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Birth of the Cool 爵士酷乐的诞生

 

课文朗读

 

课文讲解

 

繁體中文譯本

 

Legendary jazz trumpeter Mile Davis was a fighter and a master of musical understatement. A proud, fiercely independent man, David refused to be limited by the racial stereotypes of his youth, or the accepted boundaries of jazz music.

著名的爵士乐号手－迈尔士戴维斯是一位勇敢斗士和乐坛历炼丰富的传奇人物。个性中自傲又独立自主，戴维斯不甘被局限在他年轻时的种族刻板印象和爵士乐的既有范畴里。

 

Born in 1926 to an affluent family, David had so many professional job offers by the time he was fifteen that his mother had to turn them down so he could finish high school. In 1994, David enrolled in New York’s Julliard School of Music, but he really hit the Big Apple to search after-hours clubs for his hero – saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker. Bird soon befriended the young man and served as his musical mentor and bandleader for several years.

1926年出生于富裕家庭，戴维斯年届15岁时，就有许多工作机会可以发展职业生活，使得他母亲不得不出面来替他婉拒，好让他顺利完成高中学业。1944年戴维斯注册进入纽约茱莉亚音乐学院就读，不过其实他读纽约这所学校的目的，是想在夜总会里寻找心目中的偶像，人称做「鸟人」的萨克斯风名手－查理帕克。鸟人不久就与戴维斯来往密切，成为他多年的私人音乐指导，以及乐团领队。

 

David sought out Bird to learn from the man who had revolutionized jazz by creating bebop: a sophisticated style that is too frenetic to be danceable and too demanding for easy listening. Bebop severed the connection between jazz and popular music, but created something musicians then and today consider to be more lofty and refined than earlier jazz. David played bebop until he met arranger Gil Evans who would become his partner for the next fifteen years. Together, David and Evans cooled jazz down and created explosively original music.

戴维斯是刻意去找查理，要向他学习的。因为查理创造了所谓的博普乐（一种咆勃乐），这种曲风对爵士乐产生了革命性的影响。博普乐风格复杂，它太狂热而难以配舞，配曲高标而难以轻松聆赏。博普乐切断了爵士乐与流行乐的衔接，但也因此创造出一种古今乐师咸认比早期爵士乐更高雅、更精致的新内容。戴维斯一直演奏博普乐，直到他遇见了编曲家吉尔伊凡斯，从此伊凡斯与戴维斯搭档达十五年之久，两人一起大量创造了较为温和而又具原创性的爵士乐。

 

Vocabulary

单词发音

 

trumpeter [ˋtrʌmpɪtɚ] n. 小号手，号手

understatement [ˋʌndɚ͵stetmənt] n. 不充分的陈述；保守的陈述

affluent [ˋæflʊənt] adj. 富裕的

enroll [ɪnˋrol] v. 入会，参加；入学

after-hours 业余时间的；工余时间的；营业（或规定）时间以后的 open after a legal or established closing time

saxophonist [ˋsæksə͵fonɪst] n. 萨克斯管吹奏者

befriend [bɪˋfrɛnd] v. 对……以朋友相待；和……交朋友

mentor [ˋmɛntɚ] n. 导师﹐指导者

revolutionize [͵rɛvəˋluʃən͵aɪz] v. 彻底改革，在……方面实现突破性大变革

bebop [ˋbi͵bɑp] v. 比波普爵士乐

sophisticated [səˋfɪstɪ͵ketɪd] adj.〔机器﹑系统﹑方法等〕复杂的

frenetic [frəˋnɛtɪk] adj. 狂热的; 激动的

sever [ˋsɛvɚ] v. 切断，割断

lofty [ˋlɔftɪ] adj. 崇高的，高尚的

refined [rɪˋfaɪnd] adj. 优美的，文雅的

arranger [əˋrendʒɚ] n. 编曲者

explosively [ɪkˋsplosɪvlɪ] adv. 爆发地；引起爆炸地

 

 

Sentence of the Day

The man liked to blow his own trumpet.

这个人喜欢自吹自擂。

 

blow one’s own trumpet  自吹自擂,自我标榜

 

 

 

课文讲解

 

In 1949, David began his own career as a bandleader and pioneered a calmer, lyrical style of bebop on the great Birth of the Cool album. Though slower, this album did not mark a return to popular jazz, but rather the creation of a smooth, intricately arranged sound that took its name from this album: cool jazz.

1949年戴维斯自组乐团担任领队，率先在伟大的爵士音乐专辑「酷派的诞生」中发展出比较文静抒情的曲风。虽然节奏慢些，但并没有回归到爵士乐的流行传统，而是另外创出一种平缓流畅、精心安排的乐音，这种新乐音因为这次的专辑得名，而被称为爵士酷乐。

 

The early fifties were hit-and-miss for Davis because he had inherited great musicianship – along with an unfortunate heroin addiction – from Bird. By the late fifties, David was on the wagon and his musical partnership with Evans was unstoppable again. David and Evans promptly released two remarkable masterpieces – one a masterpiece of orchestration, the other of improvisation.

戴维斯的音乐生涯在五十年代早期有得有失，因为他不但继承了鸟人查理的音乐风范，也同时感染了他的毒瘾恶习。到了五十年代末期，戴维斯戒除毒瘾，他与伊凡斯也重新成为音乐伙伴。戴维斯与伊凡斯两人不久就发行了两张旷世巨作，一为管弦乐的和谐演奏，另一为即兴创作。

 

Sketches of Spain, Evans and Davis’s thrilling jazz arrangement of Spanish classical compositions, was the first of these two. Performed by David with orchestral accompaniment, his almost fragile-sounding trumpet soars over the music, suggesting the melody with a remarkable economy of notes.

在两大巨作的首张「西班牙素描」中，戴维斯和伊凡斯把西班牙经典老歌改编成令人激赏的爵士曲调。伴着管弦乐团的协奏，戴维斯那婉约柔细的小喇叭号声，袅绕于乐音之上，用极少的音符倾诉无限动人的旋律。

 

A few months later, David called his sextet together and gave them bare-bones instructions for new music they were to record that night. The result, Kind of Blue, was compared by Evans to the improvised painting of Zen monks. It is exquisitely pure, unhesitating – in short, almost perfect.

数月之后的某一天晚上，戴维斯集合起他的六人乐团，对当晚将要录制的新音乐只给了他们最基本的指示，对于当天晚上的创作结晶「泛蓝调调」，伊凡斯比喻为，有若禅修和尚的画作般柔畅自然，纤细纯净而又坚定，简言之，几近完美之境。

 

Vocabulary

单词发音

 

lyrical [ˋlɪrɪk!] adj. 抒情的; 感情丰富的

intricately [ˋɪntrəkɪtlɪ] adv. 复杂地; 难懂地

hit-and-miss 得失各占一半的 sometimes succeeding and sometimes not

musicianship [mjuˋzɪʃənʃɪp] n. 音乐技巧；音乐才能；音乐鉴赏力

on the wagon【口】戒酒或毒瘾 abstaining from alcoholic beverages or drug

orchestration [͵ɔrkɪsˋtreʃən] n. 管弦乐编曲, 管弦乐作曲法

improvisation [͵ɪmprəvaɪˋzeʃən] n. 即兴创作

sketch [skɛtʃ] n. 速写，素描

arrangement [əˋrendʒmənt] n.【音】（乐曲的）改编；改编曲

composition [͵kɑmpəˋzɪʃən] n.（大型）乐曲

accompaniment [əˋkʌmpənɪmənt] n.【音】伴奏；伴唱

fragile [ˋfrædʒəl] adj. 纤弱的; 脆弱的

economy [ɪˋkɑnəmɪ] n. 节约，节省

sextet [sɛksˋtɛt] n. 六重唱; 六重奏

bare-bones [ˋbɛr͵bonz] adj. 极简单的；基础的

exquisitely [ɛkˋskwɪzɪtlɪ] adv. 精致地

unhesitating [ʌnˋhɛzə͵tetɪŋ] adj. 不动摇的

 

 

Sentence of the Day

He had a monkey on his back.

他的毒瘾很深。

 

a monkey on one’s back  有沉重的负担；毒瘾  a serious problem that will not go away

 

 

 

 

课文讲解

 

David was youthfully vigorous well into his forties and, as the hippies grew their hair, his music began to incorporate rock music influences. His rock era culminated with his soundtrack to Tribute to Jack Johnson, a film about a legendary African boxer. Few people now remember the film, but Davis’s soundtrack – dipping into raunchy rock and blues and emerging into space-jazz dripping with layers of early synthesizers – is timeless.

当戴维斯年届四十余，仍像年轻人般生龙活虎，那时嘻皮人士开始蓄发，戴维斯的曲风也开始溶入摇滚风格。他的摇滚风格，在为电影「向杰克强森致敬」配乐的专辑中达到最高峰，该片描述非裔美人拳击手杰克强森生平的传奇故事。现在几乎没有人对这部电影还有任何记忆了，但是戴维斯的这张电影原声带──低沈徘徊在颓废的摇滚和蓝调之后，再接着溶入层层的早期电子合成乐──可以恒久流传。

 

In 1975, substance abuse and age finally caught up with Miles and he retired, making occasional forays back into the music world through the 1980’s. Always keen to stay current, he even tried recording with hip-hop artists, yet somehow his fire had cooled. Miles Dewey Davis died in 1991 after five decades of jazz.

1975年戴维斯因为滥用药物和老耄而决定从乐坛退休，他在八十年代偶尔会做一些音乐的尝试。为淬炼自己的流行乐感，他甚至试着与嘻哈乐手共同录制音乐专辑，不过他的魅力锋芒似已逐渐淡去。1991年，走过五十年爵士岁月的迈尔士．迪威．戴维斯辞世。

 

Miles’s music – especially that of his rock era – still sounds modern, and directly inspired this generation’s world of ambient electronica and DJ’s. Even technology is catching up with Miles. Many of his releases were abbreviated due to the length limitations of vinyl records. Courtesy of digital technology, several truncated originals may now be heard in their complete form on the CD Panthalassa. The legacy of Miles Davis makes it clear that Miles was always miles ahead.

戴维斯的音乐──尤其是在他摇滚时期的音乐──听起来仍具有现代感，直接影响了当今这一代的电子乐坛和DJ。当今的科技进步也赶上了戴维斯热，过去他出的乐曲都受到唱片长度的限制，如今拜电子科技之赐，好几首以往被删节的乐曲，现在被收集在CD专辑「来自泛深海的声音」里，一刀未剪。迈尔士戴维斯的传世作品表明了他总是走在时代尖端。

 

－by Iain Ferguson

 

Vocabulary

单词发音

 

youthfully [ˋjuθfəlɪ] adv. 精神饱满地

vigorous [ˋvɪgərəs] adj. 精力充沛的；壮健的

culminate [ˋkʌlmə͵net] v. 达到最高点；达到高潮

dip into (something) 动用〔存款〕to use a small amount of something

raunchy [ˋrɑntʃɪ] adj. 不修边幅的

drip [drɪp] v. 充溢，充满[（+with）]

synthesizer [ˋsɪnθə͵saɪzɚ] n. 合成者，合成物；合成器，综合器

substance abuse（精神性）药物滥用

catch up with 对...产生预期的坏影响(或恶果) to have unpleasant consequences for,

foray [ˋfɔre] n.〔尤对某项非本行的艰难工作或活动的〕短暂尝试

ambient [ˋæmbɪənt] adj. 周遭的；环绕的

electronica 电子乐 Any of various styles of popular music characterized by the prominent use of electronically generated sounds and computer-based production techniques.

abbreviate [əˋbrivɪ͵et] v. 缩短，使简短

vinyl record 黑胶唱片的总称

vinyl [ˋvaɪnɪl] n. 乙烯基塑料

courtesy of (用来表示感谢)承蒙…的好意，蒙…提供

courtesy [ˋkɝtəsɪ] n. 礼貌；殷勤，好意

truncated [ˋtrʌŋketɪd] adj. 缩短了的

 

 

Sentence of the Day

He knocked them dead.

他使得他们深受感动。

 

knock someone dead（非正式）给某人留下深刻印象

 

 

Reference

Kind of Blue 50th Anniversary

 

 

Kind of Blue by Mile Davis

 

 

Rated X from Panthalassa by Miles Davis