Flamenco Sketches

Flamenco Sketches is:

 The fifth and final track of one of jazz’s best-selling albums “Kind of Blue”.
 Written by Miles Davis and pianist Bill Evans (some controversy about that), the
piece is played by Miles’ sextet, with him on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor
saxophone, Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone, Bill Evans on piano, Paul
Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Kind of Blue was one of the first
innovative works with modal jazz, and this song is a wonderful example of this
Subgenre, pushing modality to its limits

Song is hypnotic and meditative. Timeless and soft, yet exciting. Slow Tempo.
Quiet fire, light and less crowded sound which were very similar to Davis’ style of playing.

A- Intro (0:00 to 0:18):

- Call and response :call of bass, piano responds
- Piano and bass draw in the listener into a new world of sound: contemplative, dreamy,
and yet intense.
- Piano sound is spacious, floating, and open
- No modal change
- Piano does a variation

B- Main theme (0:18 to 2:

- Miles Davis takes over with the muted trumpet.
- He starts by playing pure blues on a slow tempo, depicting a meditative, timeless, soft
and yet exciting melody.
- First modal change from the piano at 0:35 into a higher pitch
- This is followed by a high-pitch well sustained note of the trumpet, then a decrease in
pitch and an increase in pitch right after at 0:46, which exacerbates the contemplative
yet intense mood of the trumpeter.
- A second modal change occurs at 0:52 into a higher pitch
- Blues into a hint of flamenco, just a bit oriental at 0:54 highlighting a layer of tragedy in
the bitter sweetness of blues
- Blues again at 1:05 on a very low-pitched and slow tempo, drawing a contrast with
 - The high-pitched notes connoting pure flamenco starting at 1:12, taking a dramatic,
voire tragic turn. This happens right after a third modal change which occurs at 1:10.
- Toward the end of the flamenco section starting from 1:36, the notes get longer and more
pronounced, diving even more in the gloomy and tragic atmosphere, along with a fourth
modal change at 1:45 which is maintained for two measures this time.
- The solo pauses at 1:54 before returning to its fifth scale for two measures.
- Back to original mode at 1:58

C- First solo (Tenor saxophone) (2:02 to )

- John Coltrane start playing mid-range blues on its first scale for four measures. The
sound is not bright (tenor sax), the tempo is slow, depicting a meditative, timeless, soft
and yet exciting atmosphere.
- He starts with an increase in the pitch, highlighting even more the exciting and hypnotic
aspect.
- There is a first modal change at 2:20 into a higher pitch for four measures. Coltrane is
still playing the blues. The high-pitched notes at 2:33 underline the dreamy and relaxed
mood of the trumpeter.
- A second modal change is heard at 2:36, returning to the first scale of this solo for four
measures. Coltrane plays the blues with the same scale as the first section of his tenor
saxophone solo, creating a sense of symmetry with respect to the second section which is
on a higher scale.
- Smooth transition leads the solo in a flamenco dimension starting 2:53. This is not a
modal change since it is a separate style
- This flamenco section depicts a tragic voire dramatic ambiance. In fact, the roots of
flamenco stem from Aleppo (capital of ancient Syria) which was also the route of silk, the
orient express and several cultures and civilizations.
- Tenor saxophone initiates the change (not the piano) at 3:25.
- Back to blues with a hint of bebop

04:19 (scale 2, 4 measures), 04:34 (scale 3 – 4 measures), 05:06 (scale 4), 05:39 (scale 5 – 2.5
measures), 05:50 (pause to switch, still over scale 5 – 1.5 measures)

- The Alto Sax gets to mode 1 at 3:47 for 8 measures, playing the same range (low-to-mid,
still very bright while tenor up-mid and not bright). He is still playing the blues, but
elsewhere. The melody is dreamy, hypnotic and has an energetic vibe at 3:56 with the
changing patterns of high and low pitch notes.
 - A second modal change occurs at 4:19 into a higher pitch for four measures, including a
bit of chromatic lines characterizing BeBop
- A third modal change occurs at 4:34 into a lower pitch for four measures
- Smooth transition
- Flamenco (if blues is bittersweet, flamenco is a bit more tragic, but with ecstasy)
- very smooth transition
- Back to blues
- Modal change between 2 blues
- Flamenco
- Smooth transition
- Back to blues, variation on the main theme: tenor sax is quoting parts of the main theme

Pushes modality to its limits: there is no clear or distinct or written main melody, but it is rather
defined by a set of chord changes that are improvised using 5 modes. Each musician improvises
in turn upon the five scales, played in order, but each is played for a different number of
measures, and this was left up to the soloists. The modes used are, in order: C Ionian, A b
Mixolydian, Bb Ionian, D Phrygian, G Dorian. It is interesting to note that the scales used in this
composition add a unique flavor to it, mainly because they are different than the very common
minor and major scales. The Mixolydian and Phrygian add an exotic (relative to the US) flare to
the song, a certain Arab/Spanish taste, hence the name of the song. The Mixolydian and Ionian
are two modes of the major scale, and they share the same bright tone, although Mixolydian
mixes it up with a hint of shadow, adding instead a mellow, and dreamy tone, contrasted with the
darkness and mystery brought in by the Phrygian and complimented by Dorian’s glimmer of
happiness. In the background, the accompanying piano is playing the chords corresponding to
these modes. As for the mode changes throughout the song, they are not constant, because as we
said, the musicians improvised upon each mode for as long as they wanted, so the solos don’t
have the same underlying form or structure. The changes are as follows:
Miles Davis, trumpet: 00:18 (scale 1), 00:35 (scale 2), 00:52 (scale 3), 01:10 (scale 4), 01:45
(scale 5 – 2 measures), 01:54 (pause to switch, still over scale 5 – 2 measures)
John Coltrane, tenor sax: 02:02 (scale 1 – 4 measures), 02:20 (scale 2 – 4 measures), 02:36 (scale
3 – 4 measures), 02:53 (scale 4 – 8 measures), 03:25 (scale 5 – 4 measures), 03:41 (pause to
switch, still over scale 5)
Cannonball Adderley, alto sax: 03:47 (scale 1 – 8 measures), 04:19 (scale 2, 4 measures), 04:34
(scale 3 – 4 measures), 05:06 (scale 4), 05:39 (scale 5 – 2.5 measures), 05:50 (pause to switch,
still over scale 5 – 1.5 measures)
Bill Evans, piano: 05:56 (scale 1 – 8 measures), 06:26 (scale 2 – 4 measures), 06:43 (scale 3 – 8
measures), 07:16 (scale 4 – 4 measures), 07:32 (scale 5 – 4 measures), no pause to switch
Miles Davis, trumpet: 07:48 (scale 1 – 4 measures), 08:05 (scale 2 – 4 measures), 08:21 (scale 3
– 4 measures), 08:37 (scale 4 – 8 measures), 09:10 (scale 5, 2 measures), pause to end (2
measures).

https://blog.oup.com/2014/08/miles-davis-kind-of-blue-classic-jazz-album/
https://kotaku.com/5897511/a-hidden-gem-on-the-greatest-jazz-album-of-all-time