Proponents of different jazz styles have always argued that their predecessor’s musical style did not include essential characteristics that define jazz as jazz. Thus, 1940’s swing was belittled by beboppers of the 1950’s who were themselves attacked by free jazzes of the 1960’s. The neoboppers of the 1980’s and 1990’s attacked almost everybody else. The titanic figure of Black saxophonist John Coltrane has complicated the arguments made by proponents of styles from bebop through neobop because in his own musical journey he drew from all those styles. His influence on all types of jazz was immeasurable. At the height of his popularity, Coltrane largely abandoned playing bebop, the style that had brought him fame, to explore the outer reaches of jazz.
Coltrane himself probably believed that the only essential characteristic of jazz was improvisation, the one constant in his journey from bebop to open-ended improvisations on modal, Indian, and African melodies. On the other hand, this dogged student and prodigious technician — who insisted on spending hours each day practicing scales from theory books — was never able to jettison completely the influence of bebop, with its fast and elaborate chains of notes and ornaments on melody.
Two stylistic characteristics shaped the way Coltrane played the tenor saxophone: he favored playing fast runs of notes built on a melody and depended on heavy, regularly accented beats. The first led Coltrane to “sheets of sound” where he raced faster and faster, pile-driving notes into each other to suggest stacked harmonies. The second meant that his sense of rhythm was almost as close to rock as to bebop.
Three recordings illustrate Coltrane’s energizing explorations. Recording Kind of Blue with Miles Davis, Coltrane found himself outside bop, exploring modal melodies. Here he played surging, lengthy solos built largely around repeated motifs — an organizing principle unlike that of free jazz saxophone player Ornette Coleman, who modulated or altered melodies in his solos. On Giant Steps, Coltrane debuted as leader, introducing his own compositions. Here the sheets of sound, downbeat accents, repetitions, and great speed are part of each solo, and the variety of the shapes of his phrases is unique. Coltrane’s searching explorations produced solid achievement. My Favorite Things was another kind of watershed. Here Coltrane played the soprano saxophone, an instrument seldom used by jazz musicians. Musically, the results were astounding. With the soprano’s piping sound, ideas that had sounded dark and brooding acquired a feeling of giddy fantasy.
When Coltrane began recording for the Impulse! Label, he was still searching. His music became raucous, physical. His influence on rockers was enormous, including Jimi Hendrix, the rock guitarist, who, following Coltrane, raised the extended guitar solo using repeated motifs to a kind of rock art form.
1. The primary purpose of the text is to
[A] discuss the place of Coltrane in the world of jazz and describe his musical explorations.
[B] examine the nature of bebop and contrast it with improvisational jazz.
[C] analyze the musical sources of Coltrane’s style and their influence on his work.
[D] acknowledge the influence of Coltrane’s music on rock music and rock musicians.
2. Which of the following best describes the organization of the fourth paragraph?
[A] A thesis referred to earlier in the text is mentioned and illustrated with three specific examples.
[B] A thesis is stated and three examples are given each suggesting that a correction needs to be made to a thesis referred to earlier in the text.
[C] A thesis referred to earlier in the text is mentioned, and three examples are presented and ranked in order of their support of the thesis.
[D] A thesis is stated, three seemingly opposing examples are presented, and their underlying correspondence is explained.
3. According to the text, John Coltrane did all of the following during his career EXCEPT
[A] improvise on melodies from a number of different cultures.
[B] perform as leader as well as soloist.
[C] spend time improving his technical skills.
[D] eliminate the influence of bebop on his own music.
4. According to the text a major difference between Coltrane and other jazz musicians was the
[A] degree to which Coltrane’s music encompassed all of jazz.
[B] repetition of motifs that Coltrane used in his solos.
[C] number of his own compositions that Coltrane recorded.
[D] indifference Coltrane maintained to musical technique.
5. In terms of its tone and form, the text can best be characterized as
[A] dogmatic explanation.
[B] indignant denial.
[C] enthusiastic praise.
[D] speculative study.
[海天名师宫东风考点解析]
1. 【答案】A
【考点解析】本题是一道中心主旨题。第一段的倒数第一、二句是全文的中心主旨句，全文就是根据这两句话展开论述的。抓住这两句话就可以找出本题的正确选项A。考生在解题时，尤其是破解中心主旨题时，一定要先找出全文的中心主旨句。
2. 【答案】C
【考点解析】 这是一道例（举）证与细节理解题。第四段第一句明确指出“三张唱片为科尔特兰尼富有活力的探索提供了证明”。这说明第四段将讲述三个例子用来说明在前一段即第三段所提出的论点。另外这三个例子是按着先后顺序给出的，因此本题的正确选项是C。考生在解题时要注意段落之间的相互关系，更要注意句子之间的相互关系。
3. 【答案】D
【考点解析】这是一道细节理解题型。本题属于比较难的题型，因为本题的涉及面比较广。本题A、B、C选项的内容分别在第二段第一句、第四段第三四句和第二段第二句提到过。故本题的正确选项应该是D。其实这道题表面上非常难，但是对于善于捕捉全文中心主旨句的同学来讲确比较容易，因为从第一段第四句的原因状语从句中就可以推导出本题的正确答案D。考生在解题时应时时牢记全文的中心主旨句。
4. 【答案】A
【考点解析】本题是一道审题定位题型。根据本题题干中的“other jazz musicians”可将本题的答案信息来源定位在第一段的第一至四句，因为在这四句话中提到了其它的爵士音乐家。第一段第四句的状语从句明确指出了“Coltrane”与其它音乐家的不同在于他吸收了各种风格的爵士音乐。故本题的正确答案应该是A。考生在解题时应重视审题定位。
5. 【答案】C
【考点解析】本题是一道归纳推导题型。细心的同学可从本文作者在论述时使用的词语中推导出本题的正确答案C。例如作者在第一段第四句的主语上使用了“titanic figure”；在第五句使用了“his influence…was immeasurable”；在最后一段的第三句使用了“his influence… was enormous”，这都反映了作者的“enthusiastic praise”。考生在解题时要重视原文作者在表达观点时的遣词造句。
[参考译文]
不同的爵士乐风格的支持者一贯认为他们前辈的音乐风格没有包括那些使爵士乐之所以成为爵士乐的本质特征。这样，二十世纪五十年代的比波普派轻视二十世纪四十年代的摇摆音乐派，而他们自己又受到二十世纪六十年代的自由爵士派的抨击。二十世纪八十至九十年代的新比波普派几乎对任何其他人都进行抨击。而黑人萨克斯管巨匠约翰•科尔特兰尼使这些从比波普派到新比波普派的支持者所提出的主张更加复杂化，因为在他自己的音乐例程中，他经历了所有这些风格。他对所有爵士音乐的风格的影响是不可估量的。在他最受欢迎的时期，科尔特兰尼基本上放弃了比波普风格的演奏以便探索爵士乐更深的处延，然而正是比波普风格的演奏使得他成名。
科尔特兰尼自己可能认为爵士乐的唯一本质特征就是即兴创作，这是他从比波普风格到对形式音乐、印度音乐、非洲音乐的自由即兴演奏的历程中一直没有改变的。另一方面，这个顽强的学生和异常的技巧家每天花几个小时用以练习理论书籍上的曲谱，从未能完全抛弃比波普的影响，在他的旋律中可以找到带有比波普特点的快速和精细的音符以及修饰效果。
有两种风格特征影响了科尔特兰尼演奏男高音萨克斯管的方式：他喜欢对建立于一种旋律上的音符进行快速的演奏，同时也依赖于强有力的、有规律的重音节奏。前者引导科尔特兰尼走向“片状声响”的境界，在那里科尔特兰尼的演奏越来越快，将音符成堆互相累放起来以表达一种堆叠起来的和谐感。而后者意味着，他的节奏感之接近于摇滚乐几乎就像其接近于比波普风格一样。
三张唱片为科尔特兰尼富有活力的探索提供了证明。和马尔斯•戴维斯合作录制《有几分忧伤》时，科尔特兰尼发现他已离开了波普风格，对形式音乐进行探索。在这中间，他演奏那些跌宕起伏的冗长的独奏，而这些独奏基本上是围绕着一个重复主题展开的。该种主题是用以组织其音乐的原则，它和自由派爵士乐萨克斯管演奏家奥尼迪•科尔曼采用的组织方式不同。后面这位音乐家在他的独奏中会对其旋律进行调节改变。在《大踏步》中，科尔特兰尼初次以领导者角色出现，对他自己的作品进行了介绍。在这中间，“片状声响”、强拍重音、重复回旋和极快的速度组成了每一段独奏的各个部分，各乐章的形式的多样性是独一无二的。科尔特兰尼深刻的探索获得了稳固的成就。《我的钟爱之物》是另一种意义上的分水岭。在这里，科尔特兰尼演奏了爵士乐演奏家很少使用的女高音萨克斯管，所产生的音乐上的效果是惊人的。伴随着女高音萨克斯管的尖音，那些显得昏暗及带有沉思意味的主题获得了一种令人眼花缭乱的梦幻感觉。
当科尔特兰尼开始为冲动唱片公司进行音乐录制时，他仍然在探索。他的音乐变得沙哑而感性。摇滚乐手受到他的巨大影响，其中包括吉米•亨德瑞克斯这位吉它手。后者仿效科尔特兰尼，使基于重复主题的大段吉他独奏上升成为一种摇滚艺术形式。
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