Re: [Harp-L] Pattern players

[rmcgraw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

> Miles Davis was a supreme "pattern buster" in his personal and leadership
> approach to his music. If you were a member of his band (from his 2nd
> Great Quintet onwards) and he heard you playing licks/patterns on the
> bandstand (memorized and repeated), you were fired. He was into creativity
> in the moment, not something that actually anyone could do if given enough
> practice time - Miles wanted a deeper commitment to the Muse of
> inspiration and creativity, not the Charles Atlas pump you up with reps
> approach.
---Interesting as John Coltrane, probably the most important of Miles's
sidemen, was, among other things, a pattern player. On his famous
improvisation on "Giant Steps" he is, for the most part, playing a
pattern: the 1,2,3,and 5th note of each chord as it passes. True, this is
a more complex form of pattern, but it IS a pattern.
WVa Bob