ArtisticResearchReportofthe

2ndInterventionCycle

NewExplorationsofDanzón

CODARTS2016

Name:DanielVadilloNájera

MainSubject:LatinPiano

MainSubjectTeacher:AnnaElisdeJong

ARdomain:WorldMusic&Crossover

ARCoach:MichalisCholevas

Title:NewexplorationsofDanzón

Keywords:Danzón,Piano,Performer,Composer,Cuba,México

2ndINTERVENTIONCYCLE

Introduction:Asthegoalofmyresearchistocomposeandperformoriginalmusicbased

inDanzónstyle,formy1stInterventionCycleIanalyzedonetraditionalDanzónalongwithone

contemporaryDanzónandIcomparedthemtoidentifythesimilaritiesanddifferences

betweenthem.ThepurposeofthisanalysiswastoclearlyidentifytheDanzóncharacteristics

thatcan'tbelostinordertostillidentifyitasaDanzón.Furthermore,toidentifywhicharethe

non-traditionalcharacteristicsthatIcouldmodify,exploreandexperimentwithinorderto

incorporatethemtomynewDanzóncompositions.IanalyzedGonzaloRubalcaba´s"Migran

pasión"astheModernDanzónandIanalyzed“Treslindascubanas”bytheCubancomposer

GuillermoCastilloasthetraditionalone.Theresultofthetranscriptionandanalysisoftwo

differentapproachestoDanzónwasinmyopinionsatisfactory.Thefinalresultwasa

compositionwhichhaselementsbothtraditionalandmodernandeventhoughItooksome

libertiesIthinkthefinalcompositiongathersthemostimportantcharacteristicsandthesoul

ofthesemusic.Attheendofthe1stinterventioncycleIachievedtohaveathorough

understandingoftheDanzónForm,Instrumentation,useofmelodyandtherhythmicpatterns

butIdidn’texploretheSoloingpartwhichactuallyisahugepartofDanzónmusic.

ArtisticResultofthe1stInterventionCycle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlq1zoeLXkw

ReferenceRecording:

DrumeNegrita(Comp.EliseoGrenet,Arr.DanielVadillo)

IncompatibilidadedeGenios(JoaoBosco)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joj_Jl3XFl8

DanzónNo.1(Fromthe1stmasterRecital,Comp.DanielVadillo)

Asses&Reflect:

WhatdidIplay?Why?

Takinginaccountthefeedbackofmy1stMasterrecitalitwasclearformethatthemusical

aspectwhichIhadtoworkthemostwasmysoloing.Ireceivedingeneralnicefeedbackon

mycompositions,intheselectionoftherepertoireandthewayIorganizedtheconcertbutall

myteachersconsideredthatIhadtoputmoreeffortonmyphrasingandtotrytoincorporate

someelementsofmycompositionsinthewayIimprovise.

1stMasterRecitalFeedback:

• Verynicechoiceofmusiciansandrepertoire.

• Abel:Veryprofessionalexam,Ilikedthatyoudidn’ttakerisksandtheresultwas

alwaysincontrol.Stopusingsomanytricksyouknowwillworkonyoursoloing.

• AnnaElis:Workonyoursoloing.Nicecompositions,youshouldmakemoremusicwith

thisnewensemble.Connectyourideas,youhaveniceonesbutyouarenotconnecting

thembetweeneachother.• Thomas:Youtendtorush,trytocontrolthat.Wewanttohearelementsofyour

compositionsinyoursoloing.

AfterthisIdecidedtochangethefocusofmyresearchforthe2ndinterventioncycle.Mainly

becauseofmyteachers’feedbackbutalsobecauseIwasn’tsatisfiedwiththispartofmy

playing.Istartedtoworkonthisaspectinageneralway,notfocusinginmyresearchgoalbut

moreintryingtogetmoresoloingresources.SothefirststepItookwasstartingtoplaysome

transcriptionsofpianistsIreallylikeforexampleBillEvans,atthesametimeIstartedto

transcribesomephrasesofChuchoValdésandevenfromtheCubansaxophonistPaquitoD’

Riverathatisoneofmypersonalmusicalheroes.

Notlongafterthat,myresearchcoach(M.Cholevas)suggestedmytotranscribemyown

soloswiththepurposeofrealizingmyownbadhabitsorgoodfeaturestounderstandwhatis

thatIwanttoimprovespecifically.So,Idid.Itranscribedsomesolosofmy1stmasterrecital

andIalsotranscribedosolooverIncompatibilidadebyJoaoBoscowhichIconsidertobea

tunewhereIcanimproviseinacomfortableway.Ialsosentthesesolostomyteachersand

thiswassomeofthefeedbackobtained.

https://dvadilloar.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/incompatibilidade-solo-transcription.pdf

https://dvadilloar.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/solo-danzocc81n-1st-master-exam.pdf

Feedback:

AnnaElisdeJong(AboutDrumeNegrita’ssolo):

(AboutDrumeNegrita’ssolo):• Youaredoubtingaboutyoursolo• Trytobesecurewhenyouplay• Swingisnotyourstrongpointasapianist,it’snotyourwayofplayingnaturally.• Ifyoudon'tphrasewiththerighttimingitwillnotswing.• Ifyoudoityouhavetoconvinceeverybodyanditisnotconvincingnow.• Asfarasnotesareconcernedtheyarenotoutofstyle.• Youneedmoreconsistencyinyourplaying.• Youhavetostickonwhatyourmessagewouldbe.• Makevariationsonthemelody,thinkinre-harmonization.• Licksarenicetostudynottoplayinsomethingthatyouwillrecordorplayonstage.• Alickisalickuntilthemomentitbecomesyourlanguage.Whatyouneedtodowitha

lickistomakeavariationeverytimethatyouplayit,don'tplayitneverthesame.Startorfinishdifferentways,maketherhythmdifferent,playitinmorekeys.Putiteverytimethatyouseetheopportunitytoplayit.

• Rhythmicconsciousnesswillimprovebyworkingonyourphrasing.

ThomasBöttcher(AboutDrumeNegrita’ssolo):

• Firstofall,Ifeelabitreluctanttocommentonsomeone'ssolo,sinceinasoloyouexpresswhatyoufeelatthatmoment,andwhoamItosay,whetherthatisgoodorbad,aslongasitreallyreflectswhatyouhadtosayatthatmoment.

• Youplaythispieceasa“feeling”/ballad,Iseenoproblemusingjazzlanguagehere,ifthat’swhatyouwanttodo.Maybethereisabitofaclashbetweenyougivingmanylinesabitofaswingfeelwhiletheaccompanimentisstraight.AdjustingthetimingtowardsamoresyncopatedLatintimecouldsmooththatdiscrepancy.Ifindnothingwrongwiththelinesbythemselves,theonlythingIaskmyselfis,whethertheyalwaysreallyfitintothecontextofthesong(lullaby),youcouldalsohavesaidalotwithless

notes,playingwiththelyricalqualitiesofthesong(andwithoutthelistenerfallingasleep:)).

• Generally,Ilikethemoodyousetatthebeginningofthepiecewiththeothermusicians.

• IwassurprisedbythesuddenendingaftertheBwhichIfoundabitabrupt.MaybeitwouldhavebeenpossibletoshortenthepiecesomewherebeforeinordertonotmakeitseemtedioustocomebacktoalastAandreallytakeitdownthere.

FranzvonChossy(AboutIncompatibilidade)

NiceplayingWhatdoyouthinkaboutthephrasing?

• Nicephrasing,therecouldbemoredynamicvariationthough(betweenaccentsandsoftnotes)

Isthereanymelodicdevelopment?• Icanhearmelodicdevelopmentinthechoiceofregister(lowtohigh,narrowrangeto

widerange),youcouldworkmorewithdevelopmentofsinglemotives.Therecouldbemorespacebetweenmelodicstatements(likeinthebeginningofthesolo).

Istherearhythmicconsciousness?• Ifeelcertainlyrhythmicconsciousness.Maybeyoucouldusealsosome

groupings/polyrhythms.Howistheuseofharmony?

• Good,someniceparallelharmonymovement,morevariationpossible.IfeelIrepeatmyselfalot,howcanIworkonthis?

• Ithinkleavingmorespaceinbetweenmusicalideascouldhelp.Workwithyourbreathing,onlyplaywhenyoubreathout,usethebreathingintimetothinkofanewidea.

AftergettingthisfeedbackIanalyzedmyownsolosandthisiswhatIgotfromthem.

• I noticed a lot of repetition of rhythmic patterns, specifically this one:

• Iusealmostallthetimejustchordnotesandscalemovementsupanddown.

• Repetitionof lickswithoutmodifyingthem,thoughthe incorporationof licks isgood

takinginaccountsomethatmonthsagoIdidn’tuseany.

• Useofarpeggiosandbrokenchordsareworkingwell.

• IalwaysputtheoctatonicscaleontheGb7chord,novariation(Lackoflanguage).

• Nospacebetweenphrases

• Icouldworkmoreinchordsubstitutions

• Istartmyphrasesalmostalwaysinthefirstbeatofthebar.IrealizedI likemoremy

phraseswhenIdon’tstartthere.

Aftertakinginaccountmyteacher’sfeedbackandtheanalysisofmysolosIdecidedtopick

GonzaloRubalcaba’ssolosinthealbumMigranpasiónasthefocusofmy2ndIntervention.

Why?AllthesolosofthisalbumareplayedoveraDanzónform,overreallysimplerhythmand

harmonieswhichwillallowmetounderstandhisre-harmonizationsandwillgivemealotof

resourcestoplayinaLatinmusiccontextbutalsoinajazzenvironment.Inmyopinionallthe

solosinthisalbumaregreatexamplestodemonstratehowcanyoumergeorincorporate

CubanmusicwithJazzinaveryorganicway.

StudyCasestrategywillallowmetogetawideunderstandingonGonzaloRubalcaba’sDanzón

soloingplayingthroughtranscribingthesolos,analyzingthem,playingthemandfinally

puttingthesenewelementsinmyownlanguage.Iwillusethetriangulationmethodby

transcribing3solos,oneinterviewwithMarkBischoff/HectorInfanzónanddeskresearch.

DataCollection:CaseStudy

• TranscriptionandAnalysisofMigranpasiónSolo• TranscriptionandAnalysisofConciertoenVarsovia• TrancriptionandAnalysisofPríncipeNino

NoteAnalysisCriteriaColors• BLUE--------------ChordNotes/Arpeggios/

• RED--------------MelodicMinor

• YELLOW---------QuartalchordsorSonority

• GREEN-----------OctatonicScaleorSonority/WholeTone

• PURPLE----------Be-bopLick

• BROWN----------Chromatic

• ORANGE---------ChordSubstitution

• PINK-----------------OrnamentEffect

Thisisnotthecompleteanalysis.IwilldigitalizethecompleteonefortheFinalreport.