Ishmael Zghoul Jazz Styles and Analysis: Pre 1960s

Jim Hall
Biography:
Trying to summarize Jim Halls life in a couple sentences or even in a few paragraphs is a difficult task. One can state the obvious, that Hall was a guitarist who began his professional career in the 1950s and has since, continued to enjoy a prolific career as a player, improviser, composer, and leader into his 80s. But even that only scratches the surface of who Jim Hall is. Hall is a master musician and improviser, and like many who bear similar credentials, his music is a reflection of his life, not just an extension of it. He has played in numerous styles and throughout numerous periods, and like the art of improvisation itself, his music is in a constant state of flux, as alive as the players. Jim Hall was born on December 4th, 1930 in Buffalo, New York and was raised there and later on in Columbus then Cleveland, Ohio. Hall was introduced to music by his family: his mother played a little piano and his uncle, country guitar. He received a guitar for Christmas when he was ten years old and was playing in group locally by the time he was thirteen. A clarinetist in one of these groups introduced him to the music of Charlie Christian. Shortly after, he heard the music of Django Reinhardt and these two guitarists would become huge influences. He played guitar in small groups throughout high school. He then attended the Cleveland Institute of Music where he majored in music theory. He was planning on teaching and composing classical music until he

decided, during his first semester into his masters degree, to pursue being a guitarist full time. Jim Hall then moved to Los Angeles, California where he would become a member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet in 1955 and the Jimmy Giuffre 3 from 19561959. From there, his career took off. He moved to New York to work with Sonny Rollins and Art Farmer and over the next couple decades recorded and toured with countless musicians including Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Stitt, Ben Webster, Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, and Ornette Coleman. From the 70s onward he has mostly been a leader/collaborator, recording over 50 albums. Jim Hall would compose more, later in his career and in 1997, win the New York Jazz Critics Circle Award for Best Jazz Composer/Arranger. Hall continues to perform and record at the ripe age of 82.

Analysis of Solo from Buddy Boo from the 1955 Recording Chico Hamilton Quintet Live at the Strollers
I picked this solo because it gave me a chance to try to get inside the head of one of my favorite musicians, Jim Hall, at an early stage in his career. After transcribing this solo a few things that stuck out to me, notably, are his sense of phrasing, the melodic nature of his playing, motivic development, and his sense of form/momentum in his solo. During the first chorus (A), he starts off by outlining an EbMI chord in measures 2-3, then answering that phrase in measures 4-5. He then takes the consequent phrase

previously played and develops it throughout the rest of the chorus. He then ends the chorus with a blues lick in measure 12. The second chorus (B), Hall plays a lick starting on the last note of the previous phrase (conversational connection), which also happens to outline an FMI, the vi of the key. The consequent phrase played next has another conversational connection (starting on f), that is a colorful ii-V lick leading to the IV chord in the next measure. In measure 17, he plays a waveform melodic line using a Db major bebop scale, followed by another waveform melodic line in measure 19, finally enclosing an A natural in measure 20, implying a V7 of ii (F7). In measure 21, Jim plays another waveform melodic line that ends with a 7 to 3 resolution in measure 23. He ends the chorus with a blues lick again. During the third chorus (C), backgrounds are played. Jim Hall starts this chorus with a series of blues and major pentatonic licks, some of them double-time figures. He continues in this manner until in measures 31-32 he implies a Bdim chord that leads into the BbMI7 in the next measure. He then plays a waveform melodic line in measures 33-34 very similar to the one in measures 21-22 that resolves in the same manner (7-3 resolution) in measure 35. Also in measure 35, he plays a motive that he will develop in through the next few measures. This motive employs the use of alternate fingerings to get a slightly different timbral quality by using different strings. During his fourth and last chorus (D), he continues to explore the motive introduce in measure 35 for the next 4 measures. In measures 41 and 42 he plays an antecedent and consequent phrase the imply a iv chord leading back to the Ab7 in measure 43. In measure 44 he uses side slipping to lead into the BbMI7 in measure 45. He ends with a blues lick in measure 46 to finish the solo.