Mind of Blue

“Mind of Blue” proposes a “Philosophy of Jazz” by bringing into conversation a venerable collection of jazz artists and a philosopher. This essay’s principal jazz musicians are Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, and Herbie Hancock. With turns to a range of other jazz artists, most notably Thelonious Monk. The principal philosopher is Martin Heidegger, whose thinking is supplemented by the work of scholars specializing in the music of Coleman and Davis, as well as invoking the musical theory of John Cage. Key to this essay are concepts such as “bop minimalism” or the importance of silence and musical withholding as advocated by Miles Davis and the value that Ornette Coleman assigns to “listening for the idea,” a notion that would seem, as a listening practice, antithetical to how it is jazz is heard

Active listening · Conversation · Jazz · Musical · Silence · Music History and Culture · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy