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In-between Music: The Musical Creation of Cholo Identity in Cochabamba, Bolivia

Description: Music and identity are inextricably linked. While a particular social or ethnic group's music may reflect characteristics of that group, it also functions in creating the identity of the group. In Andean Bolivia, the choloethnic group has very subjective and constantly changing boundaries. Cholo-ness is made possible through mediated cultural performances of all types, in which members actively choose elements from both criollo and Indian cultures. Music is one particularly effective way in whi… more
Date: August 2007
Creator: Jones, Eric
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Evolution of the Ride Cymbal Pattern from 1917 to 1941: An Historical and Critical Analysis

Description: The purpose of this study is to provide a historiographical and musical analysis examining the jazz ride cymbal pattern, from its inception on woodblock, small accessory cymbals, hand cymbal mechanisms and brushes through what becomes known as the modern-day ride cymbal pattern. This research examines a wide array of drummers and bandleaders, with the objective of identifying the earliest recordings of this important addition to jazz drumming, and popular music history while analyzing the ride … more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Clark, Colleen (Musician)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

"Restless Soul"

Description: Restless Soul is composed of observational and expository style to depict a culture of youth, strength, and passion. The film captures an improvising musician and composer named Garrett Wingfield, who expresses spontaneous sound reflected in his mind, body and spirit. By working with his music friends, he releases his creative energies through his compositions and his different types of saxophones. The documentary allows its audience to experience the youth culture in a postmodern world.
Date: August 2018
Creator: Choi, Bokyung
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Tone Parallels in Music for Film: The Compositional Works of Terence Blanchard in the Diegetic Universe and a New Work for Studio Orchestra by Brian Horton

Description: This research investigates the culturally programmatic symbolism of jazz music in film. I explore this concept through critical analysis of composer Terence Blanchard's original score for Malcolm X directed by Spike Lee (1992). I view Blanchard's music as representing a non-diegetic tone parallel that musically narrates several authentic characteristics of African-American life, culture, and the human condition as depicted in Lee's film. Blanchard's score embodies a broad spectrum of musical in… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Horton, Brian (Saxophonist)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Miles Davis: The Road to Modal Jazz

Description: The fact that Davis changed his mind radically several times throughout his life appeals to the curiosity. This thesis considers what could be one of the most important and definitive changes: the change from hard bop to modal jazz. This shift, although gradual, is best represented by and culminates in Kind of Blue, the first Davis album based on modal style, marking a clear break from hard bop. This thesis explores the motivations and reasons behind the change, and attempt to explain why it ca… more
Date: May 2007
Creator: Camacho Bernal, Leonardo
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Collaborative Crossover: Identifying Classical Vocal Collaborative Piano Practices in Jazz Vocal Accompanying

Description: Classical vocal collaborative piano and jazz vocal accompaniment are well-established fields with long-standing performance traditions. Classical collaborative performance practices have been researched and codified, but jazz accompanying practices largely remain in the domain of aural tradition. Both classical and jazz accompaniment share associated practices, such as rubato, transposition, and attention to lyric diction and inflection, but there is little previous investigation into the idea … more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Morgenroth, David Jonathan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Model of Collaborative Creativity: The Arrangements of Nelson Riddle for Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald

Description: This dissertation explores the themes of collaboration and creativity in the relationship between arranger Nelson Riddle and vocalists Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. It examines the balance between structure and freedom as well as the specific musical results that emerge from collaboration between an arranger and vocalists who are considered among the greatest in their fields. An examination of their interactions, musical scores, and performances, reveals that the constraints that are prese… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Evens, Gabe
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Examination of Laude: Four Character Sketches for Solo Trumpet in B-flat or C by Stanley Friedman, together with Three Recitals of Selected Works by Joseph Haydn, George Fredrick Handel, Eric Ewazen, and Others

Description: Stanley Friedman is a composer of many works, primarily for brass instruments, that have become part of the standard repertoire. Solus, for Trumpet Unaccompanied, for example, appears on many audition and competition lists, as do others of his works. On the other hand, Laude: Four Character Sketches for Solo Trumpet, commissioned by the International Trumpet Guild in 1980, is unfortunately not widely known among trumpet performers and educators. The intent of this study is to demonstrate, throu… more
Date: August 2007
Creator: Lambert, Adam
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries

Extemporizing Reawakened: Saxophonist Branford Marsalis's Approach to the Cadenza for Concertino da Camera for Alto Saxophone and Eleven Instruments by Jacques Ibert

Description: Whether provided by a composer, written out by a performer or completely improvised, the cadenza became a vehicle for performers' creativity, lyricism and technical prowess in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The debate about whether to notate or improvise cadenzas, a question as old as the cadenza itself, continues today. Saxophonists have not been involved in this debate, since the instrument is a product of the mid-nineteenth century and was in its infancy just as the practice of imp… more
Access: Restricted to the UNT Community Members at a UNT Libraries Location.
Date: December 2006
Creator: James, Matthew T.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Woody Shaw: Development of Style in Three Versions of "The Moontrane”

Description: Woody Shaw is one of the most influential jazz trumpet players of the past fifty years. Despite his importance, very few models exist that contextualize Shaw's improvisatory approach inside modern jazz pedagogy. Writers such as Rex Richardson, Eric O'Donnell, and Gavin Franklin have identified key elements of Shaw's style, and have begun a critical examination of Shaw's music. While extensive, these approaches do not take into consideration the impact free jazz had on Shaw's technique, nor do t… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Karns, Keith
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52

Description: This study examines the evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's scat syllable vocabulary during a key developmental period in her career when she was recording for Decca Records. Between 1943 and 1952, Fitzgerald established the syllabic vocabulary that would serve as a defining characteristic of her improvisational style for the rest of her career. Fitzgerald is commonly praised as the greatest vocal improviser in jazz history, but while much has been written about Fitzgerald's melodic and harmonic app… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Binek, Justin
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Controversial Identity of Flamenco Jazz: A New Historical and Analytical Approach

Description: There are certain recordings by important artists such as Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Pedro Iturralde, Chick Corea, and Paco de Lucía, among others, that have been associated with the label flamenco jazz. This label is entering jazz discourse, and it needs to be better understood in order to clarify its history, its identity, and its impact on recent developments in flamenco that are labeled nuevo flamenco. There is a lack of agreement in the existent literature on flamenco jazz… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Pamies, Sergio, 1983-
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Evolution of the Improvisational Vocabulary of Marc Johnson

Description: This study examines the evolution of the improvisational vocabulary utilized by bassist Marc Johnson over the course of his career. Through interviews and musical analysis the study contextualizes Johnson’s musical influences, considers how they shaped his development, and examines his role in the legacy of the stylistic lineage established by Scott LaFaro with the Bill Evans Trio. A survey of literature concerning Johnson, Scott LaFaro and Eddie Gomez is included, as well as a discussion of th… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Helsley, Jack
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Analysis and Performance Guide of Selected Works for Saxophone by Cuban Composers Jorge Luis Sosa and Andrés Alén-Rodriguez

Description: A large portion of the standard repertoire for saxophone and piano has already been recorded and performed many times and has received significant scholarly study. For a performer, remaining relevant requires learning and performing new compositions. Jorge Sosa and Andrés Alén are both accomplished composers, yet outside of the Latin-American community they remain virtually unknown to most saxophonists. This project serves as an introduction to both composers. Combined, Sosa and Alén have nine … more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Friel, Stephan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Analysis of Dave Holland's Free Improvisation in "Waterfall" and Its Pedagogical Applications for Bassists in Avant-Garde Performance

Description: This research investigates a microcosm of the free jazz/free improvisation environment of the 1970s in "Waterfall," from the album Dave Holland/Sam Rivers Vol. 1. This recording features Dave Holland and Sam Rivers exhibiting highly developed improvisational language and effortless interaction. The purpose of this investigation is to create pedagogical material for bassists who are unfamiliar and/or uncomfortable with performing in an improvisational style that exists separately from the rigid,… more
Date: December 2019
Creator: Heffner, Steven (Bassist)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Programmatic Geographical Depictions in Large-Scale Jazz Ensemble Works: Major Works by Gil Evans and Chuck Owen and a New Work by Aaron Hedenstrom

Description: This dissertation explores the creative process in large-scale jazz ensemble works that are programmatic in depicting geographical locations. This is achieved through analyses of Gil Evans's Sketches of Spain, Chuck Owen's River Runs: A Concerto for Jazz Guitar, Saxophone, & Orchestra, and Aaron Hedenstrom's Sketches of Minnesota. Each work is examined using five analytical categories: orchestration, large-scale form, harmonic/melodic development, programmatic framework, and use of featured sol… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Hedenstrom, Aaron
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Finding the "Indian" in Amy Beach's Theme and Variations for Flute and String Quartet, op. 80.

Description: Music that is categorized as part of the Indianist movement in American music (ca. 1890-1925) typically evokes Native American culture, ritual, story, or song through compositional gestures. It may also incorporate Native American tunes. Amy Beach (1867-1944) is considered to have composed five Indianist works, but her Theme and Variations for Flute and String Quartet, op. 80 has not been included as one of them. This thesis rethinks categorization of the piece, seeking the "Indian" in it throu… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Burgess, Stephanie J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Yoon-Seong Cho's Jazz Korea: A Cross-cultural Musical Excursion

Description: This thesis examines Yoon-Seong Cho's critically acclaimed recording Jazz Korea, in which Cho unites Korean folk music and American jazz into a single form of expression. By reinterpreting Korean folk music through jazz, Cho stimulated interest in the Korean jazz scene and a renewed interest in Korean traditional folk songs. The goal of the thesis, the first musicological essay about Yoon-Seong Cho, is to understand how Cho's diasporic experiences affected his music by leading to a process of s… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Joo, Hwajoon
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Caught Between Jazz and Pop: The Contested Origins, Criticism, Performance Practice, and Reception of Smooth Jazz.

Description: In Caught Between Jazz and Pop, I challenge the prevalent marginalization and malignment of smooth jazz in the standard jazz narrative. Furthermore, I question the assumption that smooth jazz is an unfortunate and unwelcomed evolutionary outcome of the jazz-fusion era. Instead, I argue that smooth jazz is a long-lived musical style that merits multi-disciplinary analyses of its origins, critical dialogues, performance practice, and reception. Chapter 1 begins with an examination of current mis… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: West, Aaron J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Otha Turner Family Picnic: Occupying Musical and Social Space In-Between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Description: This thesis concerns African-American fife and drum band music, a pre-blues genre that was a fixture at summer picnics in the Mississippi hill country from the late nineteenth century through most of the twentieth century. The picnics held a unique place in African-American life, a crossroads of juke joints and churches, blues and gospel, individuality and family. Using the African-American paradigm of a Saturday night / Sunday morning people, I describe the Otha Turner Family Picnic, the last … more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Vermilyea, Carl P.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Motivic and Voice-Leading Coherence in the Improvisations of Saxophonist Chris Cheek

Description: Saxophonist Chris Cheek has been a reference for his work as a sideman with some of the most established jazz artists in the international jazz scene of the last twenty-five years. Despite his importance, there is lack of detail in the available publications about Cheek. The short length and journalistic character of the publications only produce surface descriptions of Cheek's style. There is a need to further describe the melodic elements present in Chris Cheek's style in order to have a bett… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Fraile, Alex
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Cyclic Patterns in John Coltrane's Melodic Vocabulary as Influenced by Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns: An Analysis of Selected Improvisations

Description: This study documents and analyzes cyclic patterns used as melodic vocabulary in John Coltrane's improvisations from compositions of 1965 to 1967. The analysis is categorized in two distinct sections. The first section analyzes melodic vocabulary that is derived from the cycle of descending major thirds progressions found in the compositions of 1959 to 1960. The second section analyzes melodic vocabulary that is derived from Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns using the… more
Date: August 2003
Creator: Bair, Jeff
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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