool of the jazz vocalist, in order to stimulate interplay within the band, while singing the theme or improvising?

What are the elements of phrasing that the vocalist needs to develop, in order to participate in the process of exchanging musical ideas on the spot?

1.4. Method

Analyzing: Using video material from live performances and doing transcription, I analyzed the phrasing of jazz singers of the past (Carmen Mc Rae, Betty Carter) and of today (Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves). I investigated the types of phrasing they use and the amount of interplay they create when singing the theme of the song or improvising. I chose these singers because they all have contributed their unique phrasing, scatting style and sound identity to jazz singing. I also analyzed (using video material and transcription) a small soloing excerpt of Miles Davis Quintet (with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams) from their live performance in Germany in 1967, in order to observe the way this group uses their phrasing material, to increase the interplay among them.

Interviewing: I interviewed three of the most prominent and experienced jazzmen and educators of today's jazz in Europe and USA; drummer Eric Ineke, saxophonist David Liebman and bassist Hein van de Geyn. They spoke about their own definitions of the word phrasing and their views on interplay, among their personal stories, philosophy, wisdom and experiences.

Forming exercises: I collected ideas and enhanced certain exercises in order to practice how to become more creative with phrasing and thus more elaborate in stimulating and responding to the band's interplay.

Experimenting: I formed several ensembles myself, playing with different musicians and making recordings of our sessions, in order to find out, in what way can a more adventurous rhythmical phrasing (in the theme and the vocal solo) stimulate interplay and influence the musical conversation. I also analyzed older recordings and videos of mine, to evaluate to what extent I was using my phrasing skills in order to engage myself in a more elaborate interaction with the band.

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1.5. Literature review

Before beginning to deepen into this Artistic Research and while I was reviewing books from the jazz literature, I came across some terms that describe some basic ways of participating in the interplay. I place these particular fragments from Paul Berliner’s “Thinking in Jazz” here, as I believe that this categorization will be essential for a better understanding of the analysis of the jazz masters and of my own recordings that follow later in the documentation of the actual research process.

Ways to participate in the interplay:

Imitative interplay

A very common way to demonstrate a basic level of interplay is by imitating phrases. For instance, when a soloist plays/sings a very distinctive phrase (rhythmically or melodically), it is very common for one other member of the group to grasp it and repeat it, imitate it. That's a simple way of showing that they're listening closely to each other and it is also stated by Berliner here:

Moreover, within the reciprocal relationships between soloists and supporting players, interesting ideas that originate in any part can influence others, leading to various kinds of imitative interplay. Lonnie Hillyer "plays well" with Leroy Williams because he can "draw from him." Hearing Williams play a tasteful rhythmic pattern in his drum accompaniment, Hillyer might play it back to him. (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.358)

Contrapuntal interplay

Berliner introduces the term contrapuntal in this example he cited from interviewing bassist Chuck Israels:

In addition to imitative interplay, soloist and bass player interact through regulating contrapuntal features of their parts. Chuck Israels generally appreciates a bassist's "contrary or oblique motion" in relation to a solo line, but acknowledges musical situations in which "sudden parallel motion becomes the very best thing to do." (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.361)

Accenting interplay

In the accenting interplay, the soloist's phrases are being accented by the rhythm section. In order for this to happen, it is essential that the group is aware of the "language" of the soloist and this means that it is probably a group that is kept together for a long time. Berliner refers to a quote by Ronald Shannon Jackson:

The role of the drum in Betty Carter's group was not just a timekeeping device. It was to accent what she was singing. She scatted and phrased the words of the songs with such finesse and style, with such rhythmic pull, that it was like the drum and her voice were one thing. Betty was very rhythmic, and she loved to play with the drummer with her voice. She used scat syllables to sing the same type of things I could play with my left hand on the drums. She'd sing along with what I was playing or improvise on top of it, and that would be like magic for the audience. (Thinking in Jazz, 2014, p.358)

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