Sheets of sound
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Sheets of sound was a term coined in 1958 by Down Beat magazine jazz critic Ira Gitler to describe the new, unique style of John Coltrane.
Coltrane employed improvisational yet patterned harmonic techniques where densely packed solos consisting of high speed arpeggios and scale patterns were played in rapid succession: hundreds of notes running from the lowest to highest registers.
This style incorporates many elements, including the multichordal and melodic lyricism of Miles Davis, and the multiphonics Coltrane learned from Thelonious Monk. Coltrane also attributes the development of long solos to the influence of Monk. In retrospect, the influences of both Davis and Monk were key to the development of Coltrane's sheets of sound technique, but it was Coltrane himself who created it.
According to Coltrane, the freedom of Miles Davis' music allowed him to apply his harmonic ideas to stacked chords and substitutions. Further, this open approach allowed Coltrane to arpeggiate three chords simultaneously, a style Monk initially taught Coltrane. The "three-on-one chord approach" gave the music a fluid, sweeping sound that was harmonically vertical.
[edit] Selected recordings
- 1958 - Miles and Monk at Newport
- 1958 - Milestones
- 1958 - Soultrane
- 1960 - Giant Steps
- 1963 - Newport '63
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- 1958, 'Trane On The Track, Down Beat. Ira Gitler invents the phrase, "sheets of sound".
- 1960, Coltrane on Coltrane, Down Beat. Coltrane writes about the style.
- 1960, Liner Notes: Giant Steps. Nat Hentoff refers to "sheets of sound".
