Iain Cameron's Diary
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2002-08-31 - 2:18 a.m.

A day of points � or wondering how many points there might be � or whether the individual points cohere if you stand far enough back.

Not the kind of thing that looms large in Washington DC � thank you for your kind words Mark. It was the first place in the USA I ever visited and it came across loud and clear � things like Coltrane circa 1958 playing in the lift at the hotel on the way down to breakfast � not like the Travellers Lodge on the M40. The soul station on the radio was so good I kept it on all night so as not to miss anything.

Maybe I have told the story of the piccolo and the pawnshop at Dumbarton. Its where I started doing oil pastels. And I did loads of sketches in the galleries � of works by Stella and Monet for example � in fact I think it�s the only Stella that I have ever seen as an original � but if you are just going to see one��... It was a NATO delegation and I was disguised as a security expert � we were conferring in the Ronald Regan Centre and at one point I was rapporteur on the vulnerability of extended supply chains. I�d better stop before all residue of credibility goes up in blue smoke. Ah yes the lobsters � even the French delegates praised the crustaceans � and the stretch limos. I learned an interesting thing about why there are so many in NYC these days.

This week the prospect of Frankfurt cropped up in the middle of September. We know the critical parameters now - that was where I got my Yamaha WX7 at a pretty decent price. Hmmmmm tempting. The exhibition hall has some masterly pre WW1 reinforced concrete. The Germans are funny though � would you still call the lowlife area of the city Sachsenhausen if you were trying to be the European Financial Centre.

I listened to Approximately Four Minutes this morning � maybe the next step is to load all three versions into Cubase for a bit of editing � maybe the first version is the best. I wondered about making it my DTI valedictory piece � might get taken the wrong way � but that could be the point.

I have been meaning to mention the Carpenters programme earlier in the week. What she did to a song! She thought she was a drummer who sang. Comments from D Warwick, K Gordon and B Bacharach. It made me wonder where the bridge from We�ve Only Just Begun came from � I think the song was conceived as just two A sections � for a bank commercial. At this distance I began to see a case for saying that they followed Burt B in extending the life of a certain style of musically literate songwriting into the last quarter of the 20th century � a point it was hard to see at the time because they looked so mainstream. Now look gloriously bizarre which is why they have been taken up by Sonic Youth I expect.

You might argue that Philly, Hall and Oates and sometimes Prince picked up the torch.

Paul mailed inter-alia to say he had bought C Wilson�s latest and that I was an old softie for advocating it. I replied that CW was also up for Steve Coleman�s far flung explorations and that he could get the very latest CD from the merry crew free at the Mbase site � Mr Coleman is clearly serious about wanting to change the industry�s norms and values.

Lots of exchanges with Robin and Peter on the editorial orientation for www.kwase-kwaza.org. I posted a really good article about the UN AIDS Ambassador�s speech at Johannesburg � he said that the world needed politicians who understood and enjoyed sex if we were going to get anywhere. Come back Bill � you were on the right track after all?

Not much post at the DTI except for an extraordinary mix of Fifths from Pacific Palisades Ca. A lot more about this to come � one might start with a few reflections about the character of ambience.

Steve Clarke who I first met in connection with White Unicorn replied and we turned over in our minds the dark mystery of J Cole's creativity. Steve has a Suffolk village site at http://web.ukonline.co.uk/stephen.clarke. I mailed him my picture of Steve Pheasant and myself playing bebop circa 1976 as he seems to be someone who likes archives.

As I write I am still trying to make sense of my addition of guitar episodes of the final sections of �The Last Eleven Bars�. At least it makes for an ending of the ending.

I have another silly idea � for a kind of Alice Coltrane version of �Good Vibrations�. The chorus is very modal � with steps up a whole tone every eight bars � a kind of tight but loose structure than invites misbehaviour. On which subject, I am still gnawing away at Four Fifths - a saxophone episode is developing that I think might show the impact of listening to all that Wayne Shorter in the last few months � and I have begun to wonder if the bass part hasn�t got something to do with one of the three short pieces for S4tet which did after the Rite � the one which he said was influenced by Little Titch � in other words it has got its hooks into me.

Tony Reif mailed from Vancouver. He runs the Songlines jazz label which specializes I the kind of jazz now being played in NYC. He said he had been mixing his latest CDs in 5 channels. I am not ready for this.

I was trying to track down a Songlines site. Google says there is one at:

www.allaboutjazz.com

I couldn't find it but I did find this:

Sheets of Sound:- When Coltrane rejoined the Miles Davis band, Davis was on the brink of introducing his new concept of modal jazz - a form characterized by fewer chords and more harmonic and rhythmic space. This new development in jazz was melodically conceived and based on the intervallic content of the various modes used. The technique, in effect, causes a slower harmonic motion providing a new means for increased inner-harmonic play and an expansion of rhythmic opportunity. Coltrane, in his new state of exploration, used this to his advantage by incorporating new techniques of saxophone play through the adaptation of harp music. In harp music the strategy was to superimpose or stack chords in usually equal increments of steps in order to get from one chord to another. Coltrane�s usage of this strategy is referred to as the �3-on-1 chord approach� by Simpkins. In this approach, Coltrane uses the interval of a minor third to create an extension of the dominant function of the C7 (V7) resolving to the FD7 (I). Through the use of the strategically placed passing chords (the EI7 and the FT7, both equally a minor third away from each other and from the tonic) Coltrane extends the melodic possibilities with each changing inner-harmony, while keeping the harmonic function consistent. 3 Noted jazz critic Ira Gitler in a 1958 Downbeat issue labeled the results of this technique "sheets of sound," ��because of the density of textures he was using. His multitone improvisations were so thick and complex they were almost flowing out of the horn by themselves.� (Thomas, 106) Coltrane�s new technique also allowed him to fill up all the musical space - in contrast to the open, sparse playing of Davis. Examples of Coltrane's use of this technique can be heard on "Milestones" (Columbia 1193, the selection was also known as "Miles,") and on the famous recording �Giant Steps� (Atlantic 1311). Spiritually, the "sheets of sound" technique reflected a time in Coltrane's life when he was searching for the unknown. His desire to complete his spiritual journey was evident in his music. The continuous fluidity of sound he produced was reminiscent of exploring uncharted avenues and witnessing sights formerly unseen. Coltrane's musical experiments were not always successful. Sometimes he would attempt to play what he heard in a dream unsuccessfully, due to technical difficulty or the limitations of the musical instrument. The greater relationship with God Coltrane was seeking and the things that he wanted to accomplish musically became two synonymous goals after 1957. Through rededicating himself to God, Coltrane indirectly dedicated his music to God. Coltrane saw music as a manifestation of his feelings, desires, and emotions. His search for oneness with God intensified his desire to play what he felt God inspired him to play. Just as Coltrane had re-occurring dreams and glimpses of his spiritual goal, he also had dreams and glimpses of the music that he wanted to produce.

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