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.

[海天名師宮東風考點解析]

1. 【答案】A

【考點解析】本題是一道中心主旨題。第一段的倒數第一、二句是全文的中心主旨句，全文就是根據這兩句話展開論述的。抓住這兩句話就可以找出本題的正確選項A?？忌诮忸}時，尤其是破解中心主旨題時，一定要先找出全文的中心主旨句。

2. 【答案】C

【考點解析】 這是一道例（舉）證與細節理解題。第四段第一句明確指出“三張唱片為科爾特蘭尼富有活力的探索提供了證明”。這說明第四段將講述三個例子用來說明在前一段即第三段所提出的論點。另外這三個例子是按著先后順序給出的，因此本題的正確選項是C。考生在解題時要注意段落之間的相互關系，更要注意句子之間的相互關系。

3. 【答案】D

【考點解析】這是一道細節理解題型。本題屬于比較難的題型，因為本題的涉及面比較廣。本題A、B、C選項的內容分別在第二段第一句、第四段第三四句和第二段第二句提到過。故本題的正確選項應該是D。其實這道題表面上非常難，但是對于善于捕捉全文中心主旨句的同學來講確比較容易，因為從第一段第四句的原因狀語從句中就可以推導出本題的正確答案D?？忌诮忸}時應時時牢記全文的中心主旨句。

4. 【答案】A

【考點解析】本題是一道審題定位題型。根據本題題干中的“other jazz musicians”可將本題的答案信息來源定位在第一段的第一至四句，因為在這四句話中提到了其它的爵士音樂家。第一段第四句的狀語從句明確指出了“Coltrane”與其它音樂家的不同在于他吸收了各種風格的爵士音樂。故本題的正確答案應該是A?？忌诮忸}時應重視審題定位。

5. 【答案】C

【考點解析】本題是一道歸納推導題型。細心的同學可從本文作者在論述時使用的詞語中推導出本題的正確答案C。例如作者在第一段第四句的主語上使用了“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”，這都反映了作者的“enthusiastic praise”。考生在解題時要重視原文作者在表達觀點時的遣詞造句。

[參考譯文]

不同的爵士樂風格的支持者一貫認為他們前輩的音樂風格沒有包括那些使爵士樂之所以成為爵士樂的本質特征。這樣，二十世紀五十年代的比波普派輕視二十世紀四十年代的搖擺音樂派，而他們自己又受到二十世紀六十年代的自由爵士派的抨擊。二十世紀八十至九十年代的新比波普派幾乎對任何其他人都進行抨擊。而黑人薩克斯管巨匠約翰•科爾特蘭尼使這些從比波普派到新比波普派的支持者所提出的主張更加復雜化，因為在他自己的音樂例程中，他經歷了所有這些風格。他對所有爵士音樂的風格的影響是不可估量的。在他最受歡迎的時期，科爾特蘭尼基本上放棄了比波普風格的演奏以便探索爵士樂更深的處延，然而正是比波普風格的演奏使得他成名。

科爾特蘭尼自己可能認為爵士樂的唯一本質特征就是即興創作，這是他從比波普風格到對形式音樂、印度音樂、非洲音樂的自由即興演奏的歷程中一直沒有改變的。另一方面，這個頑強的學生和異常的技巧家每天花幾個小時用以練習理論書籍上的曲譜，從未能完全拋棄比波普的影響，在他的旋律中可以找到帶有比波普特點的快速和精細的音符以及修飾效果。

有兩種風格特征影響了科爾特蘭尼演奏男高音薩克斯管的方式：他喜歡對建立于一種旋律上的音符進行快速的演奏，同時也依賴于強有力的、有規律的重音節奏。前者引導科爾特蘭尼走向“片狀聲響”的境界，在那里科爾特蘭尼的演奏越來越快，將音符成堆互相累放起來以表達一種堆疊起來的和諧感。而后者意味著，他的節奏感之接近于搖滾樂幾乎就像其接近于比波普風格一樣。

三張唱片為科爾特蘭尼富有活力的探索提供了證明。和馬爾斯•戴維斯合作錄制《有幾分憂傷》時，科爾特蘭尼發現他已離開了波普風格，對形式音樂進行探索。在這中間，他演奏那些跌宕起伏的冗長的獨奏，而這些獨奏基本上是圍繞著一個重復主題展開的。該種主題是用以組織其音樂的原則，它和自由派爵士樂薩克斯管演奏家奧尼迪•科爾曼采用的組織方式不同。后面這位音樂家在他的獨奏中會對其旋律進行調節改變。在《大踏步》中，科爾特蘭尼初次以領導者角色出現，對他自己的作品進行了介紹。在這中間，“片狀聲響”、強拍重音、重復回旋和極快的速度組成了每一段獨奏的各個部分，各樂章的形式的多樣性是獨一無二的?？茽柼靥m尼深刻的探索獲得了穩固的成就?！段业溺姁壑铩肥橇硪环N意義上的分水嶺。在這里，科爾特蘭尼演奏了爵士樂演奏家很少使用的女高音薩克斯管，所產生的音樂上的效果是驚人的。伴隨著女高音薩克斯管的尖音，那些顯得昏暗及帶有沉思意味的主題獲得了一種令人眼花繚亂的夢幻感覺。

當科爾特蘭尼開始為沖動唱片公司進行音樂錄制時，他仍然在探索。他的音樂變得沙啞而感性。搖滾樂手受到他的巨大影響，其中包括吉米•亨德瑞克斯這位吉它手。后者仿效科爾特蘭尼，使基于重復主題的大段吉他獨奏上升成為一種搖滾藝術形式。