Parker Revisited
“Parker Revisited” asks for the melodic principles of Parker’s language. A sample of improvisations is analyzed with a new, successful technique (which is also a technique of improvisation), referring to components we know from language: vocabulary, (musical) grammar, and dramaturgy (the “story”).
By means of a quite restricted number of basic formulae, as described by T. Owens, Parker constructs his idiom. But: Defining the stylistic center of Bebop, Parker does much more than just using and combining some licks in a virtuoso’s manner.
In a unique fusion of new rhythmic and harmonic concepts with the expressive sonorities of Blues, he builds a melodic system of a complexity never heard before: Using the melodic implications of advanced functional harmony, a multitude of polyrhythmic possibilities, and a deeply felt, strong expression, he forms his ideas with a sense of logic worthy to a composer – and with a sample of techniques, which are, despite their idiomatic modifications, in fact similar to melodic composition. These are numerous techniques of explicit motivic development – e. g., sequence, inversion, fragmentation and extension, rhythmic variation. They are complemented by more abstract parts of melody near to the use of basic material, like arpeggio and scale fragments, or approaching figures, often combined in a permutative manner to the polyrhythmic flow of the typical Bebop line with its richness of harmonic implications too.
It was possible to give evidence for two general principles, which obviously helped Parker to find, to select, and/or to shape his subsequent melodic ideas and to lead as well as to control his magnificent, often overwhelming musical imagination. The first is named Melodische Korrespondenz (Melodic Correspondence). As a continuum of possibilities between the extremes of explicit motivic development and just permutative handling of simple material units, it generates a sometimes evident, sometimes more indirect melodic linkage from phrase to phrase. The second principle is called Gestische Korrespondenz (Gestural Correspondence). It concentrates on contour, expression and placement of phrases, reflecting also the important role of musical pause. Both principles depend on each other. They contribute strongly to the always perfect balance between coherence and contrast, as one of the miracles in Parker’s art.