Different jazz musicians approach time in various ways. For example, Keith Jarrett and late-period John Coltrane often displace notes across the beat to create rhythmic tension. A clear example of this can be heard in Jarrett’s performance of Someday My Prince Will Come (Example 5 in the presentation, from bar 143 in transcription).
Another approach involves layering contrasting time feels rather than simply shifting note placement. There are many different conceptions of time in jazz. For instance, John McLaughlin uses a multi-layered approach to rhythm, combining complex subdivisions and polyrhythms to create intricate textures.
From the Electric Dreams album, examples of this approach can be found in the tracks Gardian Angel, Electric Dreams Electric Sighs, and Unknown Dissident. Gardian Angel features constant shifts between groupings of eighth notes, moving through 6/8, 3/8, 5/8, and 9/8. Electric Dreams Electric Sighs employs a repeating cycle of one bar of 8/8 followed by two bars of 7/8. In Unknown Dissident, the asymmetrical melody is supported by the appearance of two bars of 7/8 within an otherwise 6/8 context. On the Adventures in Radioland album, the piece Florianapolis creates the impression of shifting pulse within 4/4 time, following a highly syncopated introduction that includes passages in 5/4 and 3/4.
This layered rhythmic approach recurs throughout John McLaughlin’s career. In my talk, I will also play an excerpt from the rarely heard Apocalypse album (recorded with the LSO in 1974), which features a repeating pattern of one bar of 3/4 followed by two bars of 4/4. As the piece progresses, this pattern is reversed to become two bars of 4/4 followed by one bar of 3/4.
The use of Voice Leading to create rapid modulation and create ambiguity in underlying tonality
Voice leading is also a powerful tool for quickly modulating through different harmonies and creating ambiguous textures where multiple tonalities can be perceived simultaneously. This is achieved through the use of voicings that contain extensions outside the primary underlying tonality. For example, consider the following progression from
Electric Dreams Electric Sighs:
E9(sus4 add13) → D9(sus4 add13) → B7#5 → Bbm9(b5) → Ab/Bb
A similar approach is used in
Love and Understanding,
also from the Electric Dreams album. This piece features the following progression, which facilitates a rapid modulation from D minor to F# minor:
Dm → Am → Dm → Bm7♭5 → Em → A7/C# → Bm → G#m11 → C#m7 → D#m7 → Em7(sus4) → F#m7 → C#m7
From the Adventures in Radioland album, the track The Wait features a nearly repeating chord structure, alternating between Am → B/C# → A/B → Bb7#5 and Am → B/C# → A/B → C#m11. This progression creates ambiguity around the role of the note A, blurring the lines between it functioning as the tonic of a major, minor, or dominant tonality.
The use of Ostinato and RepetitionThe use of ostinato and repetition is another key feature that appears frequently across both albums. In Miles Davis from the Electric Dreams album, the latter part of the track centers around a single ostinato over which various instruments solo. The piece is heavily rooted in two tonal centers—C# and G—which function as pedal points, allowing for tonal ambiguity as the harmony shifts between major, minor, and dominant colors. Also notable in this piece is the main melody, which features many small variations of a similar phrase. This approach to building melody through improvised variation is a hallmark of John McLaughlin’s style, and can also be heard in the track Jozy (For Joe Zawinul). This track highlights Joe Zawinul’s influence on McLaughlin. In this presentation, I will also discuss Zawinul’s use of the same technique in the track Scarlett Woman from the Joe Zawinul 75 recording.