\documentstyle[11pt]{article} 

\title{A Brief ``Serene'' Reflection}
\author{Joe Hellerstein}

\include{joehead}

\begin{document}
\bibliographystyle{alpha}
\maketitle

Eric Dolphy's recording of ``Serene'' on the {\em Far Cry} album is a
musical gem.  In particular, his bass clarient solo on the recording
strikes me as model of logic and taste, and something of a prototype
for --- or ``invitation'' to --- Dolphy's musical world.  In these
notes, I will attempt to point out some aspects of the solo that
strike me as exemplary.

The first thing to note in this solo is that, despite the
preponderance of black marks in the transcription, this is a
relatively uncluttered improvisation.  With the exception of bars 13
through 16, 21, and 22, the playing is fairly melodic in nature.  A
counter-example to this appears in bars 23-25, where Dolphy ``spells
out'' a chord or two.  But this, too, is a rather simple and engaging
musical device.  The relative simplicity makes this recording an
interesting one to examine, because, as we will see, within this
simplicity lie a number of interesting and very tasty ideas.

\section*{Harmonic Form}
The simplicity of the piece is grounded by its basic harmonic
structure, which is a 12-bar blues-related form.  Like most blues
tunes, the piece begins on the tonic, shifts to the $\mbox{IV}^7$ in
the 5th bar, and then back to the tonic in the 7th.  Again in
traditional fashion, ``Serene'' has dominantic material at the
beginning of the ``last 4'' of the form (the tritone substitution of
the dominant in the 9th bar), but unlike most blues there is no
resolution to the tonic in the last two bars.  Instead, it has the
$\mbox{IV}^{7^{+11}}$, which, in its extensions, simply spells out the
$\mbox{V}^7$ chord with a lowered 13.

Dolphy uses this modified blues structure as a way of centering his
improvisation.  The movement to the IV in the 5th bar of the blues is
perhaps the signature of the form, and Dolphy highlights this in his
solo: in the 5th and 6th bars of each chorus he plays particularly
tasty phrases, using blues techniques like the ``call and response'',
(\eg\ bars 5 and 6, and bars 29 and 30).  and bent ``blue'' notes
(\eg\ the flat 13th in bar 17, and the flat 5 in bar 18).  This serves
to focus the listener's attention on the structure of the piece, to
highlight the blues roots by playing blues-related melodic fragments
in the most characteristically ``blue'' parts of each chorus.  Dolphy
is essentially bringing the listener's attention to the familiar.

By constrast, on the modified last 2 bars of each chorus, he tends to
explicitly spell out the harmony of the piece, thus clarifying the
modifications on the blues form.  Put differently, he ``helps'' the
listener with the unfamiliar.  This is true in bars 11 and 12, and
particularly true in bars 23 and 24, where he quickly arpeggiates over
the harmony.  It is less true in bars 35 and 36, where he is more
concerned with making a cogent ``closing statement''.  Note that the
harmony he spells out in 11, 12, 23 and 24 is the simple one
($\mbox{V}^7$), not the more complicated version that appears on the
lead sheet ($\mbox{IV}^{7^{+11}}$).  Again, Dolphy highlights and
centers his solo on the structure of the piece, in this case by aiding
the listener through the less familiar harmonic material.  This
sensitivity to the form of the piece, both in terms of its
predictability and unpredictability, is a major contributor to the
``natural'' effect that the solo has on my ears.

\section*{Use of Repetition}
Repeated material is always attractive to the ear, since it allows the
listener to enter into the creation of the music, by anticipating the
next step that the performer will take.  The game for the performer is
to balance the predictability of the music, so that the listener
remains engaged, without either being lost or knowing exactly what to
expect.  Dolphy does a masterful job of this in his solo on
``Serene''.

As noted above, Dolphy uses repeated phrases in bars 5 and 6, and 29
and 30.  He also does this in bars 19 and 20, and 25 and 26.  In bar
31 he ``closes off'' the repeated phrase he had begun in 29 and 30.
And in bars 35 and 36 he does this again.  Thus the use of repetition
in the solo is frequent.  But the repetitions are not verbatim ---
typically Dolphy develops the fragmentary ideas as he repeats them,
thereby building a larger phrase out of smaller pieces.  

His repetition in bars 5 and 6 changes only a little, on the third
beat, to have the held note match the harmonic change between the
bars.  A similar device is used in bars 19 and 20, where he uses the
same rhythmic material and phrase shape, but slightly different
pitches.  In bars 25 and 26, the repetition is not of an entire
phrase, but instead of the motif of a 16th note followed by two
higher, bent eighth notes.  In bars 29-31, the basic bent-eighth-note
motif is again the focus of the repetition, but the motivic material
is not placed in the same beat in each bar.  In bar 30 it is delayed
to much later than in bar 29, thus ``teasing'' the listener, while in
bar 31 it is brought back immediately on the first beat.  This last
placement has the function of extending a 2-bar phrase into the third
bar, which complicates the phrasing of the piece a bit making it less
predictable.  Finally, in bars 35 and 36, the repeated rhythm of three
ascending 16th notes is regularly placed at two-beat intervals, then
at one-beat intervals, forming an easliy recognized, logical ``closing
statement'' to the solo.

So Dolphy's use of repetition develops and shapes with the development
and shape of the solo.  The early use of repetition is
straightforward, and helps to spell out the harmony.  From this, he
complicates the repetition a bit by changing more pitches the second
time around.  Later, the repetition is made subtler, by repeating
smaller motifs interspersed with other material.  After that, in the
most complex example, the repeated material moves around significantly
within the rhythm, and serves a dual purpose as motif and as ``glue''
for constructing and odd-length phrase.  Finally, in the denouement of
the solo, he uses a much more predictable form of repetition which is
rhythmic and regular.  Thus the ``trajectory'' of the complexity of
repetition in his solo climbs steadily, ``peaks'' toward the end, and
then comes back down to close.  This is a typical shape for energy in
a piece of music (or any temporal art, \eg\ drama or fiction), but
it's interesting to unearth it here in such delicate details.

\section*{Rhythmic issues}
A final point that is important to address is the fluidity of Dolphy's
phrasing, both at a macro level --- \ie\ where strings of notes begin
and end, or, conversely, where the rests lie --- and also at a micro
level, \ie\ where attacks fall within the beat.

The former point can be examined by holding the transcription at arm's
length, and looking for rests and long notes.  Very few of the rests
are simple quarter- or half-rests.  Most have eighth-rests,
sixteenth-rests, or partial triplets attached to them.  Similarly,
most of the longer notes in the piece are not simple quarter- or
half-notes.  Typically they fall ``in the cracks'' of the beats.  This
lends a complexity and interest to Dolphy's playing that is a model
for the improviser who feels ``stuck in a rut''.  Just by shifting
one's attacks a half beat to the right or left, one can open up a lot
of new possibilities in phrase shape.  Combining that with Dolphy's
interesting and careful repetition of such phrases, one suddenly
begins to capture some of the ``unusual logic'' that is Dolphy's
hallmark.

At the micro level, the transcription fails to capture much of the
subtlety of Dolphy's placement of attacks, which often do not actually
fall even on 16th-note boundaries.  I am embarassed to admit that if
one listens carefully to the recording, one can find in virtually any
bar that the transcription merely approximates Dolphy's rhythms.  He
very rarely plays those strings of regularly placed eighth or
sixteenth notes that form the bulk of endless solos by lesser players.
Instead, his notes jump in at unusual spots, or gliss down from one to
the other, or are delayed slightly more than a normal ``swing''
feeling would dictate.  This is less true in his solos on faster
tunes, which are necessarily less pliable rhythmically.  But his
flexibility on this count is fascinating.  Perhaps more interesting is
that the rhythmic thrust of his playing --- that essential sense of
swing --- is never compromised by his freedom with the time.  Part of
that is due to the sensitivity of the rhythm section, particularly Roy
Haynes' sensitive comments.  But it mostly comes down to Dolphy's
skill in walking the line of rhythmic freedom and swing.  This is one
of the aspects of this solo that only struck me fully when I dug into
the transcription, and tried to play along on parts.  To the ear, his
playing simply swings, and makes sense.  Yet in trying to play it, or
to capture it on paper, one finds that rhythm is another aspect of the
effortless complexity that gives Dolphy's playing such freshness.

\section*{Conclusion}
So in three ways --- use of harmonic structure, repetition, and rhythm
-- this solo highlights the duality of logic (simplicity) and freedom
(complexity) that pervades Eric Dolphy's music.  A close look at this
solo opens doors into Dolphy's musical world that both de-mystify and
amplify some of the aspects of his playing that many listeners find
puzzling.  In the short space of 3 choruses of blues, one can learn a
lot about how Dolphy's talents set him apart from other players from
his era through today.  That is why I feel that a look at this simple
piece can serve as a warm invitation to the more idiosyncratic
material on later Dolphy albums like {\em Iron Man} and {\em Out to
Lunch}, and also to Dolphy's freer playing on albums like {\em Charles
Mingus Presents Charles Mingus} (with the famous interchange between
Mingus and Dolphy on ``What Love'') and Ornette Coleman's {\em Free
Jazz}.  And I've found that the pleasure of ``hearing'' Dolphy's music
better is well worth the effort of a little study.
\end{document}  
