Talk:Saxophone Colossus

Blue 7

On the subject of Blue 7's tonality, I find it very strange that Ira Gitler refers to it as a "minor blues," I'm guessing it was an error. The song, which is in the key of Bb, is clearly major/dominant, with the first note of the melody being a D natural, the sound being clearly dominant, and any subtle analysis of the solo will find it outlining dominant chords.

I have included information from Gunther Schuller's famous article on the piece (he also analyzes it as a Bb blues, not minor), although something of a conclusion seems to be missing from the article. I might rewrite the paragraph I wrote later, it seems a little awkward.

I'm unsure that the track warrants so much explanation just because of an article on it. In any case, I've copy-edited it a little, but I'm stumped by the word "motivic"; I assume that it means "of motifs", but while the word is obscure (and possibly non-existent) I can't think of the correct one. --Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 22:56, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

"Motivic", non-existent? You disappoint me, Professor. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/motivic . The word denotes "of or relating to motives (or "motifs")", which is exactly what Schuller is describing - ornamentation and variation upon the disjunct/tritone motif of the tune. And though I'm not the first to consider Gunther Schuller The Most Hyperbolic Jazz Critic Ever ("Blue 7" is a basic blues, made up on the spot, in the same key as the last tune), he was certainly not prone to neologisms. --Maggie

A predictable assumption from a professor when a word is unknown to him/her. It brings back memories from when I was in high school, but then User:Mel Etitis' vocabulary is much more enhanced, so I don't have anything to base my nostalgia on. Pardon the ramble. —Hollow Wilerding 23:21, 30 November 2005 (UTC)