This article addresses the analytical fault line between Schenkerian and Salzerian approaches to tonal jazz through an analysis of a Brad Mehldau improvisation on “All the Things You Are.” Special attention is given to the usage of common tones, which often work against the resolving tendencies of unstable chord tones but create their own lar…[Read more]

This article considers the counterpoint in jazz between the implied, underlying form and what is actually played in a given performance. My observations are framed within a model for jazz listening called “Stable Norms and Salient Deviations” (SNSD). Detailed analysis of an improvisation by jazz/R&B musician Robert Glasper demonstrates how my ide…[Read more]