ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

On The Development and Evolution of the Jazz Piano Trio

Bill Evans on Piano Jazz​. National Public Radio, Inc. November 6, 1979. Broadcast.

Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz is a legendary Piano jazz broadcast series, where she invites
famous jazz musicians of the times to play, and perform duets with her often. Bill Evans
appeared on one of the very first seasons of this series. Perhaps one of the most listened to
episodes of Piano Jazz, Bill discusses several techniques of his playing with Marian, and speaks
a little about his philosophy and work.
I have forever revered this interview as my way of imagining myself meeting Evans.
This interview speaks for itself, and Bill discusses his trio work as well as his harmonic concepts
he developed and pioneered.

Herzig, Monika. ​Experiencing Chick Corea: a Listener's Companion​. Rowman & Littlefield,
2017.

Monika Herzig holds a doctorate in Music Education with a focus on Jazz Studies from Indiana
University where she is a senior lecturer in Arts Administration. She is also an avid jazz
performer. Herzig has done a phenomenal job providing the listener a pathway into Corea’s
music. Organized and well written, she points out what one should be listening to and possibly
where it came to be. A very well sewn map onto the history and musical evolution of Corea.
Another listener based reading by a very knowledgeable scholar. Very articulate book- of
particular interest to me is the chapter regarding ​Now He Sings, Now He Sobs​.

Judy, Ned. "​Origins and Early Development of the Jazz Piano Trio​." Origins and Early
Development of the Jazz Piano Trio. Accessed March 13, 2018. http://nedjudy.com/jpt/.

Ned Judy is an accomplished musician and educator from the Baltimore region. Judy served as
an Associate Professor of Music at Prince George’s Community College. Judy’s paper was on
the evolution of the Jazz Piano Trio was published electronically on his website. It discusses the
evolution of the musical techniques and practices involved in early to hard-bop Jazz Piano Trios,
via the examination of the development of the format, instrumentation, and repertoire,
examination of musical devices and concise observation of roles played by each musician.
I intend to study and rely on Judy’s expertise on the subject. His article is perhaps one of
the very few scholarly resources on this direct subject. It is an excellent, well-written article and
many sources are cited in the paper. Though this approach is directed only for the study of
pre-1970 trios, I can still understand and use this resource with a lot of confidence.
Klotz, Nikolas. “​BRAD MEHLDAU​”. TV Documentary. France/Germany, 1999.

A detailed film about Brad Mehldau’s early career and life. A section of the interview is
dedicated towards the performance of the Brad Mehldau Trio at the Village Vanguard, and a
pre-show Mehldau-led discussion about his appreciation and experience playing with Jorge
Rossy and Larry Grenadier.
This documentary provides fantastic first-hand accounts into Mehldau’s appreciation and
ideology of the trio format. It also provides a previously unseen look into the members’ points of
views and their feelings and contributions to this formidable trio.

Lynch, Jordan "​Where Have I Known This Before? An Exploration of Harmony and Voice
Leading in the Compositions of Chick Corea​." Electronic Thesis or Dissertation. Bowling Green
State University, 2012. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

Jordan Lynch’s master thesis on the harmony and compositions of Chick Corea is insightful and
knowledgeable. His analysis of chromatic mediant harmony techniques and Corea’s outside style
playing using pentatonics and chromatics is a useful delve into Corea’s influences from
Shostakovich and Ravel.
I plan on using this resource to delve into Corea’s influence from post-bop influences,
and the development of his radical style of playing with reference to the album ​Now He Sings,
Now He Sobs​. This is a useful window into the development of jazz into fusion, and post-bop
McCoy Tyner influence, and it reflects the influence of the mainstream movements of jazz in
small-group jazz.

Messinger, Colin M., "​How Bebop Came to Be: The Early History of Modern Jazz.​" ​Student
Publications​. 188. 2013.
http://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/188

An undergraduate student, Messinger’s account of bebop provides an insight into the decline of
the swing era and a transition into bebop. Messinger writes about Charlie Parker, Dizzy
Gillespie, Bud Powell and many other bebop revolutionaries in this well-thought-of paper.
I find it important to view works of academic writers of my age. I found Messinger’s
work surprisingly historically precise. Messinger’s accounts of bebop, the recording era ban,
Parker’s conception of bebop, the transformation of big band jazz into small combo will help me
explain the evolution of a music of large ensemble and its condensation to form small group jazz.

Muscarella, Susan. "​The Twentieth Century Jazz Piano Trio:

 The rise of an iconic jazz paradigm.​" May 25, 2016. Accessed March 13, 2018.
http://dspace.uevora.pt/rdpc/handle/10174/18583.

Susan Muscarella is an experienced jazz pianist and educator. She is the President and founder of
the California Jazz Conservatory. This journal is an in-depth analysis of the characteristics and
specialties of some twentieth-century jazz piano trios. It is a wonderful scholarly resource, going
into a deep, musically rich analysis. Her analysis makes the claim that Bill Evans, Bud Powell
and Keith Jarrett are three pivotal leaders of the Jazz Piano Trio format. Every little detail is
discussed, with direct interviews of colleagues and scholars of the style, and detailed harmonic
and melodic analysis.
This journal is fairly large and involves a lot of scholarly language and musical jargon,
that can perhaps be lost on a non-musician. I intend to study the article and formulate her
theologies in a way that can perhaps encapsulate the musical idea in an easy-to-understand way.
Nevertheless, this is also a very trustworthy scholarly resource.

Pokratnieks, Pauls. "​Art of Drumming within Jazz Piano Trio.​" February 12, 2015. Accessed
March 13, 2018. https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/65884/65885.

This masters thesis is published by Pauls Pokratnieks, a Sweden-based jazz drummer.

Pokratnieks’ study of the drumming in a trio provides a perspective from the drummer’s point of
view and elaborates what makes a drummer’s “signature sound” unique. Over the evolution of
the trio, he demonstrates the development of the trio into a democratic, conversational style, and
how this is reflected in trios that came in the later stages of the trio.
A very good topic for me to purvey. As a pianist, it is easy for me to take for granted the
role of the Rhythm Section in a trio. I can also convey better to a common listener a simplified
breakdown of these characteristic sounds of each trio.

Rijneke, Rob. "Bill Evans." Bill Evans. Accessed March 13, 2018. ​http://billevans.nl/​.

This regularly updated Bill Evans blog is maintained by Rob Rijneke, a cardiologist-cum-Evans
devotee is probably the single greatest online resource for Bill Evans trivia and information.
Although Rijneke has no credentials as an academician or musician, his blog is effeminate, citing
valuable resources like critic reviews, interviews with collaborators and direct interviews and
writings.
Though the credibility of this source can lead to some doubt, I enjoy reading Rijneke’s
work and have not seen a collection of Bill Evans resources so varied anywhere online. Though
the author is slightly less credential, his work speaks for himself- clear, concise, factual,
supported and accurate to the best extent.
Larson, Steve. "Swing and Motive in Three Performances by Oscar Peterson." ​Journal of Music
Theory​ 43, no. 2 (1999): 283-314. ​http://www.jstor.org/stable/3090663​.

This study of Oscar Peterson’s swing feel is greatly respected, among the academic community it
has been cited several times. Larson’s accounts not only go into the motivic developments and
examining the reasons that these motives swing, but make these comparisons alongside big band
phrasings. It includes three transcriptions of three recordings by Peterson, the last one his drum
trio with Ed Thigpen and Ray Brown.
Certainly my favourite virtuoso after Art Tatum, I intend to study and summarize the feel,
the role of the rhythm section and interplay and comping in the third recording. Peterson includes
Boogie Woogie rhythms, bebop and blues licks, this is an excellent reference to his usage of
these devices.

DeMotta, David Joseph, "​The Contributions of Earl "Bud" Powell to the Modern Jazz Style.​"
CUNY Academic Works.​ ​2015.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/545

This is an analytical study of pianist and composer Bud Powell’s contributions to. bebop (or
“bop”), focusing especially on the rhythmic and harmonic implications of
Powell’s improvisations. The analysis is informed by a series of interviews with
Professional jazz musicians and is supported by original notated transcriptions of Powell
recordings.
Another great look into the bebop origins of trio work. Bud Powell is a huge inspiration
to any piano player in the jazz world- certainly no lightweight, so I must spend a lot of time
examining DeMotta’s study of Powell’s swing abilities and bebop articulations.

Page, Timothy. "​Motivic Strategies in Improvisations by Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau.​" June
03, 2009. http://ethesis.siba.fi/ethesis/files/jarrett_mehldau.pdf.

Timothy Page is a Fulbright Scholar who studied Composition at the Sibelius Akademie. Page
makes some very interesting comparisons from a neoclassical theorist point of view. He draws
comparisons from baroque to modern, from romantic to classical music concepts to both
Mehldau and Jarrett’s playing using various methods including Schenkerian analysis.
This is an approach I have been looking forward to. Page does not completely associate
himself as a jazz musician, but his work is heavily classical inspired. As a composer’s window
into the jazz improviser- ones that are adept at classical music too, this will provide me with a
better idea for conveying my opinions and observing deeper into the complex methods of these
master pianists.