"Conception" is a 1950

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive l ...

written by

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 ti ...

in the

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrum ...

style. The composition is in the key of Db and is noticeable for its chromatic descending chord sequences. The original score was adapted by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

in 1950, who created an arrangement that kept Shearing's chord changes and main theme, but replaced the composition's bridge and ending with new melodic material. This arrangement is documented on a February 1950 broadcast recording in New York City featuring

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre o ...

J.J. Johnson J.J. Johnson (January 22, 1924 – February 4, 2001), born James Louis Johnson and also known as Jay Jay Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. Johnson was one of the earliest trombonists to embrace bebop. Biography ...

, and

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the ...

. Davis recorded this same arrangement in October 1951 for his first LP, '' The New Sounds'' (

Prestige Records Prestige Records is a jazz record company and label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock in New York City which issued recordings in the mainstream, bop, and cool jazz idioms. The company recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musi ...

, 1951). Davis also did a complete rewrite of 'Conception' in 1950 (creating an entire new main theme) for his

Birth of the Cool ''Birth of the Cool'' is a compilation album by American jazz trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis, released in February 1957 by Capitol Records. It compiles eleven tracks recorded by Davis's nonet for the label over the course of three session ...

nonet, giving the composition the title 'Deception'. 'Deception', recorded in March 1950, retained the rewritten bridge melody from Davis' 1950 'Conception' arrangement, as well as Shearing's original

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

. Davis's 1954

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

recording "Take Off" also uses the "Conception" chord progression, including Davis' own additions to the form (the

pedal point In music, a pedal point (also pedal note, organ point, pedal tone, or pedal) is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign (i.e. dissonant) harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes functions ...

introduction, which reappears as an added six measures to the end of the form), but "Take Off" does not include any of Shearing's original melody, and is credited to Davis. Shearing's original composition was later recorded

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Along with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a leading figure in the development of mod ...

and

Kurt Rosenwinkel Kurt Rosenwinkel (born October 28, 1970) is an American jazz guitarist, keyboardist, composer, bandleader, producer, educator and record label owner. Biography A native of Philadelphia, Rosenwinkel attended the Philadelphia High School for the ...

. Miles Davis' 'Conception' arrangement was frequently played and recorded by

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Authorship

Bud Powell biographer Peter Pullman has written that bassist Al McKibbon, clarinetist

Buddy DeFranco Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and ...

, composer and saxophonist Gil Melle, and pianist

Claude Williamson Claude Berkeley Williamson (November 18, 1926 – July 16, 2016) was an American jazz pianist. Williamson was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, United States. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music before moving to jazz, influenced m ...

, all of whom were professional

modern jazz Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

musicians in New York City in the early 1950s, have stated in interviews that pianist

composed some or all of 'Conception', and that Shearing heard and adapted Powell's work. John Coltrane biographer and jazz pianist

Lewis Porter Lewis Robert Porter (born May 14, 1951) is an American jazz pianist, composer, author, and educator. Education and career Porter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but raised primarily in the Bronx in New York City. Porter decided at age 10 that ...

disagrees, and has argued that 'Conception' is likely the work of Shearing. Porter notes that Shearing's later commercial success and turn from bebop to "middle of the road" instrumental music could have influenced the memories and opinions of the musicians that Pullman cites for evidence. Porter also notes that Shearing moved to New York City in 1947 and immediately immersed himself in the bebop community, writing a handful of bebop pieces prior to 'Conception' that are stylistically similar. These pieces include "Delayed Action", "Bop's Your Uncle", and "Trixie", and their authorship has not been challenged. While Miles Davis immediately adopted 'Conception' into his repertoire upon its initial publication, no record exists of Powell playing the composition, or any of its motifs, until 1953. Unlike Davis, Powell played the original published bridge melody of the composition on his live 1953 live recording and his 1955 studio recording for

Norgran Records Norgran Records was an American jazz record label in Los Angeles founded by Norman Granz in 1953. It became part of Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, ...

, though this neither proves nor disproves Shearing's authorship.

References

1950s jazz standards 1950 songs {{1950s-jazz-composition-stub

Authorship

See also

References